Are you interested in a BSc or MSc project
in plant evolutionary ecology?
In the research group Plant Evolutionary Ecology, we use experiments to
investigate rapid adaptation of plant populations to environmental change,
mainly focusing on climate and land use change. We currently offer students various BSc and MSc projects that are
embedded in our ongoing research or that develop new ideas; these are listed
below. If you are interested in any of these projects and want to know more,
contact us!
Some of these project ideas are more developed than others and we are happy
to brainstorm on the contents of these projects together with you. Also, if you
have your own idea for a BSc or MSc project that you think fits our group's research
interests, do not hesitate to let us know too.
You can find us in the C-wing on the second floor or you can write us an
email.
Niek Scheepens: room C 1.315, scheepens@bio.uni-frankfurt.de
Martí March Salas: room C 1.316, martimarchsalas@gmail.com
Population
dynamics and performance under novel climatic conditions in Arabidopsis thaliana (BSc/MSc): This project focuses on explaining plant population
performance in an outdoor experiment conducted in 47 sites across Europe and
North America (see: grene-net.org) with local weather patterns. Your task will
be to prepare the weather data from these sites in
order to use them as explanatory factor for population performance.
Soil seed
bank dynamics in contrasting climates (MSc): Through the GrENE-net
consortium (grene-net.org) we have many soil samples from the experimental plots
in Europe and North America containing Arabidopsis thaliana
seeds. Your task will be to grow seedlings
from these soil samples, assess seedling abundance, and correlate this with
plant abundance and weather data from
the field experiments. You will also grow a
subset of seedlings for seed production for future experiments.
Rapid plant
evolution under reduced precipitation predictability (BSc/MSc): An evolution experiment under contrasting
precipitation predictability regimes with Onobrychis viciifolia and Papaver rhoeas was carried out
over four generations. Each upcoming growing season we plan to conduct here at
Goethe University Frankfurt common garden studies to test various aspects of
plant trait evolution that resulted from this evolution experiment using
controlled plant pollination. You can develop experiments with one of the
species, which will allow you to unravel how herbaceous plants evolve under various
levels of climatic uncertainty.
Vegetation monitoring in the Fechenheimer
Mainbogen – Understanding how soil microbiota and plant
diversity influence vegetation performance and succession (BSc/MSc): A waterway has recently been dug through the
Fechenheimer Mainbogen and another waterway is planned. The responsible
authorities decided to let the vegetation develop without human assistance. We are interested in the natural colonization dynamics of plants along the
banks of the current and future waterway and also how soil microbiota influence the plants'
performance and vegetation succession. Your task
would be to record vegetation and/or to conduct experiments to investigate
plant-soil biota interactions.
Does climbing negatively affect cliff vegetation?
(BSc/MSc) In the WorldClimb project, we are interested in assessing how different rock climbing intensities
affect the cliff vegetation structure and diversity as well as coverage by mosses
and lichens. We have lots of images
collected from cliffs
in Mediterranean areas around the
globe (i.e. South Africa, Australia, Mediterranean Basin, Chile, USA) that
can be used to compare cliff vegetation status in climbed and unclimbed plots. Your tasks will be to assess the abundance of mosses
and lichens and statistically analyse if there is an impact of climbing on these cliff organisms. Other local studies showed strong impacts of
climbing activities on these organisms, which are relevant in cliff ecosystems
because they favour the establishment of plants and they nourish other cliff
organisms. In the future, students
with demonstrated climbing experience can also conduct field surveys in Hessen
and perform preliminary experiments on the adaptation of cliff species to
different mechanical and abiotic pressures.
Resurrection
experiments (BSc/MSc): A rather new
method to directly infer evolution over short timescales is the so-called
resurrection approach. In this approach, stored propagules (seeds in the case
of plants) are being revived together with newly collected propagules from the
exact same population and grown in a common garden experiment. This way, in a
uniform environment, phenotypic differences between the ancestors and
descendants must be the result of evolution. We have plenty of seeds from
several plant species that we use in resurrection experiments in the lab and in
sites of plant origins. If you are interested, we can brainstorm about your
involvement in ongoing or new experiments.
Are forest understorey herbs adapted to forest
management intensity? (BSc/MSc) Forest
management has a strong influence on microclimatic conditions near the ground
(e.g. light conditions, air temperature, soil moisture). We expect that
commonly occurring temperate forest understorey herbs (e.g. Anemone nemorosa, Galium odoratum, Milium
effusum) are genetically adapted to these microclimatic conditions. For
example, previous field observations already showed that understorey herbs
flower later in intensively managed forests, probably because such forests
usually consist of spruce plantations which are darker and thus cooler in
spring compared to less intensively managed forests. We currently test whether
such variation in flowering time, and in other traits, has a genetic basis and
is adaptive. We do so by growing plants under common conditions in the garden and
by transplanting plants to forest plots with contrasting management intensity.
We can offer various BSc or MSc projects within this larger scientific effort.
Last updated: 3.11.2021