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