K.F.M. Bader
My research explores how plants and ecosystems function, interact, and adapt under changing environmental conditions. My work integrates plant ecophysiology, plant-soil-microbe interactions, and ecosystem biogeochemistry to understand how stressors such as drought, pests, and pathogens alter carbon, water and nutrient dynamics across scales. By integrating field and controlled experiments, modern statistical modelling, and remote sensing approaches, my group investigates the mechanisms driving vegetation responses to climate extremes, species interactions, and landscape-level ecological processes. A central aim of this research is to provide actionable guidance for sustainable forest and ecosystem management to safeguard ecosystem health and functioning in a rapidly changing world.
Expertises
- Forest ecology and plant physiology, with a focus on drought stress
- Plant-biotic interactions (soil microbes, insect herbivores, pathogens)
- Carbon, water, and nutrient dynamics from tree to ecosystem scale
- Experimental ecology (integrating field and controlled studies)
- Quantitative ecology and advanced statistical modelling
- Ecosystem resilience, biodiversity, and sustainable ecosystem (forest) management
Career history
I received my PhD from the University of Basel, Switzerland, investigating the effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on forest trees.
After a postdoctoral stint in Western Australia, I joined the NZ Forest Research Institute (Scion) in a dual role as plant ecologist and biostatistician.
In 2017, I was appointed Senior Lecturer in Ecology at Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand.
For family reasons, I returned to Europe in 2021 to take up a professorship in Forest Ecology at Linnaeus University, Sweden.
In late 2024, I became Chair of Ecology and Biodiversity at Maastricht University.