Research Themes
Our research is organized around three complementary themes.
Above- & Belowground Interactions How do interactions between plants, soils, microbes, and consumers shape ecosystems? We study the hidden biological connections linking above- and belowground communities and how these interactions regulate ecosystem functioning, nutrient cycling, and responses to environmental change.
Biodiversity & Ecosystem Functioning How does biodiversity influence ecosystem functioning, productivity, resilience, and stability? We investigate how biodiversity shapes ecological processes across environmental gradients and under global environmental change, helping us understand how ecosystems can remain resilient in an uncertain future.
Ecological Scaling How do local ecological processes scale up to landscapes, regions, and global ecosystems? We seek to understand how ecological mechanisms operating at small scales translate into larger-scale biodiversity patterns, ecosystem functioning, and sustainability outcomes.
Ecology for a changing world
Environmental change is reshaping ecosystems worldwide. Biodiversity loss, climate change, nutrient enrichment, land-use change, and biological invasions increasingly interact to alter how ecosystems function and support life on Earth.
At the Ecology & Biodiversity group at Utrecht University, we investigate how ecosystems respond to these changes and what mechanisms determine their functioning, resilience, and sustainability.
Our research bridges key divides in ecology—between fundamental and applied science, local processes and global patterns, observational and experimental approaches, and ecological theory and societal application. We believe that solving today’s ecological challenges requires integration across scales, methods, and disciplines.
Collaboration across disciplines
Our research is strongly embedded within Utrecht University’s interdisciplinary ecosystem. We actively collaborate across university-wide initiatives connecting ecology to sustainability, food systems, climate resilience, biodiversity recovery, and societal transitions.
This includes collaborations through initiatives such as Pathways to Sustainability, Future Food Utrecht, Water, Climate & Future Deltas, the Utrecht Ecology Community, and cross-faculty partnerships.
From ecological understanding to societal impact
Our ambition is not only to understand ecosystems, but also to contribute solutions for a rapidly changing world.
By integrating ecological theory, large-scale experiments, global collaborations, and societal engagement, we aim to generate actionable knowledge that supports biodiversity conservation, ecosystem resilience, sustainable land use, and environmental decision-making.