Research for the Environment

Julia Walter (M.A.)

working title of phD-thesis: The ecophysiology of climate change-effects of extreme weather events on plant communities

During my phD I primarily focus on the effects of extreme weather events on ecophysiological parameters of plants and on changes in plant compounds and ecosystem functions. I apply different methods, like gas exchange or fluorescence measurements, to investigate whether plants react differently to repeated drought than to a single drought, or to assess stress recovery of single plant species. The second focus of my work is on changes in plant chemical compounds in response to drought, heavy rain or freeze-thaw cycles and how these changes might affect ecosystem functioning (litter decomposition, palatability, effects on herbivores, frost hardening, forage quality).

Publications

Walter, J., Nagy, L., Hein, R., Rascher, U., Beierkuhnlein, C., Willner, E., Jentsch, A. (2011): Do plants remember drought? Hints towards a drought-memory in grasses, Environmental and Experimental Botany 71, 34-40. 

Jentsch, A., Kreyling, J., Elmer, M., Gellesch, E., Glaser, B., Grant, K., Hein, R., Lara, M., Mirzae, H., Nadler, S., Nagy, L., Otieno, D., Pritsch, K., Rascher, U., Schädler, M., Schloter, M., Singh, B., Stadler, J., Walter, J., Wellstein, C., Wöllecke, J., Beierkuhnlein, C., 2011. Climate extremes initiate ecosystem-regulating functions while maintaining productivity. Journal of Ecology 99, 689–702.

Kreyling, J., Wiesenberg G.L., Huber, G., Jentsch, A., Konnert, M., Thiel, D., Walter, J., Wohlfart, C., Beierkuhnlein, C., accepted. Cold hardiness of Pinus nigra Arnold as influenced by geographic origin, warming, and extreme summer drought. Environmental and Experimental Botany.

Walter, J., Grant, K., Beierkuhnlein, C., Kreyling, J., Weber, M., Jentsch, A., 2012. Increased rainfall variability reduces biomass and forage quality of temperate grassland largely independent of mowing frequency. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 148, 1–10.

Walter, J., Hein, R., Auge, H., Beierkuhnlein, C., Löffler, S., Reifenrath, K., Schädler, M., Weber, M., Jentsch, A. How do extreme drought and plant community composition affect host plant metabolites and herbivore performance? Arthropod-Plant Interactions, DOI 10.1007/s11829-011-9157-0.

Walter, J., Nagy, L., Hein, R., Rascher, U., Beierkuhnlein, C., Willner, E., Jentsch, A., 2011. Do plants remember drought? Hints towards a drought-memory in grasses. Environmental and Experimental Botany 71, 34–40.

Presentations

Julia Walter, Uwe Rascher, Martin Schädler, Maik Veste, Carl Beierkuhnlein, Anke Jentsch: The ecophysiology of climate change- Effects of extreme drought on leaf fluorescence and protein content in different plant communities; BayCEER Kolloquium, Bayreuth, April 2nd 2009.

Julia Walter, Uwe Rascher, Maik Veste, Carl Beierkuhnlein, Anke Jentsch: Potential role of community composition in modifying plant physiological response to extreme drought on the species level, Annual Conference of the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Bayreuth, September 14th 2009.

Julia Walter, Laura Nagy, Roman Hein, Carl Beierkuhnlein, Uwe Rascher, Evelin Willner, Anke Jentsch: The EVENT experiments AND: Do plants remember drought?Some hints towards a “drought memory” in grasses, invited talk, Vavilov Seminar IPK Gatersleben, July 7th 2010.

Julia Walter, Laura Nagy, Roman Hein, Carl Beierkuhnlein, Uwe Rascher, Evelin Willner, Anke Jentsch: Do plants remember drought?Some hints towards a “drought memory” in grasses, Annual Conference of the Ecological Society of America, Pittsburgh, August 4th 2010.

Julia Walter, Kerstin Reifenrath, Martin Schädler, Harald Auge, Roman Hein, Carl Beierkuhnlein, Anke Jentsch: How do extreme weather events and plant community composition affect host plant metabolites and herbivore performance? Annual Conference of the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Gießen, September 1st 2010.

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