Felix May

Research

Plant community dynamics: In my research I seek understanding of the dynamics in species rich plant communities such as tropical forests or semi-natural grassland communities. I am interested in the fundamental questions how species and functional diversity are generated and maintained in these ecosystems. With respect to applied science, I strive for improved models to predict the response of plant communities to environmental drivers, such as fragmentation, land use and climate.

Model-data integration: To address these questions I develop and apply spatial and dynamic simulation models, e.g. individual-based models or metacommunity models. For model validation and predictions I am interested in statistical methods to combine simulation models with empirical data, e.g. Bayesian analysis or pattern oriented modelling.

Trait-based plant ecology: I consider the focus on plant functional traits as a promising approach to acquire general knowledge that is not restricted to specific locations and plant assemblages. I think that trait-based community models facilitate the incorporation of ecological and physiological processes and foster the mechanistic understanding of species coexistence as well as of species responses to environmental drivers.

Projects 

• Towards a unified spatial theory of biodiversity  Spatiodiversity ERC grant
  
• Shifts of plant diversity and functional traits in a heterogeneous semi-arid landscape
• Trait-based modelling of small-scale grassland community dynamics

Teaching

Courses for the graduate school HIGRADE

• Generalized and linear mixed effects models in R
• Introduction to statistical data analysis in R

HIGRADE Statistics and Methods

Earlier courses at University Potsdam

• Individual-based ecological modelling
• Plant population biology and data analysis
• Conservation biology
  
• Lectures on “Climate change and conservation biology” and “Ecology of plant communities”

Publications

• Kazmierczak, M., Backmann, P., Fedriani, J.M., Fischer, R., Hartmann, A.K., Huth, A., May, F., Müller, M.S., Taubert, F., Grimm, V., Groeneveld, J. (2016):
  Monodominance in tropical forests: modelling reveals emerging clusters and phase transitions
  J. R. Soc. Interface 13 (117), art. 0123 10.1098/rsif.2016.0123
• May, F., Wiegand, T., Lehmann, S., Huth, A. (2016):
  Do abundance distributions and species aggregation correctly predict macroecological biodiversity patterns in tropical forests?
  Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr. 25 (5), 575 - 585 10.1111/geb.12438
• May, F., Huth, A., Wiegand, T. (2015):
  Moving beyond abundance distributions: neutral theory and spatial patterns in a tropical forest
  Proc. R. Soc. B-Biol. Sci. 282 (1802), art. 20141657 10.1098/rspb.2014.1657
• Velázquez, E., Paine, C.E.T., May, F., Wiegand, T. (2015):
  Linking trait similarity to interspecific spatial associations in a moist tropical forest
  J. Veg. Sci. 26 (6), 1068 - 1079 10.1111/jvs.12313
• Giladi, I., May, F., Ristow, M., Jeltsch, F., Ziv, Y. (2014):
  Scale-dependent species–area and species–isolation relationships: a review and a test study from a fragmented semi-arid agro-ecosystem
  J. Biogeogr. 41 (6), 1055 - 1069 10.1111/jbi.12299
• Körner, K., Pfestorf, H., May, F., Jeltsch, F. (2014):
  Modelling the effect of belowground herbivory on grassland diversity
  Ecol. Model. 273 , 79 - 85 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2013.10.025
• Weiss, L., Pfestorf, H., May, F., Körner, K., Boch, S., Fischer, M., Müller, J., Prati, D., Socher, S.A., Jeltsch, F. (2014):
  Grazing response patterns indicate isolation of semi-natural European grasslands
  Oikos 123 (5), 599 - 612 10.1111/j.1600-0706.2013.00957.x
• Jeltsch, F., Blaum, N., Brose, U., Chipperfield, J.D., Clough, Y., Farwig, N., Geissler, K., Graham, C.H., Grimm, V., Hickler, T., Huth, A., May, F., Meyer, K.M., Pagel, J., Reineking, B., Rillig, M.C., Shea, K., Schurr, F.M., Schröder, B., Tielbörger, K., Weiss, L., Wiegand, K., Wiegand, T., Wirth, C., Zurell, D. (2013):
  How can we bring together empiricists and modellers in functional biodiversity research?
  Basic Appl. Ecol. 14 (2), 93 - 101 10.1016/j.baae.2013.01.001
• May, F., Giladi, I., Ristow, M., Ziv, Y., Jeltsch, F. (2013):
  Plant functional traits and community assembly along interacting gradients of productivity and fragmentation
  Perspect. Plant Ecol. Evol. Syst. 15 (6), 304 - 318 10.1016/j.ppees.2013.08.002
• May, F., Giladi, I., Ristow, M., Ziv, Y., Jeltsch, F. (2013):
  Metacommunity, mainland-island system or island communities? Assessing the regional dynamics of plant communities in a fragmented landscape
  Ecography 36 (7), 842 - 853 10.1111/j.1600-0587.2012.07793.x
• May, F., Grimm, V., Jeltsch, F. (2009):
  Reversed effects of grazing on plant diversity: the role of below-ground competition and size symmetry
  Oikos 118 (12), 1830 - 1843 10.1111/j.1600-0706.2009.17724.x