Dr. Harald Auge

Research interests

I am interested in plant population ecology and community ecology, with particular focus on ecological genetics, interspecific interactions, biological invasions, and the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.

Microevolution and ecological dynamics

• The evolutionary impact of land use: quantitative genetic diversity and phenotypic selection of grassland plants in the Biodiversity Exploratories
  
• The role of evolutionary processes during biological invasions: case studies on the invasive plants Buddleja davidii and Ageratina adenophora
  
  

Species interactions and ecosystem functioning

• The importance of antagonistic interactions for plant species coexistence, plant invasions and ecosystem functioning
  German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv)
• Effects of biological invasions and generalist consumers on plant diversity and functioning of grassland ecosystems
• The effects of tree diversity on the functioning of forest ecosystems

• Effects of climate change and land use on species interactions and ecosystem processes

Current collaborations

Stan Harpole & Anu Eskelinen, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig & Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig

Nico Eisenhauer, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig

Nicole van Dam & Jennifer Gabriel, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig

Martin Schädler, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Halle

Ingolf Kühn, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Halle

Jonathan Chase, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig

Tiffany Knight and Lotte Korell , German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig & Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Halle

Charles A. Nock & Kyle R. Kovach, Geobotany, University of Freiburg

Isabell Hensen & Helge Bruelheide, Institute of Biology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg

Holger B. Deising, Institute of Agricultural & Nutrional Sciences, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg

Curriculum vitae

Editorial activities

• Editorial Board of Basic and Applied Ecology (2004-2018)
• Editorial Board of Flora - Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants (since 2014)
  
• Associate Editor of Neobiota (since 2011)
  
• Editorial Board of PLoS ONE (since 2012)

Selected publications

Jessen M-T, Auge H, Harpole WS, Eskelinen A (2023) Litter accumulation, but not light limitation drives plant recruitment under nutrient enrichment and grazing. Journal of Ecology 111: 1174-1187. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.14099

Gottschall F, Cesarz S, Auge H, Kovach K, Nock C, Eisenhauer N (2023) Tree community composition stabilizes ecosystem functions in response to drought. Ecosphere 14: e4486. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4486.

Desie E, Zuo J, Verheyen K, Djukic I, Van Meerbeek K, Auge H, Barsoum N, Baum C, Bruelheide H, Eisenhauer N, Feldhaar H, Ferlian O, Gravel D, Jactel H, Kappel Schmidt I, Kepfer-Rojas S, Meredieu C, Mereu S, Messier C, Morillas L, Nock C, Paquette A, Ponette Q, Reich PB, Roales J, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Seitz S, Schmidt A, Stefanski A, Trogisch S, Van-Halder I, Weih M, Williams LJ, Yang B, Muys B (2023) Disentangling drivers of litter decomposition in a multi-continent network of tree diversity experiments. Science of the Total Environment 857: 159717. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159717

Jessen MT, Auge H, Hautier Y, Harpole WS, Eskelinen A (2022) Grazing and light modify Silene latifolia responses to nutrients and future climate. PLoS ONE 17: e0276789. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0276789

Cesarz S, Craven D, Auge H, Bruelheide H, Castagneyrol B, Gutknecht J, Hector A, Jactel H, Koricheva J, Messier C, Muys B, O’Brien MJ, Paquette A, Ponette Q, Potvin C, Reich P, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Smith A, Verheyen K, Eisenhauer N (2022) Biotic and abiotic drivers of soil microbial functions across tree diversity experiments. Global Ecology and Biogeography 31: 872-885. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13461

Andrzejak M, Korell L, Auge H, Knight T (2022) Effects of climate change and pollen supplementation on the reproductive success of two grassland plant species. Ecology and Evolution 12: e8501. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8501

Slabbert E, Knight T, Wubet T, Kautzner A, Baeßler C, Auge H, Roscher C, Schweiger O (2022) Abiotic factors are more important than land management and biotic interactions in shaping vascular plant and soil fungal communities. Global Ecology and Conservation 33: e01960. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01960

Gottschall F, Cesarz S, Auge H, Kovach K, Mori A, Nock C, Eisenhauer N (2022) Spatio-temporal dynamics of abiotic and biotic processes explain biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships. Ecological Monographs 92: e1490. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecm.1490

Messier C, Bauhus J, Sousa-Silva R, Auge H, Baeten L, Bruelheide H, Caldwell B, Cavender-Bares J, Dhiedt E, Eisenhauer N, Ganade G, Gravel D, Guillemot J, Hall JS, Hector A, Hérault B, Jactel H, Koricheva J, Kreft H, Mereu S, Muys B, Nock CA, Paquette A, Parker JD, Perring MP, Ponette Q, Potvin C, Reich PB, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Schnabel F, Verheyen K, Weih M, Wollni M, Zemp DC (2022) For the sake of resilience and multifunctionality, let’s diversify planted forests! Conservation Letters 14: e12829. DOI: 10.1111/conl.12829

Kambach S, Sadlowski C, Peršoh D, Guerreiro M, Auge H, Röhl O, Bruelheide H (2021) Foliar fungal endophytes in a densely planted tree diversity experiment are driven by the identity and composition but not by the diversity of the tree neighborhood. Life 11: 1081. https://doi.org/10.3390/life11101081

Korell L, Auge H, Chase J, Harpole SW, Knight T (2021) Responses of plant diversity to precipitation change are strongest at local spatial scales and in drylands. Nature Communications 12: 2489. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22766-0

Schmidt R, Deising H, Hensen I, Schädler M, Auge H (2020) Natural enemies do not contribute to negative frequency-dependence in native and exotic grassland plants. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 46: 125565. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2020.125565.

Slabbert EL, Schweiger O, Wubet T, Kautzner A, Baeßler C, Auge H, Roscher C, Knight, TM (2020) Scale-dependent impact of land management on above- and belowground biodiversity. Ecology and Evolution 10: 10139-10149.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6675.

Ladouceur E, Harpole WS, Blowes SA, Roscher C, Auge H, Seabloom EW, Chase JM (2020) Reducing dispersal limitation via seed addition leads to increased species richness but not aboveground biomass. Ecology Letters 23: 1442-1450. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13566.

Schmidt R, Auge H, Deising HB, Hensen I, Mangan SA, Schädler M, Stein C, Knight TM (2020) Abundance, origin and phylogeny of plants do not predict community-level patterns of pathogen diversity and infection. Ecology and Evolution 10: 5506-5516. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6292.

Korell L, Auge H, Chase JM, Harpole WS, Knight TM (2020) Understanding plant communities of the future requires filling knowledge gaps. Global Change Biology 26: 328-329. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14920.

Korell L, Auge H, Chase JM, Harpole WS, Knight TM (2020) We need more realistic climate change experiments for understanding ecosystems of the future. Global Change Biology 26: 325-327. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14797.

Korell L, Schädler M, Brandl R, Schreiter S, Auge H (2019) Release from above- and belowground insect herbivory mediates invasion dynamics and impact of an exotic plant. Plants 8: 544. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants8120544.

Cáceres Y, Schrieber K, Lachmuth S, Auge H, Argibay D., Renison D, Hensen I (2019) Effects of altitude, land use and microsites on early-life performance of a high mountain tree: insights from an in situ sowing experiment. Diversity and Distributions: 25: 1537-1550. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12956.

Gottschall F, Davids S, Newiger-Dous TE, Auge H, Cesarz S, Eisenhauer N (2019) Tree species identity determines wood decomposition via microclimatic effects. Ecology and Evolution 9: 12113-12127. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5665.

Kambach S, Allan E, Bilodeau-Gauthier S, Coomes D, Haase J, Jucker T, Kunstler G, Müller S, Nock C, Paquette A, van der Plas F, Ratcliffe S, Roger F, Ruiz-Benito P, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Auge H, Bouriaud O, Castagneyrol B, Dahlgren J, Gamfeldt L, Jactel H, Kändler G, Koricheva J, Lehtonen A, Muys B, Ponette Q, Setiawan N, Van de Peer T, Verheyen K, Zavala MA, Bruelheide H (2019) How do trees respond to species mixing in experimental compared to observational studies? Ecology and Evolution 9: 11254-11265. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5627.

Schädler M, Buscot F, Klotz S, Reitz T, Durka W, Bumberger J, Merbach I, Michalski S, Kirsch K, Remmler P, Schulz E, Auge H (2019) Investigating the consequences of climate change under different land-use regimes – a novel experimental infrastructure. Ecosphere 10: e02635. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2635.

Pankoke H, Tewes LJ, Matthies S, Hensen I, Schädler M, Ebeling S, Auge H, Müller C (2019) Pre-adaptations and shifted chemical defences provide Buddleja davidii populations with high resistance against antagonists in the invasive range. Biological Invasions 21: 333-347

Yin R, Eisenhauer N, Auge H, Schmidt A, Schädler M (2019) Additive effects of experimental climate change and land use on faunal contribution to litter decomposition. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 131: 141-148

Siebert J, Sünnemann M, Auge H, Berger S, Cesarz S, Ciobanu M, Guerrero-Ramírez NR, Eisenhauer N (2019) The effects of drought and nutrient addition on soil organisms vary across taxonomic groups, but are constant across seasons. Scientific Reports 9: 639. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-36777-3.

Paquette A, Hector A, Castagneyrol B, Vanhellemont M, Koricheva J, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Verheyen K, TreeDivNet (2018) A million and more trees for science. Nature Ecology & Evolution 2: 763-766

Djukic I and 304 co-authors (2018) Early stage litter decomposition across biomes. Science of the Total Environment 628-629: 1369-1394

Bannar-Martin KH, Kremer CT, Ernest SKM, Leibold MA, Auge H, Chase J, Declerck SAJ, Eisenhauer N, Harpole S, Hillebrand H, Isbell F, Koffel T, Larsen S, Narwani A, Petermann JS, Roscher C, Cabral JS, Supp SR (2018) Integrating community assembly and biodiversity to better understand ecosystem function: the Community Assembly and the Functioning of Ecosystems (CAFE) approach. Ecology Letters 21: 167-180

Complete list of publications >>