Terrestrial Ecology

Previous seminars

Autumn 2025


Date	Title
16.09.2025	Prof. Dr. Madhav P. Thakur (Maddy), University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Introduction to TERR Seminar of Fall 2025
23.09.2025	Dr. Zachary M. Bailey (Zach), University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland How heat extremes and predations shape bacterial coexistence.
30.09.2025	Moderated by Zach, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Student presentations and discussion
07.10.2025	Jingjing Shi, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland How do fungal-bacterial interactions help understand microbial responses to climate extremes? Loraine Hablützel, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland How ecological interactions shape evolutionary trajectories
14.10.2025	Moderated by Jingjing & Loraine, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Student presentations and discussion
21.10.2025	Nicolò Tartini (Nico), University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Role of plant intraspecific variation in the recovery strategies from extreme drought Dr. Caroline Daniel, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Soil legacy effects after drought impact plant species interactions and drive interspecific shifts in their abundances
28.10.2025	Moderated by Nico & Caroline, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Student presentations and discussion
04.11.2025	Itzel Lopez Montoya, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Post-drought recovery of soil microbial diversity, composition and activity under constant or pulse warming events Dr. Nicholas O. Ofiti, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Exploring the hidden world of soil in a changing climate
11.11.2025	Moderated by Itzel & Nicholas, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Student presentations and discussion
18.11.2025	Anouk Gremion, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Reproductive Costs Increase With Longer Extreme Heat Events in Collembola Gerard Martínez-De León, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Ecological consequences of heat extremes: what can we learn from soil invertebrates?
25.11.2025	Moderated by Gerard, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Student presentations and discussion
02.12.2025	Moderated by Maddy, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Ecology across scales in a changing world

Autumn 2024


Date	Title
17.09.2024	Gerard Martinez De Leon, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Population and community responses of soil organisms after heat extremes
24.09.2024	Dr. Caroline Daniel, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Stably coexisting communities deliver higher levels of multifunctionality
01.10.2024	Dr. Eva Gril, EDYSAN (Ecologie et Dynamique des Systèmes Anthropisés), CNRS - Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, France Modelling forest microclimate and its consequences on understory flora under climate change
08.10.2024	Itzel Lopez Montoya, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Effects of warming and drought on soil microorganisms
15.10.2024	Anouk Gremion, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland MSc project final presentation: Exploring the role of plant-soil feedbacks in Brachypodium pinnatum ring formation
22.10.2024	Dr. Zachary Bailey, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland The effects of Climate Change on soil viruses and their microbial hosts.
29.10.2024	Shareen Sanders, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland The influence of climate extremes on the success of non-native plants
05.11.2024	Dr. Nicholas Ofiti, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Dirt-y secrets: plant-soil relationship drama in a changing climate
12.11.2024	no talks
19.11.2024	Dr. Ana-Hermina Ghenu, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Can heat and diversity curb a strong competitor?: Microbial lessons from the lab
26.11.2024	Jingjing Shi, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Understanding the resistance and recovery of soil fungi and bacteria through biotic interactions under climate extremes
03.12.2024	Loraine Hablützel, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Adaptation to heat and antibiotics in monocultures vs. cocultures
10.12.2024	Nicolò Tartini, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Interactive effects of heat waves and drought on grassland plants across seasons
17.12.2024	Prof. Dr. Madhav P. Thakur, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Effects of periodic heat waves and predation on Collembola

Autumn 2023


Date	Title
19.09.2023	Nicolò Tartini, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Plant insect interaction in a changing world
26.09.2023	Dr. Ana-Hermina Ghenu, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Is the whole greater than the sum of its parts?: higher-order interactions impact the resistance and recovery of soil bacteria to extreme heat events
03.10.2023	Daniel Roth, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland BSc project introduction: Microbial colonizers of icelandic nunataks: evaluating fungal and bacterial diversity and the influence of island size and age in glacial landscapes Anouk Gremion, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland MSc project introduction: Does plant-soil-feedback explain the spatial dynamics of the clonal grass Brachypodium pinnatum?
10.10.2023	Adriana Moriguchi Jeckel, University of Bern, IPS, Switzerland Chemically mediated host pathogen interactions under climate extremes
17.10.2023	Anine Wyser, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland MSc project final presentation: Drought influence on belowground trophic interactions in slow and fast growing plants Jan Tscheulin, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland MSc project final presentation: Fungal and bacteria interaction in drought
24.10.2023	Yu Sun, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Effects of severe drought on root morphological traits across plant functional groups: A meta-analysis
31.10.2023	Itzel Lopez, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland The role of multitrophic soil diversity in the establishment of an invasive plant during global change
14.11.2023	Shareen Sanders, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland The Roots of Triumph: explaining invasive success through plant-soil feedback experiments in the context of climate extremes
21.11.2023	Gerard Martinez De Leon, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Soil community responses to climate extremes at different elevations across seasons
05.12.2023	Jingjing Shi, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland The resistance and recovery of soil fungi and bacteria under climate extremes: a biotic interaction perspective
12.12.2023	Chiara Zimmermann, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland MSc project final presentation: Thermoregulation in a lowland spider species Fabrice Bucheli, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland MSc project final presentation: Unveiling the role of host-plant dynamics for butterfly range expansions in a changing world
19.12.2023	Prof. Dr. Madhav P. Thakur & Dr. Ludovico Formenti, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Effects of periodic heat waves and predation on Collembola

Spring 2023


Date	Title
28.02.2023	Journal club: Gerard, Henrik, Patrick, Tobia and Chiara
14.03.2023	Journal club: Shareen, Anine and Angeline
28.03.2023	Journal club: Itzel, Jan, Jana and Sophie
11.04.2023	MSc project introduction: Fabrice
18.04.2023	Journal club: Nico, Sandra and Marvin
25.04.2023	Journal club: Yu and Delia
23.05.2023	BSc & MSc projects: Liz and Chiara

Autumn 2022

Date	Title
20.09.2022	Shareen Sanders, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Biotic resistance of a grassland community is not supported through plant soil feedback
27.09.2022	Dr. Ludovico Formenti, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland FoBEx- introducing an experimental framework to study the effects of climate extremes on terrestrial biodiversity
04.10.2022	Dr. Silvia Brochet, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Exploring the effect of climate change on soil-associated bacterial communities
11.10.2022	Gerard Martinez De Leon, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Fast life in a warmer world: how does warming affect size-at-stage in two soil invertebrates?
18.10.2022	Dr. Susan Everingham, University of Bern, IPS, Switzerland The Bug-Network: testing the impacts of invertebrate herbivory and pathogen damage on plant communities on a global scale
25.10.2022	Yu Sun, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Altered root traits due to elevated drought: a meta-analysis
01.11.2022	Jan Philip Tscheulin, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland MSc project introduction: Interactions of multiple fungal species with bacteria in soil under extreme condition Anine Wyser, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland MSc project introduction: Drought influence on belowground trophic interactions in slow and fast growing plants
08.11.2022	Silvan Zünd, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland BSc project final presentation: Interactive effects of drought, eutrophication and heat shock on trophic cascades in a soil food chain. Anouk Gremion, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland BSc project introduction: Reproductive senescence in Collembola at higher temperatures: myth, reality or just a temporary phenomenon?
15.11.2022	Yinyin Ma, Eawag, Switzerland Spread of functional novelty during microbial range expansion
29.11.2022	Nicolò Tartini, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Applications of eDNA in Biodiversity
06.12.2022	Prof. Dr. Madhav P. Thakur, University of Bern, IEE, Switzerland Impacts of biological invasion on ecosystems

Spring 2022

Date	Title
01.03.2022	Dr. Jenalle L. Eck, University of Zurich, Switzerland Strain Diversity and Spatial Distribution Are Linked to Epidemic Dynamics in Host Populations [PDF]
15.03.2022	Dr. Susanne Kortsch, Åbo Akademi University, Finland Disentangling temporal food web dynamics facilitates understanding of ecosystem functioning [PDF]
29.03.2022	Dr. Andrea Tabi, Center for Ecological Research, Hungary Species multidimensional effects explain idiosyncratic responses of communities to environmental change [PDF]
12.04.2022	Dr. Anna Kempel, WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Switzerland
03.05.2022	Dr. Anton Potapov, University of Gottingen, Germany Linking size spectrum, energy flux and trophic multifunctionality in soil food webs of tropical land-use systems [PDF]
17.05.2022	Dr. Rutger Wilschut, University of Konstanz, Germany Root traits and belowground herbivores relate to plant–soil feedback variation among congeners [PDF]
31.05.2022	Final discussion / Exam