Lecture Overview

Biogeochemical processes within and across ecosystems are core to understand the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, i.e., forests and agroecosystems, in particular under changing environmental conditions. Measurements are necessary at multiple scales, e.g., for forests at soil, forest floor, tree, canopy, and forest ecosystem scales, using methodology from many different disciplines. Data should be available in high temporal resolution, preferentially for long time periods, to quantify and understand short-term responses to environmental drivers and management, but also to detect and identify long-term responses to climate change. The SwissFluxNet offers exactly such data, namely high-temporal resolution biosphere-atmosphere greenhouse gas (GHG) exchange (i.e., CO₂, H₂O vapor, CH₄, N₂O) measured with the eddy-covariance (EC) technique. It moreover serves as a research platform for many other studies and research programs. In the talk, I will focus on selected results about GHG fluxes and their drivers from forests, grasslands and croplands as well as feedbacks at multiple scales.

Speaker’s Biography

Nina Buchmann studied Geoecology at the University of Bayreuth (Germany), received her doctoral degree in Plant Ecology, and spend her postdoc at the University of Utah (USA). During her time at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry (Germany), she headed her own research group, and since 2003, Nina Buchmann is Full Professor of Grassland Sciences at ETH Zurich in Switzerland.

The main research topics of Nina Buchmann include (1) plant and ecosystem physiology, (2) biogeochemistry of terrestrial ecosystems, i.e., forest, grassland and cropland, particularly the response of soil and ecosystem greenhouse gas exchange with the atmosphere to climatic conditions and management regimes, and (3) interactions among biodiversity, ecosystem functions/services, and sustainable resource use. Among classical ecological methods, she uses stable isotopes to investigate terrestrial processes. She has led and contributed as PI and work package leader to many national and international projects. For example, she chaired the ESF program SIBAE (Stable Isotope in Biosphere-Atmosphere Exchange) and the COST Action ES0806 (Stable Isotopes in Biosphere-Atmosphere-Earth System Research). Nina Buchmann leads ICOS-Switzerland, the Swiss contribution to ICOS (Integrated Carbon Observation System) Research Infrastructure.

Nina Buchmann published more than 400 refereed original journal papers and 40 books and book chapters. She is founding member of the Young Academy of Sciences (Germany, 2000-2005), member of the National Academy of Sciences in Germany (since 2007) and international member of the US Academy of Sciences (since 2025). She was elected as Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (2018) and identified as "Highly Cited Researcher" (2018, 2019). Nina Buchmann received the Distinguished Alumna award of the University of Utah and the Honorary Medal 2022 of the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.