Prof. Dr. Kristin Ludewig

Dr. Kristin Ludewig assumed the professorship in Landscape and Vegetation Ecology at the University of Kassel on September 1. Her research focuses on how species-rich plant communities depend on their biotic and abiotic environments. Her work focuses in particular on factors such as the water regime of ecosystems, as well as environmental changes, including climate change. Floodplains are ideal ecosystems for her research, as wet and dry conditions vary dynamically across space and time, and these areas are strongly affected by environmental changes. At the University of Hamburg, she coordinated a project on hardwood floodplain forests along the middle Elbe River. This project combined research on the ecosystem services provided by forests with the planting of new hardwood floodplain forests. To implement this work, she simultaneously worked at the Loki Schmidt Foundation in Hamburg. In general, she is particularly committed to combining research with practical implementation. Therefore, in her teaching, she emphasizes both the scientific and the practical perspectives on habitats and their species communities.