Investigating the potential of biodiversity for agroecosystems with a community ecological perspective.

AGRICULTURAL ECOLOGY

Experimental setup to assess mixture benefits. Left: lentil monoculture; Center: oat/lupin mixture; Right: wheat/quinoa mixture.

Prof. Christian Schöb

Research Areas – Functional plant ecology: effect and response

traits; – Plant-plant interactions and their evolutionary and

environmental context dependence; – Biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships

in natural and agricultural systems; – Benefits of biodiversity in agriculture; mixed

cropping; intercropping.

RegionsSpain, Switzerland, and other European countries.

PartnersAgricultural School Liebegg; University of Zurich; The James Hutton Institute; Universidad Rey Juan Carlos; Spanish National Research Council, Almería; University of Göttingen; and University of Pretoria.

ContactETH ZurichAgricultural EcologyLFH B 8.2Universitätstrasse 28092 Zurich

www.agroecol.ethz.ch →

Contribution to the WFSCWe take a community ecological perspective on crop systems and study the potential of biodiversity in ag-riculture, in particular through intercropping. We put emphasis on the investigation of plant-plant interac-tions and their evolutionary and environmental context dependence using observational and experimental ap-proaches under field and greenhouse conditions. We aim at transferring ecological knowledge to agricultural ecosystems in order to achieve a more sustainable, yet productive agriculture. We also believe in the potential of participatory research and co-construct some of our research with stakeholders.