We conduct research in applied plant ecology with emphasis on a statistically robust description of the various measures of plant abundance, e.g. plant cover, and model the ecological processes in plant communities, e.g. plant competition.
We know that changes in the environment, e.g. climate changes or deposition of atmospheric nitrogen, affect plant competition and ultimately change the vegetation’s species composition. In order to regulate the various impacts on nature on an informed basis, it is important to be able to predict how nature responds to these impacts, and our research on plant competition is necessary for making such ecological predictions.
Any credible ecological forecasting should be accompanied by an assessment of uncertainty, and by using advanced statistical techniques we strive to quantify our uncertainty while studying how to get better at making predictions, i.e. reducing uncertainty.
