Dr. Lucia Fuchslueger
Junior Research Group Leader at the Division of Terrestrial Ecosystem Research
☎ +43 1 4277 91269
✉ lucia.fuchslueger(at)univie.ac.at
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Research Profiles
» orcID
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Social Media
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Publications
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Plant-Soil-Microbe Interactions as Ecosystem Drivers. At the heart of my research is understanding how interactions among plants, soil microorganisms, and their environment regulate ecosystem functioning—from belowground carbon allocation to root-microbe feedbacks. This integrative approach, combining field experiments, isotope tracing and molecular techniques, shows that belowground interactions actively shape ecosystem-level responses to nutrient availability and climate stress.
Nutrient Limitation and Acquisition Strategies. With my team, we investigate how plants and microorganisms acquire limiting nutrients, particularly phosphorus and nitrogen, in resource-poor ecosystems. Working in tropical forests and temperate grasslands, we examine strategies from fine root trait plasticity and exudate composition to microbial enzyme production, revealing how nutrient scarcity shapes microbial community and ecosystem responses to global change.
Climate Change Impacts on Belowground Processes. We study how drought, warming, and elevated CO2 alter soil carbon and nutrient cycling through plant-soil-microbe interactions. Our work demonstrates that past environmental conditions can create "ecological memory" that modifies subsequent stress responses. Tracking these dynamics across biomes reveals mechanisms underlying ecosystem resilience and vulnerability to climate change.
Public Outreach
FACE-ing the Amazon's future (2025)
Description of root exudate collection at the TropiRoot Network workshop at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute at Barro Colorado Island, Panama "Coordinating and synthesizing tropical forest root trait studies: Understanding belowground NPP, root responses to global change, and nutrient acquisition dynamics across tropical forests," funded by New Phytologist (2023)
Group Members
Crisvaldo Cássio Silva de Souza
PhD Student (INPA Manaus, Brazil)
Publications
Martins NP, Fuchslueger L, Lugli LF, Valverde-Barrantes OJ, Norby RJ, Hartley IP et al. Amazonian understory forests change phosphorus acquisition strategies under elevated CO2. Nature Communications. 2026 Apr 28;17(1):1-11. 3740. doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-72098-0
Vallicrosa H, Mariotte P, Hagedorn F, Fuchslueger L, Martins N, Milano A et al. Drought and warming enhance the risk of nitrogen losses in intensively managed grasslands. Plant and soil. 2026 Mar 20. doi: 10.1007/s11104-026-08471-1
Jenab K, Alteio L, Guseva K, Gorka S, Darcy S, Fuchslueger L et al. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal families and exploration-based guilds exhibit distinct responses to long-term N, P and K deficiencies and imbalances. New Phytologist. 2026 Mar 2;250(3):1846-1862. doi: 10.1111/nph.70969
Ferrín M, Peñuelas J, Asensio D, Bréchet L, Fernàndez P, Fuchslueger L et al. Beyond N and P fertilization: Tropical ground hexapod communities are tied to micronutrients. Applied Soil Ecology. 2026 Jan;217:1-8. 106604. doi: 10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106604
Zevenhuizen AL, Richter A, Fuchslueger L, Prommer J, Janssens IA, Verbrigghe N et al. Microbial Nitrogen Cycling Becomes Conservative and Resilient to Long-Term Warming in High-Latitude Carbon-Limited Soils. Global Change Biology. 2025 Dec 30;32(1):1-13. e70673. doi: 10.1111/gcb.70673
Microbiomes Drive Planetary Health
Lucia Fuchslueger is part of the FWF-funded Cluster of Excellence (CoE)
