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
Kaiser C, Fuchslueger L, Koranda M, Gorfer M, Stange CF, Kitzler B et al. Plants control the seasonal dynamics of microbial N cycling in a beech forest soil by belowground C allocation. Ecology. 2011;92(5):1036-1051.
Kaiser C, Koranda M, Kitzler B, Fuchslueger L, Schnecker J, Schweiger P et al. Belowground carbon allocation by trees drives seasonal patterns of extracellular enzyme activities by altering microbial community composition in a beech forest soil. New Phytologist. 2010;187(3):843-858. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03321.x
Microbiomes Drive Planetary Health
Lucia Fuchslueger is part of the FWF-funded Cluster of Excellence (CoE)
