I am interested in the importance of trait variation at fine scales (within species and within individuals) in local coexistence and community assembly, with special focus on leaf traits. Specifically, in my PhD I am studying the changes of intra-specific trait variation and intra-individual trait variation in response to local tree diversity in temperate and subtropical forests. For that, I am measuring a set of different morphological and chemical properties of leaves in Biodiversity-Ecosystem functioning experiments in China and Germany.
