Contact

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website: https://remybeugnon.netlify.app

BlueSky: @remybeugnon.bsky.social

My research

My interest is to understand ecosystem functioning. We are losing species from all phyla in all ecosystems all around the world. However, the consequences of such loss for ecosystem functioning remain unpredictable. Understanding how species interact and how they are linked to their environment is a prerequisite to the understanding of ecosystem functioning and the consequences of species loss.

My Ph.D. was based on a tree Biodiversity Ecosystem Functioning experiment (BEF China), where I was focusing on tree-tree interaction effects on carbon cycling from forest productivity to soil carbon storage through its effects on microbial community and litter decomposition. I am doing this work as part of the TreeDì doctoral school which is aiming to understand tree – tree interactions in Chinese subtropical forest within the BEF China platform.

Following the latest results of my thesis, my current project B-M-EF project is aiming to understand how vegetation diversity modulate microclimate and the consequences for ecosystem functioning at the global scale.

My project in Bioflux

The Biodiversity-Microcliamte-Ecosystem Functioning nexus project aims to quantify and understand the vegetation diversity effects on microclimate and the consequences for ecosystem functioning. This project is in collaboration with the international MEB network.

Abstract

The frequency and intensity of extreme climatic events, such as heatwaves and droughts, are increasing with global warming, threatening humanity and other life on Earth. For example, belowground communities and functions are highly sensitive to changes in microclimatic conditions (e.g., temperature and humidity, Gottschall et al., 2019; Cesarz et al., 2020). Yet, vegetation has shown its potential to mitigate external macroclimatic fluctuations by means of buffering processes, assuring smooth transitions between macro- and microclimatic conditions (de Frenne et al., 2019, 2021). Moreover, higher vegetation diversity has been shown to increase primary productivity and the length of the vegetation period (Huang et al., 2017, 2018; Sapijanskas et al., 2014). Therefore, vegetation diversity is expected to increase the macroclimate buffering effect and thus protect belowground communities and functions from dramatic external climatic changes (Gottschall et al., 2019). Here, we propose to quantify the effect of vegetation cover on climatic buffering across ecosystems and seasons using the SoilTemp database and remote-sensing measurements (e.g., NDVI, spectral diversity) as proxies of vegetation diversity. In addition, we propose to quantify the effect of vegetation diversity on climatic buffering across ecosystems across the globe using the SoilTemp database and associated vegetation surveys. In particular, we here aim to understand the mechanisms behind climate buffering of vegetation diversity by investigating the roles of primary productivity and vegetations' spatial and temporal complementarity.

Hypothesis

Our main hypothesis is that plant diversity can buffer temperature fluctuations (Fig. 1) and extreme climatic events (Fig. 2), and therefore, reduce the effects of climate change on ecosystems. We are testing this hypothesis using both experiments where diversity is manipulated; such as BEF China and The Jena Experiment; and natural field measurements with the Microcloimate DataBase (MDB).

Figure 1: climate buffering by plant diversity

Figure 2: climatic extreme buffering by plant diversity

Publications

2025

Schnabel, F.⁺, Beugnon, R.⁺, Yang, B.⁺, Richter, R., Eisenhauer, N., Huang, Y., Liu, X., Wirth, C., Cesarz, S., Fichtner, A., Perles-Garcia, M. D., Hähn, G. J. A., Härdtle, W., Kunz, M., Castro Izaguirre, N. C., Niklaus, P. A., von Oheimb, G., Schmid, B., Trogisch, S., ... Bruelheide, H. (2025). Tree Diversity Increases Forest Temperature Buffering via Enhancing Canopy Density and Structural Diversity. Ecology Letters, 28(3), e70096. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.70096

2024

Beugnon, R., Le Guyader, N., Milcu, A., Lenoir, J., Puissant, J., Morin, X., & Hättenschwiler, S. (2024). Microclimate modulation: An overlooked mechanism influencing the impact of plant diversity on ecosystem functioning. Global Change Biology, 30(3), e17214. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17214
Beugnon, R., Zeiss, R., Bönisch, E., Phillips, H. R. P., & Jochum, M. (2024). Communicating soil biodiversity research to kids around the world. Soil Organisms, 96(2), Article 2. 10.25674/413

Christel, H., Bruelheide, H., Cesarz, S., Eisenhauer, N., Hähn, G. J. A., & Beugnon, R. (2024). The spatial distribution of tree–tree interaction effects on soil microbial biomass and respiration. Ecology and Evolution, 14(6), e11530. 10.1002/ece3.11530

De Frenne, P., Beugnon, R., Klinges, D., Lenoir, J., Niittynen, P., Pincebourde, S., Senior, R. A., Aalto, J., Chytrý, K., Gillingham, P. K., Greiser, C., Gril, E., Haesen, S., Kearney, M., Kopecký, M., le Roux, P. C., Luoto, M., Maclean, I., Man, M., ... Van Meerbeek, K. (2024). Ten practical guidelines for microclimate research in terrestrial ecosystems. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, n/a(n/a). 10.1111/2041-210X.14476

Eisenhauer, N., Frank, K., Weigelt, A., Bartkowski, B., Beugnon, R., Liebal, K., Mahecha, M., Quaas, M., Al-Halbouni, D., Bastos, A., Bohn, F. J., de Brito, M. M., Denzler, J., Feilhauer, H., Fischer, R., Fritsche, I., Guimaraes-Steinicke, C., Hänsel, M., Haun, D. B. M., ... Quaas, J. (2024). A belowground perspective on the nexus between biodiversity change, climate change, and human well-being. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment, 3(2), e212108. 10.1002/sae2.12108

Guo, L., Chang, P., Deng, M., Yang, S., Yang, L., Peng, Z., Beugnon, R., Saadani, M., Wang, Z., Jia, Z., Wang, B., Liu, C., Cesarz, S., Eisenhauer, N., Bruelheide, H., & Liu, L. (2024). Tree species diversity modulates the effects of fungal pathogens on litter decomposition: Evidences from an incubation experiment. Plant and Soil. 10.1007/s11104-024-06780-x

Kemppinen, J., Lembrechts, J. J., Van Meerbeek, K., Carnicer, J., Chardon, N. I., Kardol, P., Lenoir, J., Liu, D., Maclean, I., Pergl, J., Saccone, P., Senior, R. A., Shen, T., Słowińska, S., Vandvik, V., von Oppen, J., Aalto, J., Ayalew, B., Bates, O., Beugnon, R., ... De Frenne, P. (2024). Microclimate, an important part of ecology and biogeography. Global Ecology and Biogeography, n/a(n/a), e13834. 10.1111/geb.13834

Singavarapu, B., ul Haq, H., Darnstaedt, F., Nawaz, A., Beugnon, R., Cesarz, S., Eisenhauer, N., Du, J., Xue, K., Wang, Y., Bruelheide, H., & Wubet, T. (2024). Influence of tree mycorrhizal type, tree species identity, and diversity on forest root-associated mycobiomes. New Phytologist, 242(4), 1691–1703. 10.1111/nph.19722

2023

Singavarapu, Bala, Du, Jianqing, Beugnon, Rémy, Cesarz, Simone, Eisenhauer, Nico, Xue, Kai, Wang, Yanfen, Bruelheide, Helge, & Wubet, Tesfaye (2023). Functional Potential of Soil Microbial Communities and Their Subcommunities Varies with Tree Mycorrhizal Type and Tree Diversity. Microbiology Spectrum, 0(0), e04578-22. DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.04578-22

2022

Beugnon, Rémy; Bu, Wensheng; Bruelheide, Helge; Davrinche, Andréa; Du, Jianqing; Haider, Sylvia; Kunz, Matthias; von Oheimb, Goddert; Perles-Garcia, Maria D.; Saadani, Mariem; Scholten, Thomas; Seitz, Steffen; Singavarapu, Bala; Trogisch, Stefan; Wang, Yanfen; Wubet, Tesfaye; Xue, Kai; Yang, Bo; Cesarz, Simone & Eisenhauer, Nico (2022): Abiotic and biotic drivers of tree trait effects on soil microbial biomass and soil carbon concentration. Ecological Monographs. DOI: 10.1002/ecm.1563

Eisenhauer, Nico; Bender, S. Franz; Calderón Sanou, Irene; de Vries, Franciska T.; Lembrechts, Jonas J.; Thuiller, Wilfried; Wall, Diana H.; Zeiss, Romy; Bahram, Mohammad; Beugnon, Rémy ... Guerra, Carlos A.; Potapov Anton (2022): Frontiers in soil ecology—Insights from the World Biodiversity Forum 2022. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment. DOI: 10.1002/sae2.12031

Beugnon, Rémy; Jochum, Malte; Phillips, Helen (2022) SOIL BIODIVERSITY. Frontiers for Young Minds. DOI: https://kids.frontiersin.org/collections/11796/soil-biodiversity

2021

Beugnon Rémy, Ladouceur Emma, Sünnemann Marie, Cesarz Simone, Eisenhauer Nico (2021). Diverse forests are cool: Promoting diverse forests to mitigate carbon emissions and climate change. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment. DOI: 10.1002/sae2.12005

Beugnon Rémy (2021). Ph.D. thesis: From trees to soil: microbial and spatial mediation of tree diversity effects on carbon cycling in subtropical Chinese forests. PDF

Beugnon Rémy, Du Jianqing, Cesarz Simone, Jurburg Stephanie D., Pang Zhe, Singavarapu Bala, Wubet Tesfaye, Xue Kai, Wang Yanfen, Eisenhauer Nico (2021). Tree diversity and soil chemical properties drive the linkages between soil microbial community and ecosystem functioning. ISME Communications (1). DOI: 10.1038/s43705-021-00040-0

Singavarapu Bala, Beugnon Rémy, Bruelheide Helge, Cesarz Simone, Du Jianqing, Eisenhauer Nico, Guo Liang-Dong, Nawaz Ali, Wang Yanfen, Xue Kai, Wubet Tesfaye (2021). Tree mycorrhizal type and tree diversity shape the forest soil microbiota. Environmental Microbiology. DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.15690

Phillips Helen R. P., et al (2021). Global data on earthworm abundance, biomass, diversity and corresponding environmental properties. Scientific Data (8). DOI: 10.1038/s41597-021-00912-z

Thouvenot Lise, Ferlian Olga, Beugnon Rémy, Kuenne Tom, Lochner Alfred, Thakur Madhav P., Tueke Manfred, Eisenhauer Nico (2021). Do Invasive Earthworms Affect the Functional Traits of Native Plants?. Frontiers in Plant Science (12). DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.627573

2019

Cesarz Simone, Schulz Annika Eva, Beugnon Rémy, Eisenhauer Nico (2019). Testing soil nematode extraction efficiency using different variations of the Baermann-funnel method. Soil Organisms (91). DOI: 10.25674/so91201

Beugnon Rémy, Steinauer Katja, Barnes Andrew D., Ebeling Anne, Roscher Christiane, Eisenhauer Nico (2019). Chapter Five - Plant functional trait identity and diversity effects on soil meso- and macrofauna in an experimental grassland. Advances in Ecological Research (61). DOI: 10.1016/bs.aecr.2019.06.004

CV

Cited literature

Cesarz, S., Craven, D., Auge, H., Bruelheide, H., Castagneyrol, B., Hector, A., Jactel, H., Koricheva, J., Messier, C., Muys, B., O’Brien, M. J., Paquette, A., Ponette, Q., Potvin, C., Reich, P. B., Scherer-Lorenzen, M., Smith, A. R., Verheyen, K., & Eisenhauer, N. (2020). Biotic and abiotic drivers of soil microbial functions across tree diversity experiments. BioRXiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.30.927277

de Frenne, P., Lenoir, J., Luoto, M., Scheffers, B. R., Zellweger, F., Aalto, J., Ashcroft, M. B., Christiansen, D. M., Decocq, G., de Pauw, K., Govaert, S., Greiser, C., Gril, E., Hampe, A., Jucker, T., Klinges, D. H., Koelemeijer, I. A., Lembrechts, J. J., Marrec, R., … Hylander, K. (2021). Forest microclimates and climate change: Importance, drivers and future research agenda. Global Change Biology, 27(11), 2279–2297. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15569

de Frenne, P., Zellweger, F., Rodríguez-Sánchez, F., Scheffers, B. R., Hylander, K., Luoto, M., Vellend, M., Verheyen, K., & Lenoir, J. (2019). Global buffering of temperatures under forest canopies. Ecology and Evolution, 3, 744–749.

Gottschall, F., Davids, S., Newiger-Dous, T. E., Auge, H., Cesarz, S., & Eisenhauer, N. (2019). Tree species identity determines wood decomposition via microclimatic effects. Ecology and Evolution, 9(21), 12113–12127. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5665

Huang, Y., Chen, Y., Castro-Izaguirre, N., Baruffol, M., Brezzi, M., Lang, A., Li, Y., Härdtle, W., von Oheimb, G., Yang, X., Liu, X., Pei, K., Both, S., Yang, B., Eichenberg, D., Assmann, T., Bauhus, J., Behrens, T., Buscot, F., … Schmid, B. (2018). Impacts of species richness on productivity in a large-scale subtropical forest experiment. Science (New York, N.Y.), 362(6410), 80–83. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat6405

Huang, Y., Ma, Y., Zhao, K., Niklaus, P. A., Schmid, B., & He, J.-S. (2017). Positive effects of tree species diversity on litterfall quantity and quality along a secondary successional chronosequence in a subtropical forest. Journal of Plant Ecology, 10(1), 28–35. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtw115

Sapijanskas, J., Paquette, A., Potvin, C., Kunert, N., & Loreau, M. (2014). Tropical tree diversity enhances light capture through crown plasticity and spatial and temporal niche differences. Ecology, 95(9), 2479–2492. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1366.1