Nina Buchmann awarded British Ecological Society Honorary Membership

Buchmann¡¯s research centres on process- and system-oriented research within terrestrial ecosystems. Her main interests include plant and ecosystem physiology, biogeochemistry of forest, grassland, and cropland ecosystems - focusing specifically on the response of soil and ecosystem carbon, nitrogen, and water dynamics to climatic conditions and management regimes. "But it also concerns questions of interactions among biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and sustainable resource use", explains the 60-year-old researcher. In addition to classical ecological and micrometeorological methods, she employs stable isotopes to investigate terrestrial processes.

Long-term data as the backbone of ecosystem research

A cornerstone of her work is the successful development of the Swiss FluxNet, a network of six long-term ecosystem greenhouse gas (GHG) flux measurement sites across Switzerland, covering all major land use types (grassland, cropland, forest). This unique network, which has been operational for over two decades and is supplemented by project-based sites, forms a key backbone of her research. With currently 129 site-years of continuous GHG flux measurements, it allows for the tracing, quantification, and comparison of flux magnitudes, drivers, and ecosystem resilience to slow changes (climate change) and sudden disturbances such as extreme weather events or changes in agricultural land use. All Swiss FluxNet data are freely accessible and were downloaded over 35,263 times between November 2016 and December 2024.

A great honour ¨C for the entire team

For Nina Buchmann, receiving this award is a great honour because it comes from an ecological society and from abroad. She views the prize not as an individual award but as recognition of the team effort.

What fascinates the researcher about ecology is the wide variety of approaches and questions addressed in ecology. "As an ecologist, I am particularly interested in the link between ecosystem greenhouse gas fluxes and remote sensing data, as well as in the influence of management on these fluxes," says Buchmann. To help pinpoint which drivers are important, when, and how much, and to allow for a deeper understanding of ecosystem responses to multiple interacting factors, her group extensively uses machine learning. One goal of their research is to enhance the real-world impact of the scientific results.

In addition to the honorary membership, the BES has also awarded a number of other prizes. A formal ceremony will be held during the external page Annual Meeting from 15 to 18 December in Edinburgh.