Priv.-Doz. Dr. Christine Sabine Sheppard

I am a plant ecologist with a research focus on biological invasions. Invasions by alien species are both fascinating and of great importance because they pose major threats to biodiversity, but also act as a natural experiment providing many insights about ecological and evolutionary processes. My main research objectives include understanding biotic interactions between native and alien species as well as among multiple invaders, predicting the long-term dynamics of plant invasions, and testing potential synergistic effects with various other factors of global change. To better understand the eco-evolutionary mechanisms associated with such invasion dynamics, I combine multi-species experiments and field studies with macroecological analyses. Beyond invasions, I am generally interested in biotic interactions, effects of global change and conservation of plant diversity.

Curriculum vitae

04/2022: Habilitation and venia legendi in Plant Ecology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Hohenheim, Germany. Habilitation thesis on “Eco-evolutionary dynamics of plant invasions in novel biotic and abiotic contexts”

Since 05/2014: Senior Research Associate, Institute of Landscape and Plant Ecology, University of Hohenheim, Germany (01-04 & 09-12/2017; 01-05 & 08-12/2020; 12/2021-04/2022 & 07-12/2022: maternal leave)

04/2010 - 09/2013 (defence 04/2014): PhD in Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, New Zealand. PhD thesis on “Potential distribution and invasiveness of recently naturalised alien plants under climate change”. Recipient of The University of Auckland International Doctoral Scholarship

11/2008 - 12/2009: Backpacking South and Central America, and overlanding Africa

10/2006 - 10/2008: Master of Science ETH in Environmental Sciences (with Major in Ecology and Evolution), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Switzerland. MSc thesis on “The influence of elevated temperature and extreme weather events on native plant communities and their invasion by native and alien plant species”

10/2006 - 03/2007: Internship at the Department of Conservation, Hokitika, New Zealand

10/2003 - 10/2006: Bachelor of Science ETH in Environmental Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Switzerland

From novel to native: long-term dynamics of biotic interactions (‘Nov-Nat’)

Performance of and interactions among multiple co-occurring plant invaders (project within the Eliteprogramme for Postdocs Baden-Württemberg Stiftung)

Temporal dynamics of plant invasions: the role of residence time mediated by abiotic and biotic dissimilarity in determining invader performance and impacts (DFG-project)

For an up-to-date list, please check GoogleScholar or my personal website.

Ferenc V, Merkert C, Zilles F, Sheppard CS (2021). Native and alien species suffer from late arrival, while negative effects of multiple alien species on natives vary. Oecologia 197: 271-281 (DOI: 10.1007/s00442-021-05017-3).

Sheppard CS, Brendel MR (2021). Competitive ability of native and alien plants: effects of residence time and invasion status. NeoBiota 65: 47-69 (DOI: 10.3897/neobiota.65.63179).

Corli A, Walter J, Sheppard CS (2021). Invasion success of Bunias orientalis (warty cabbage) in grasslands: a mesocosm experiment on the role of hydrological stress and disturbance. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9: 625587 (DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.625587).

Brendel MR, Schurr FS, Sheppard CS (2021). Inter- and intraspecific selection in alien plants: how population growth, functional traits and climate responses change with residence time.  Global Ecology and Biogeography 30: 429-442 (DOI: 10.1111/geb.13228).

Ferenc V, Sheppard CS (2020). The stronger, the better - Trait hierarchy is driving alien species interaction. Oikos 129: 1455-1467 (DOI: 10.1111/oik.07338).

Kattge J, Bönisch G, Díaz S, Lavorel S, Prentice IC, Leadley P, Tautenhahn S, Werner G, … Brendel MR, … Schurr FS, …. Sheppard CS, … and Wirth C (2020) TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access. Global Change Biology 26: 119-188 (DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14904).

Corli A, Sheppard CS (2019). Effects of residence time, auto-fertility and pollinator dependence on reproductive output and spread of alien and native Asteraceae. Plants 8: 108 (DOI: 10.3390/plants8040108).

Sheppard CS (2019). Relative performance of co-occurring alien plant invaders depends on traits related to competitive ability more than niche differences. Biological Invasions 21: 1101-1114 (DOI: 10.1007/s10530-018-1884-z).

Sheppard CS, Schurr FM (2019). Biotic resistance or introduction bias? Immigrant plant performance decreases with residence times over millennia. Global Ecology and Biogeography 28: 222-237 (DOI: 10.1111/geb.12844).

Dormann CF, Bobrowski M, Dehling DM, Harris DJ, Hartig F, Lischke H, Moretti MD, Pagel J, Pinkert S, Schleuning M, Schmidt SI, Sheppard CS, Steinbauer MJ, Zeuss D, Kraan C (2018). Biotic interactions in species distribution modelling: ten questions to guide interpretation and avoid false conclusions. Global Ecology and Biogeography 27: 1004-1016 (DOI: 10.1111/geb.12759).

Sheppard CS, Carboni M, Essl F, Seebens H, DivGrass Consortium, Thuiller W (2018). It takes one to know one: similarity to resident alien species increases establishment success of new invaders. Diversity and Distributions 24: 680-691 (DOI: 10.1111/ddi.12708).

Sheppard CS, Burns BR, Stanley MC (2016). Future-proofing weed management for the effects of climate change: is New Zealand underestimating the risk of increased plant invasions? New Zealand Journal of Ecology 40: 398-405 (DOI: 10.20417/nzjecol.40.45).

Sheppard CS, Burns BR (2014). Effects of interspecific alien versus intraspecific native competition on growth of native woody plants. Plant Ecology 215: 1527-1538 (DOI: 10.1007/s11258-014-0411-2).

Sheppard CS (2014). The effect of drought on growth of three potential new weeds in New Zealand. Plant Protection Quarterly 29: 54-60 (Link to journal).

Sheppard CS, Burns BR, Stanley MC (2014). Predicting plant invasions under climate change: are species distribution models validated by field trials? Global Change Biology 20: 2800-2814 (DOI: 10.1111/gcb.12531).

Sheppard CS, Stanley MC (2014). Does elevated temperature and doubled CO2 increase growth of three potentially invasive plants? Invasive Plant Science and Management 7: 237-246 (DOI: 10.1614/IPSM-D-13-00038.1).

Sheppard CS (2013). How does selection of climate variables affect predictions of species distributions? A case study of three new weeds in New Zealand. Weed Research 53: 259-268 (DOI: 10.1111/wre.12021).

Sheppard CS (2013). Potential spread of recently naturalised plants in New Zealand under climate change. Climatic Change 117: 919-931 (DOI: 10.1007/s10584-012-0605-3).

Sheppard CS, Alexander JM, Billeter R (2012). The invasion of plant communities following extreme weather events under ambient and elevated temperature. Plant Ecology 213: 1289-1301 (DOI: 10.1007/s11258-012-0086-5).