Christian Körner (born 29 March 1949) is an Austrian–Swiss botanist and emeritus
professor at the
University of Basel.
He is one of the world's most renowned
scientists in the field of
alpine plant ecology.
Life
Körner was born in
Salzburg. Between 1968 and 1973, he studied
biology and
geosciences at the
University of Innsbruck. He completed his
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to:
* Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification
Entertainment
* '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series
* ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic
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** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...
on water relations of alpine plants in 1977 at the University of Innsbruck (supervised by
Walter Larcher). From 1977 to 1980, he did a
Postdoc
A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...
in the Austrian MAB alpine program (alpine water cycle, hydrology) and field work in the
Caucasus (
Georgia), followed by research stays (1981, 1989) at the
Australian National University, Canberra. From 1982 to 1989, Körner was senior lecturer at the University of Innsbruck (1982: “Habilitation” for
botany). In 1989, he became full
professor of botany at the University of Basel. Since 2014, Körner is
emeritus
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
.
He is chair of the Alpine Research Station
ALPFOR on the Furkapass,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. Together with
Erika Hiltbrunner and others, he researches alpine plant life at the ALPFOR station.
Körner has a widely known talent in explaining complex and seemingly difficult subjects. This talent attracted broad interest outside the scientific community. This was especially the case when Körner was invited by
His Majesty the King of Sweden in 2003 to participate in a private royal
colloquium aimed at describing and discussing the problems of global environmental change for the
biosphere. Furthermore, Körner likes science mediation and comedy. Therefore, he attended the BES Science Slam 2015 in
Edinburgh, performing 'What carbon cyclists can learn from bankers'.
Research interests
*Alpine plant ecology and biodiversity
*High elevation
treeline research
*Increasing CO
2 concentration
*Climatic limits of European broad-leaved tree taxa
Academic achievements
*Highest score in Ecology for all German, Austrian and Swiss research institutions 1997-1998 (Bild der Wiss. 8/1999)
*Highest cited category of authors ISI (since 2000)
*Member of the
Leopoldina (since 2000)
*
Marsh Award
Marsh Charitable Trust, also known as Marsh Christian Trust, is a national charity in the United Kingdom, based in London. It is a registered charity under English law, and was established in 1981 by Brian Marsh, the current Chairman. Marsh was app ...
,
British Ecological Society (2007)
*King Albert Mountain Award by the King Albert I. Memorial Foundation for outstanding contribution to mountain research (2010)
*Co-author 'Strasburger' Botany textbook (founded 1894, 35-37th German, Ital, Span, Russ, Engl eds)
*Dr. h.c. (
University of Innsbruck, Austria 2013)
*Dr. h.c. (
Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia 2014)
Key publications
*Körner C., Asshoff R., Bignucolo O., Hättenschwiler S., Keel S.G. et al. (2005
Carbon flux and growth in mature deciduous forest trees exposed to elevated CO2 Science, Bd. 309, S. 1360-1362.
*Körner C. (2006
Plant CO2 responses: an issue of definition, time and resource supply New Phytologist, Bd. 172, S. 393-411.
*Körner C. (2015
A paradigm shift in plant growth control Curr Opin Plant Biol 25:107-114
*Körner C., Basler D., Hoch G., Kollas C., Lenz A., Randin C.F., Vitasse Y., Zimmermann N.E. (2016
Where, why and how? Explaining the low-temperature range limits of temperate tree species J Ecol 104:1076-1088
*Klein T., Siegwolf R.T.W., Körner C. (2016
Belowground carbon trade among tall trees in a temperate forest Science 352:342-344
*Körner C. (2017
A matter of tree longevity Science 355:130-131
Books
*Körner C. (2003
Alpine plant life. 2nd. Edition; Springer, Berlin*Körner C. (2012
Alpine treelines. Springer, Berlin*Körner C. (2013) Plant ecology (Chapt 11-14). In
Bresinsky et al. (eds) Strasburger's plant sciences. Springer, Berlin
External links
Körneron the Website of University of Basel
Körneron
ResearchGate
ResearchGate is a European commercial social networking site for scientists and researchers to share papers, ask and answer questions, and find collaborators. According to a 2014 study by ''Nature'' and a 2016 article in ''Times Higher Education'' ...
*Hättenschwiler S., Arnone J. (2013)
"A tribute to Christian Körner for his 25 years of service on the Oecologia editorial board" (PDF).Oecologia. 171: 605–611.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Körner, Christian
20th-century Austrian botanists
Scientists from Salzburg
1949 births
Living people
21st-century Swiss botanists
University of Innsbruck alumni
University of Basel faculty
20th-century Swiss botanists