Christian Körner (born 29 March 1949) is an Austrian–Swiss botanist and emeritus

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis''; German: ''Universität Basel'') is a public research university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest univ ...

. He is one of the world's most renowned

scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

s in the field of

alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National P ...

plant ecology Plant ecology is a subdiscipline of ecology that studies the distribution and abundance (ecology), abundance of plants, the effects of environmental factors upon the abundance of plants, and the interactions among plants and between plants and ...

Life

Körner was born in

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

. Between 1968 and 1973, he studied

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

and

geosciences Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres ...

at the

University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (; ) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. It is the largest education facility in the Austrian States of Austria, ...

. He completed his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

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). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary academ ...

in the Austrian MAB alpine program (alpine water cycle, hydrology) and field work in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

(

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

), followed by research stays (1981, 1989) at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

, Canberra. From 1982 to 1989, Körner was senior lecturer at the University of Innsbruck (1982: “Habilitation” for

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

). In 1989, he became full

of botany at the University of Basel. Since 2014, Körner is

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

. He is chair of the Alpine Research Station ALPFOR on the Furkapass,

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. 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 The biosphere (), also called the ecosphere (), is the worldwide sum of all ecosystems. It can also be termed the zone of life on the Earth. The biosphere (which is technically a spherical shell) is virtually a closed system with regard to mat ...

. Furthermore, Körner likes science mediation and comedy. Therefore, he attended the BES Science Slam 2015 in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, performing 'What carbon cyclists can learn from bankers'.

Research interests

*Alpine plant ecology and biodiversity *High elevation

treeline The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...

research *Increasing CO₂ concentration *Climatic limits of European broad-leaved tree taxa *Effects of elevated CO₂ on photosynthesis and plant growth

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,

British Ecological Society The British Ecological Society is a learned society in the field of ecology that was founded in 1913. It is the oldest ecological society in the world. The Society's original objective was "to promote and foster the study of Ecology in its widest ...

(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. (

, Austria 2013) *Dr. h.c. (

Ilia State University Ilia State University ISU ( ka, ილიას სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტი) is a public university in Tbilisi, Georgia that was founded in 2006 as a result of a merger of six different academic institution ...

, 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

Körner
on the Website of University of Basel
Körner
on

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 Academic staff of the University of Basel 20th-century Swiss botanists