alexandra-m-klein.com

Alexandra-Maria Klein is an ecologist and head of the Chair of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology at the University of Freiburg, Germany. Her work focuses on biodiversity and the ecosystem functions supported by organisms including bees, wasps, ants, slugs, small mammals, and birds. With more than 20 years of experience connecting research with policy and society, Klein leads research into how factors such as pesticide use, land management, and climate change affect ecological relationships and ecosystem stability.

Her team investigates processes including pollination, herbivory, seed dispersal, seed predation, and natural control of insect populations. It also studies practical ways to support biodiversity in agricultural landscapes and forests, including hedgerows, flowering seed mixtures, diverse cropping systems, mowing practices, deadwood, and habitat trees. Research spans laboratory and greenhouse experiments, field studies, and landscape surveys in the Freiburg region and internationally. Methods include community monitoring, GIS-based surveys, DNA metabarcoding, and morphological and chemical analyses.