Dr. Maria Stockenreiter

Research Interests

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I am a freshwater and marine plankton ecologist, with a focus on the experimental analysis of pelagic food-web and community dynamics. I study the relationships between biodiversity, trait diversity, and ecological processes in plankton communities to understand how these factors influence the functioning of aquatic systems. Another focus of my work lies in experimental laboratory and field studies, including large-scale mesocosm experiments such as those conducted within the AQUACOSM network, to investigate ecological responses to environmental changes. Additionally, I explore interactions among food-web components, the biochemical composition of plankton, and biodiversity effects, integrating these into projects examining stressors such as temperature, nutrient inputs, and invasions in aquatic systems.

Research Projects:

• Flexibility matters: Interplay between trait diversity and ecological dynamics using aquatic communities as model systems (DFG SPP DynaTrait)
• Trait-related feedback dynamics in natural plankton communities (DFG SPP DynaTrait)
• Regime shifts in freshwater ecosystems exposed to multiple stressors by increasing temperature, fertilizers, and pesticides (CLIMSHIFT-DFG)
• AQUACOSM: Network of leading European aquatic mesocosm facilities connecting Mountains to Oceans from the Arctic to the Mediterranean (EU H2020 INFRAIA-project No. 731065)
• H2020-EU Project – AQUACOSMplus: An EU network of leading mesocosm research sites in limnic and marine ecosystems, connecting mountain regions to oceans, from the Arctic to the Mediterranean
• BLIC: Phytoplankton blooms “like it colorful” – the relative influence of biodiversity and biotic interactions on early stages of phytoplankton blooms
• TREND: Trait-based direction of density-dependent effects in freshwater host–endosymbiont systems (DFG Forschergruppe DynaSym)

SIL Ambassador Germany

SIL

Teaching

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Bachelor’s programme in biology
Evolutionary Ecology I (lecture and practical)
Ecology Specialisation (lecture and practical)
Aquaculture (professional training)

Master’s programme: Ecology, Evolution and Systematics (EES)
Aquatic Ecology (lecture and practical)
Experimental Plankton Ecology (practical)
Soft Skills IV: Grant Writing (seminar)
Research Internships
Individual Research Training I–III
Alpine Field Excursion

Teacher training in biology
Schule einmal draußen
Forschung macht Schule

Publications 2026

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Kluge M, Shubeita A, Uchaikina A, Alonso C, Herrman B, Menegotto-Silva C, Lopes C, Pagani D, Marques D, Moreira-Silva E, Kristiansson E, Quintana I, Cavalcanti J, Fleck J, Ribeiro K, Varghaei L, Oliveira L, Rodrigues LR, Ramilo L, Crossetti L, Stockenreiter M, Cabezudo M, Lima M, Gonçalves NP, Mazzeo N, Schneider R, Utz LP, Bertilsson S, Wurzbacher C, They NH, Medina-Silva R (2026) Coastal subtropical Southern American shallow lakes as unique ecosystems for monitoring anthropogenic induced ecosystem changes. One Ecosystem 11: e186107. https://doi.org/10.3897/oneeco.11.e186107

Nicoară, M., Niculea, A., Hegedűs, A., Briddon, C. L., Stockenreiter, M., Stibor, H., ... & Drugă, B. (2026). Adaptation to warming alters the competition between three phytoplankton taxa: Microcystis aeruginosa, Desmodesmus armatus and Mayamaea permitis. Community Ecology, 27(1), 1-13.https://doi.org/10.1007/s42974-025-00284-z

Schachtl, K., Gießler, S., Stockenreiter, M., & Stibor, H. (2026). Top-down effects of the freshwater jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbii: an experimental approach. Journal of Plankton Research, 48(1), https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbag001

Ilic, M., Brehm, S., Stockenreiter, M., von Elert, E., Fink, P. (2026). Essential dietary fatty acids affect intraspecific competition in herbivorous zooplankton. Limnology & Oceanography 10.1002/lno.70321

Pondaven, P., Stibor, H., Huang ,Y-T., Stockenreiter, M. , Behl , S., Stieglitz, T. , Patris, S. and Ucharm, G. (2026). Photophysiological Performance of Zooxanthellate Endosymbionts (Symbiodiniaceae) in the Golden Jellyfish Mastigias papua Across a Natural Environmental Gradient in Marine Lakes of Palau (Micronesia)Front. Photobiol. - Photoecology and Environmental Photobiology, accepted

Stockenreiter, M.; Hammerstein, S.; Ilić, M.; Titocci, J.; Fink, P.; Stibor, H. (2025). Mesocosm studies linking phytoplankton diversity and zooplankton nutrition: the role of essential fatty acids in complex natural communities. Limnology and Oceanography, https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.70252

Stockenreiter, M. (2026). Stay connected to be diverse! Global Change Biology, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70046