Zurich, Switzerland
I am professor of Agroecology and Plant-Microbiome Interactions at the University of Zurich and I head the Plant-Soil Interactions Group at the Swiss Federal Research Institute Agroscope. In addition, I am professor for Mycorrhizal Ecology at Utrecht University. We are an international and highly motivated research team consisting of approximately 30 members (researchers, technicians, students). During the past 20 years, I have been investigating the importance of underground microbial biodiversity for ecosystems. We test the impact of mycorrhizal fungi and soil microbial diversity on plant productivity, plant biodiversity, ecosystem sustainability and nutrient cycling in natural and agricultural ecosystems. Recently we discovered that field inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi works and can promote maize yield (we detected yield increases of up to 40%), especially in soils where we detect soil pathogens (see Lutz et al. 2023, Nature Microbiology). Moreover, in collaboration with the Joint Research Centre of the EU, we assessed patterns of microbial diversity across Europe detecting over 79'000 taxa bacteria and 25'000 fungi (see Labouyrie et al. 2023, Nature Communications). We estimated that soils are highly diverse (up to 59% of global diversity is thought to be assocaited with soil - see our recent paper "Enumerating Soil Biodiversity" by Anthony et al. 2023 (PNAS). Also, we have shown that soil microbiomes are intimately linked to plant, soil and environmental health, e.g. "One Health" (see review "Soil Microbiomes and One Health" by Banerjee & van der Heijden 2023, Nature Reviews Microbiology). We perform greenhouse and lab trials, but also work in agricultural fields, testing field inoculation with biologicals or comparing different farming systems (e.g. see the paper by Wittwer et al. (2021): organic agricultura and conservatin agriculture promote ecosystem multifunctionality (Science Advances). In recent years we measured the occurrence of pesticides in agricultural soils and investigate whether pesticides influence soil life and soil functioning. For instance, we discovered that fungicides reduce the natural nutrient uptake capacity of beneficial arbusuclar mycorrhizal fungi (see Edlinger et al. 2022, Nature Ecology & Evolution). Further studies are underway. Our overall goal is explore and understand the fascinating world below our feet and make agriculture more sustainable.
In my research group we investigate agro-ecosystems and crops and study how plant microbiomes and soil biodiversity influence plant growth and ecosystem functioning. Our aim is to develop sustainable agro-ecosystems that are environmentally friendly and productive. Key questions that we study include: 1) What is the role of soil micro-organisms and plant microbiomes in determining plant growth and ecosystem functioning? 2) What is the ecological significance of mycorrhizal fungi and mycorrhizal diversity and is it possible to promote plant yield by introducing or promoting beneficial mycorrhizal fungi in the field. 3) How do microbiomes function and is there a link between microbiome richness and composition with plant growth and ecosystem multifunctionality. 4) Is it possible to use soil ecological engineering and microbiome management to improve the sustainability and productivity of agro-ecosystems. 5) What is the impact of agricultural management (organic, conservation and conventional agriculture) on soil life, soil biodiversity and ecosystem services delivered by soil biota. 6) We test the occurrence of pesticides in soil and investigate whether the activity and functioning of soil microbes are influence by pesticides in soil. 7) What is the agronomic, ecological and environmental performance of the main Swiss/European farming systems.Professor for Agroecology and Plant-Microbiome Interactions see: https://www.botinst.uzh.ch/en/research/agroecology.html (for team, publications and further information). Twitter: @vandeHeijdenLab
I am heading the plant-soil interactions group at Agroscope. We perform a mix of basic and applied research on themes related to agricultural sustainability, microbiome management (using beneficial symbionts such as mycorrhizal fungi to boost crop productivity and environmental performance), mycorrhizal biology and ecology, soil biodiversity and soil ecology engineering. My research group consists of approximately 25 members (2 scientists, 5 technicians, 6 Postdocs, 7 PhDs, students & guests - it is a dynamic, motivated and active international research team). Interested in a research collaboration or a student project (> 5 months) - please contact me . Funding Record: > 7 Million Euro (>4 Million Euro as main applicant). Scientific Publications: I authored over 100 publications (see google scholar; user profile: M van der Heijden). Several of my publications are highly cited (over > 100x a year) 1. van der Heijden M.G.A., Klironomos J.N., Ursic M., Moutoglis P., Streitwolf-Engel R., Boller T., Wiemken A. & Sanders I.R. (1998) Mycorrhizal fungal diversity determines plant biodiversity, ecosystem variability and productivity. Nature 396: 72-75. 2. van der Heijden M.G.A., Bardgett R.D. & van Straalen N.M. (2008) The unseen majority: soil microbes as drivers of plant diversity and productivity in terrestrial ecosystems. Ecology Letters 11: 296-310. 3. Wagg C., Bender S.F., Widmer F., van der Heijden, M.G.A. (2014) Soil biodiversity and soil community composition determine ecosystem multifunctionality. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 111 (14): 5266–5270. 4. van der Heijden M.G. A., Martin F., Selosse, M., Sanders, I.R., (2015) Mycorrhizal ecology and evolution: the past, the present, and the future. New Phytologist 205: 1406-1423 5. Bender, S.F., Wagg, C., van der Heijden, M.G.A. (2016) An underground revolution: Biodiversity and soil ecological engineering for agricultural sustainability. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 31: 440-444.
PhD study (summa cum laude) - Title: Ecological significance of mycorrhizal diversity: On the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi as a determinant of plant community structure and diversity.