My research focuses on vegetation ecology and the landscape-ecological analysis of open landscapes, with special emphasis on grassland systems and alpine landscapes. Key areas of my research are different aspects of biodiversity, interactions between landscape elements (such as plant-herbivore interactions) and resulting structures (for example, spatio-temporal patterns of plant communities). Another important aspect in my research is the historic and present-day influence of human beings on these landscapes. Regionally, my focus is on Europe.