Kai Behn 320x320 grau
© Kai Behn

Kai Behn

INRES - Pflanzenernährung
Nußallee 1, 3. Etage (Büro), Karlrobert-Kreiten-Strasse 13 (Post)
D-53115 Bonn

kaibehn@uni-bonn.de
+49 228 73-3335

Forschungsschwerpunkt

Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystem services, Land use changes, Vegetation classification, Vegetation dynamics, Vegetation ecology, Invasive Plant Species

Akademische Ausbildung

2025

Dr. agr. (“Wetland Vegetation in East Africa – Integrity, Diversity, and Recovery Dynamics”)

2013 - 2024

Promotionsstudium an der Universität Bonn am INRES - Pflanzenernährung

2011

Diplom in Agrarwissenschaft

2009

Universität Helsinki, Finnland (Austauschsemester)

2004 - 2011

Studium der Agrarwissenschaften, des Naturschutzes und der Landschaftsökologie an der Universität Bonn

Wissenschaftlicher Werdegang

seit 2022

Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter / Dozent
Universität Bonn, INRES  - Pflanzenernährung (AG PITROS)

2019 - 2022

Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter
University of Bonn, INRES - Pflanzenernährung (AG Grassland Ecology & Grassland Management)

2017 - 2018

Wissenschaftlicher Assistent
Universität Bonn, INRES - Pflanzenernährung

2011 - 2013

Wissenschaftlicher Assistent
Universität Bonn, INRES - Vegetationsökologie

2008 - 2010

Studentische Hilfskraft
Universität Bonn, INRES - Geobotanik und Naturschutz

Publikationen

Journal articles

Ohlert, T., Smith, M. D., Collins, S. L., Knapp, A. K., Dukes, J. S., Sala, O., Behn, K., ... & Terry, T. J. (2025). Drought intensity and duration interact to magnify losses in primary productivity. Science, 390(6770), 284-289.

Munjonji, L., Behn, K., Vincent, M., Ayisi, K. K., Nielsen, U., & Linstädter, A. (2025). Drought, grazing, and nitrogen input influence nutrient supply and soil faunal activity in a semi-arid savannah grassland. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 34248.

Becker, M., Behn, K., Heller, G., & Kamiri, H. W. (2025). Is Soil Fertility the Cause or the Effect of Land Invasion by Prosopis?. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, 188(2), 232-240.

Botha, D., Barnard, S., Morné, D. P., Allam, M., Behn, K., Ismail, A., . . . Siebert, F. (2024). Application of a dual-locus metabarcoding approach for a more comprehensive account of cattle dietary items in a semi-arid african savanna with special reference to forbs. MBMG Metabarcoding and Metagenomics, 8, 1-146. doi:https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.8.127959

Behn, K., Alvarez, M., Mutebi, S., & Becker, M. (2024). Recovery dynamics of wetland vegetation along a hydrological gradient in an agriculturally used inland valley in Uganda. Wetlands Ecology and Management, 32(6), 959-974.

Smith, M. D., Wilkins, K. D., Holdrege, M. C., Wilfahrt, P., Collins, S. L., Knapp, A. K., Linstädter, A., Behn, K., (...) & Sun, W. (2024). Extreme drought impacts have been underestimated in grasslands and shrublands globally. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(4), e2309881120.

Wirth, S. B., Poyda, A., Taube, F., Tietjen, B., Müller, C., Thonicke, K., Linstädter, A., Behn, K., Schaphof, S., von Bloh, W. & Rolinski, S. (2024). Connecting competitor, stress-tolerator and ruderal (CSR) theory and Lund Potsdam Jena managed Land 5 (LPJmL 5) to assess the role of environmental conditions, management and functional diversity for grassland ecosystem functions. Biogeosciences, 21(2), 381-410.

Behn K., Alvarez M., Mutebi S., Becker M. (2022). Vegetation diversity in East African wetlands: Cocktail algorithms supported by a vegetation-plot database. Phytocoenologia 392

Roetter, R. P., Scheiter, S., Hoffmann, M. P., Pfeiffer, M., Nelson, W. C. D., Ayisi, K., Taylor, P., Feil, J.-H., Bakhsh, S. Y., Isselstein, J., Lindstaedter, A., Behn, K., Westphal, C., Odhiambo, J., Twine, W., Grass, I., Merante, P., Bracho-Mujica, G., Bringhenti, T., (…) Erasmus, B. (2021). Modeling the multi-functionality of African savanna landscapes under global change. Land Degradation & Development, 32(6), 2077–2081. 

Munjonji L., Ayisi K.K., Mudongo E. I., Mafeo T. P., Behn K., Mokoka M.V., Linstädter A. (2020) Disentangling drought and grazing effects on soil carbon stocks and CO2 fluxes in a semi-arid African savanna. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 8, 207.

Behn K., Becker M., Burghof S., Möseler B.M., Willy D.K., Alvarez M. (2018). Using vegetation attributes to rapidly assess degradation of East African wetlands. Ecological Indicators, 89, 250-259.

Beuel, S., Alvarez, M., Amler, E., Behn, K., Kotze, D., Kreye, C., Leemhuis, C., Wagner, K., Kyalo Willy, D., Ziegler, S., Becker, M. (2016). A rapid assessment of anthropogenic disturbances in East African wetlands. Ecological Indicators 67, 684–692.

Books and book chapters

Scheiter, S., Pfeiffer, M., Behn, K., Ayisi, K., Siebert, F., & Linstädter, A. (2024). Managing Southern African Rangeland Systems in the Face of Drought: A Synthesis of Observation, Experimentation and Modeling for Policy and Decision Support. In Sustainability of Southern African Ecosystems under Global Change: Science for Management and Policy Interventions (pp. 439-470). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Becker M., Alvarez M., Behn K., Möseler B.M., Handa C., Oyieke H., Misana S., Mogha N. (2014) Small wetlands in East Africa: A field guide to the representative flora. Selbstverlag, Bonn. Germany. 202 pp. ISBN 978-3-00-047349-4.

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