Benjamin D. Hafner

Verified

Benjamin verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

Learn more

Verified

Benjamin verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

Learn more

• Ph.D.
• PostDoc Position at Technical University of Munich

Root exudates impact soil-plant-microbe interactions and play important roles in ecosystem functioning and plant growth. During early plant development the root rhizosphere may change drastically. For maize (Zea mays L.), one of the world’s most important crop species, little is known about root exudation patterns during early plant development. We...

Hydraulic redistribution is considered a crucial dryland mechanism that may be important in temperate environments facing increased soil drying–wetting cycles. We investigated redistribution of soil water from deeper, moist to surface, dry soils in a mature mixed European beech forest and whether redistributed water was used by neighbouring native...

We analyse partial adoption decisions of two agroforestry alternatives using data from a Panamanian case study. Our analysis builds on two economic and two ecological decision criteria. It considers intervals in which the possible contributions of six land-use types to the decision criteria are assumed to reside. This results in a robust multi-obje...

Organic compounds exuded by plant roots can form organo-mineral associations through physico-chemical interactions with soil minerals but can disrupt existing organo-mineral associations by increasing their microbial decomposition and dissolution. The controls on these opposing processes are poorly understood, as are the chemical and spatial charac...

Root exudation, the export of low-molecular weight organic carbon (C) from living plant roots to soil, influences microbial activity, nutrient availability, and ecosystem feedbacks to climate change, but the magnitude of this C flux at ecosystem and global scales is largely unknown. Here, we synthesize in situ measurements of root exudation rates a...

Plant root exudates can form organo-mineral associations (OMAs) through physico-chemical interactions with soil mineral surfaces but can disrupt existing OMAs by increasing microbial decomposition and dissolution of OMAs. The controls on these seemingly opposing processes are not well understood, nor are OMA chemical and spatial characteristics tha...

Root exudation, the export of low-molecular weight organic carbon (C) from living plant roots to soil, influences microbial activity, nutrient availability, and ecosystem feedbacks to climate change, but the magnitude of this C flux at ecosystem and global scales is largely unknown. Here, we synthesize in situ measurements of root exudation rates a...

Traditionally, fine roots were grouped using arbitrary size categories, rarely capturing the heterogeneity in physiology, morphology and functionality among different fine root orders. Fine roots with different functional roles are rarely separated in microbiome‐focused studies and may result in confounding microbial signals and host‐filtering acro...

Water consumption of trees is one of the most important processes connected to their survival under ongoing climate change and extreme events such as drought. Radial profiles of xylem sap flow density are an integral component to quantify the water transport for the level of an individual tree and that of ecosystems. However, knowledge of such radi...

As climate change progresses, the frequency and duration of drought stress events are increasing. While the mechanisms of drought acclimation of trees received considerable attention in recent years, the recovery processes remain critically understudied. We used a unique throughfall exclusion experiment in a mature temperate mixed forest consisting...

After drought events, tree recovery depends on sufficient carbon (C) allocation to the sink organs. The present study aimed to elucidate dynamics of tree‐level C sink activity and allocation of recent photoassimilates (Cnew) and stored C in c. 70‐year‐old Norway spruce (Picea abies) trees during a four week period after drought release. We conducte...

Carbon (C) exuded via roots is proposed to increase under drought and facilitate important ecosystem functions. However, it is unknown how exudate quantities relate to the total C budget of a drought‐stressed tree, that is, how much of net‐C assimilation is allocated to exudation at the tree level. We calculated the proportion of daily C assimilati...

File List: BrunnHafner_Ex_Roots_Properties.csv - root characteristics (mass, tips, area) and exudation rates of sampled root branches. BrunnHafner_Soil_Moisture_KROOF.csv - volumetric soil moisture in 2 soil depth increments BrunnHafner_Root_Properties_KROOF.csv - root characteristics (mass, tips, area) and core volume of cores taken for tree leve...

Drought is a severe natural risk that increases drying-rewetting frequencies of soils. Yet, it remains largely unknown how forest ecosystems respond to dry-wet cycles, hampering our ability to evaluate the overall sink and source functionality for this large carbon pool. Recent investigations suggest that the release of soluble carbon via root exud...

The Kroof experiment: realization and efficacy of a recurrent drought experiment plus recovery in a beech/spruce forest. Ecosphere 12(3): Abstract. Forest ecosystems play a central role in global water and carbon cycles, yet the impact of global climate change, in particular drought, on trees and forests is poorly understood. Therefore, there is an...

Hydraulic redistribution (HR) can buffer drought events of tree individuals, however its relevance for neighboring trees remains unclear. Here, we quantified HR to neighboring trees in single‐ and mixed‐species combinations. We hypothesized that uptake of HR water positively correlates with root length, number of root tips and root xylem hydraulic...

Hydraulic redistribution (HR) of soil water through plant roots is widely described; however its extent, especially in temperate trees, remains unclear. Here, we quantified HR of five temperate tree species. We hypothesized that both, HR within a plant and into the soil increase with higher water‐potential gradients, larger root conduit diameters a...

Hydraulic redistribution (HR), the passive reallocation of water along plant structures following a water potential gradient, is an important mechanism for plant survival under drought. For example, trees with deeper roots reallocate water from deeper moist to shallower, drier soil layers sustaining their upper fine root system. The relevance of HR...

Climate change will lead to a warmer and drier climate in Central Europe, together with more frequent extreme events. Mixed species forests are expected to have a higher resistance against such climatic challenges. One mechanism behind this might be hydraulic redistribution (HR). Under dry conditions, trees with deeper roots reallocate water from m...

Hydraulic redistribution (HR) describes a passive flux of soil water through plant roots driven by soil-water potential gradients. Its influence on the water balance of plants and ecosystems depends on interactions between soil processes and the physiological and morphological behavior of plants. This contribution comprises field and greenhouse exp...

Hooves preserve the isotopic information laid down during their growth and may be used for reconstruction of animal feeding history. To assign certain positions along hooves to corresponding times, growth rates are required. Hoof growth rates are known for domestic animals; however, they cannot be obtained easily in wild animals. We estimated the h...

We measured isotopic composition (13C, 15N) along hooves of the European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus L.). In addition we provide rumen content analysis data.

Hydraulic redistribution (HR) of soil water through plant roots is a crucial phenomenon improving the water balance of plants and ecosystems. It is mostly described under severe drought, and not yet studied under moderate drought. We tested the potential of HR under moderate drought, hypothesizing that (H1) tree species redistribute soil water in t...