2026 Christian Messier: Plant Science and Agronomy Researcher – H-Index, Publications & Awards

Discipline name	D-Index	World Ranking	Current World Ranking	National Ranking	Current National Ranking	Publications	Citations
Plant Science and Agronomy	85	346	322	4	4	342	26633
Ecology and Evolution	88	525	501	34	31	393	29995

Research.com Recognitions

2026 - Research.com Plant Science and Agronomy in Canada Leader Award
2025 - Research.com Plant Science and Agronomy in Canada Leader Award
2019 - Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada Academy of Science

Overview

Christian Messier is affiliated with the University of Quebec at Montreal in Canada and conducts research primarily within the fields of Environmental Science and Agricultural and Biological Sciences. Their subfields of study include Global and Planetary Change, Nature and Landscape Conservation, Insect Science, Plant Science, and Ecology.

The scientist's research encompasses several main topics, including Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies, Forest Management and Policy, Forest ecology and management, Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics, Forest Ecology and Biodiversity Studies, Land Use and Ecosystem Services, and Fire effects on ecosystems.

Christian Messier has published multiple recent papers. These include:

For the sake of resilience and multifunctionality, let's diversify planted forests! (2021) in Conservation Letters
Producing wood at least cost to biodiversity: integrating Triad and sharing-sparing approaches to inform forest landscape management (2021) in Biological reviews/Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society
Pathways for cross-boundary effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning (2022) in Trends in Ecology & Evolution
Mutually inclusive mechanisms of drought-induced tree mortality (2022) in Global Change Biology
The Role of Nature-Based Solutions in Supporting Social-Ecological Resilience for Climate Change Adaptation (2022) in Annual Review of Environment and Resources

Frequent co-authors of Christian Messier include Alain Paquette, Peter B. Reich, Michael Scherer-Lorenzen, Jürgen Bauhus, and Dominique Gravel.

The researcher has contributed extensively to several publication venues, with a notable number of papers appearing in the Journal of Ecology, Urban forestry & urban greening, Forest Ecology and Management, bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), and Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research).

In recognition of their work, Christian Messier was awarded the title of Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2019 by the Academy of Science.

Best Publications

The effect of biodiversity on tree productivity: from temperate to boreal forests

Alain Paquette;Christian Messier

985
Citations
Reconciling niche and neutrality: the continuum hypothesis

Dominique Gravel;Charles D. Canham;Marilou Beaudet;Christian Messier

955
Citations
Retention Forestry to Maintain Multifunctional Forests: A World Perspective

Lena Gustafsson;Susan C. Baker;Jurgen Bauhus;William J. Beese

938
Citations
A Critique of Silviculture: Managing for Complexity

Klaus J Puettmann;K. David Coates;Christian Messier

823
Citations
Silviculture for old-growth attributes

Jürgen Bauhus;Klaus Puettmann;Christian Messier

765
Citations
The role of plantations in managing the world's forests in the Anthropocene

Alain Paquette;Christian Messier

618
Citations
Predicting and managing light in the understory of boreal forests

V J Lieffers;C Messier;K J Stadt;F Gendron

480
Citations
A major shift to the retention approach for forestry can help resolve some global forest sustainability issues

David Lindenmayer;J F Franklin;A. Lohmus;Simon Baker

474
Citations
Can forest management based on natural disturbances maintain ecological resilience

C. Ronnie Drever;Garry Peterson;Christian Messier;Yves Bergeron

470
Citations
Can retention forestry help conserve biodiversity? A meta-analysis

Katja Fedrowitz;Julia Koricheva;Susan C. Baker;David B. Lindenmayer

464
Citations
Spatial complementarity in tree crowns explains overyielding in species mixtures

Laura J. Williams;Alain Paquette;Jeannine Cavender-Bares;Christian Messier;Christian Messier

448
Citations
Functional ecology of advance regeneration in relation to light in boreal forests

Christian Messier;Rene Doucet;Jean Claude Ruel;Yves Claveau

442
Citations
Effects of overstory and understory vegetation on the understory light environment in mixed boreal forests

Christian Messier;Sylvain Parent;Yves Bergeron

430
Citations
Leaf bacterial diversity mediates plant diversity and ecosystem function relationships

Isabelle Laforest-Lapointe;Alain Paquette;Christian Messier;Christian Messier;Steven W. Kembel

410
Citations
Diversity increases carbon storage and tree productivity in Spanish forests

Paloma Ruiz-Benito;Paloma Ruiz-Benito;Paloma Ruiz-Benito;Lorena Gómez-Aparicio;Alain Paquette;Christian Messier

364
Citations
WinRHlZO™, a Root-measuring System with a Unique Overlap Correction Method

J.-L. Arsenault;S. Poulcur;C. Messier;R. Guay

364
Citations
For the sake of resilience and multifunctionality, let's diversify planted forests!

Christian Messier;Christian Messier;Jürgen Bauhus;Rita Sousa-Silva;Harald Auge

362
Citations
Managing Forests as Complex Adaptive Systems : Building Resilience to the Challenge of Global Change

K. Dave Coates;Christian C Messier;Klaus J Puettmann

359
Citations
Contributions of a global network of tree diversity experiments to sustainable forest plantations

Kris Verheyen;Margot Vanhellemont;Harald Auge;Lander Baeten

315
Citations
Host species identity, site and time drive temperate tree phyllosphere bacterial community structure.

Isabelle Laforest-Lapointe;Christian Messier;Christian Messier;Steven W. Kembel

313
Citations
Growth and morphological responses of yellow birch, sugar maple, and beech seedlings growing under a natural light gradient

Marilou Beaudet;Christian Messier

297
Citations
Comparing composition and structure in old-growth and harvested (selection and diameter-limit cuts) northern hardwood stands in Quebec

Viriginie Arielle Angers;Christian Messier;Marilou Beaudet;Alain Leduc

248
Citations
Soil Exploitation Strategies of Fine Roots in Different Tree Species of the Southern Boreal Forest of Eastern Canada

Juergen Bauhus;Christian Messier

245
Citations
Towards sustainable management of the boreal forest.

P. J. Burton;C. Messier;D. W. Smith;W. L. Adamowicz

235
Citations