World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
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Ecology and Evolution
Netherlands
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Ecology and Evolution

D-Index
105
Citations
49132
World Ranking
212
National Ranking
8

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Ecology and Evolution in Netherlands Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Ecology and Evolution in Netherlands Leader Award
  • 2022 - Research.com Ecology and Evolution in Netherlands Leader Award
  • 2020 - William S. Cooper Award, The Ecological Society of America Persistent effects of pre-Columbian plant domestication on Amazonian forest composition. Science 355(6328): 925-931. DOI: 10.1126/science.aal0157

Overview

Frans Bongers is affiliated with Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands. Their research primarily covers Environmental Science and Agricultural and Biological Sciences, with a notable focus on several specialized subfields including Global and Planetary Change, Nature and Landscape Conservation, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Ecological Modeling, and Forestry.

The scientist has contributed extensively to topics related to Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies, Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management, as well as Plant and Animal studies. Additional areas of work include Forest Ecology and Management, Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics, Forest Management and Policy, and Species Distribution and Climate Change.

Frans Bongers has published numerous papers, some of the most cited among them being:

  • Multidimensional tropical forest recovery, 2021, Science
  • Long-term thermal sensitivity of Earth's tropical forests, 2020, Science
  • Integrated global assessment of the natural forest carbon potential, 2023, Nature
  • Functional diversity effects on productivity increase with age in a forest biodiversity experiment, 2021, Nature Ecology & Evolution
  • The number of tree species on Earth, 2022, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Their frequent collaborators include Lourens Poorter, Ted R. Feldpausch, Bruno Hérault, Jorge A. Meave, and Géraldine Derroire. These partnerships reflect ongoing contributions to interdisciplinary research in environmental and ecological sciences.

Publication venues where Frans Bongers has contributed significantly feature:

  • Global Ecology and Biogeography
  • Nature Communications
  • SSRN Electronic Journal
  • Wageningen University and Researchcenter Publications (Wageningen University & Research)
  • Journal of Ecology

Among awards received, the William S. Cooper Award from The Ecological Society of America in 2020 is noteworthy. This award was given for research on the persistent effects of pre-Columbian plant domestication on Amazonian forest composition, which was published in Science.

Best Publications

  • The worldwide leaf economics spectrum

    Ian J. Wright;Peter B. Reich;Mark Westoby;David D. Ackerly

  • The ecology of lianas and their role in forests

    Stefan A. Schnitzer;Frans Bongers

  • Biomass resilience of Neotropical secondary forests

    Lourens Poorter;Frans Bongers;T. Mitchell Aide;Angélica M. Almeyda Zambrano

  • Leaf traits are good predictors of plant performance across 53 rain forest species

    Lourens Poorter;Frans Bongers

  • Rates of change in tree communities of secondary Neotropical forests following major disturbances

    Robin L Chazdon;Susan G Letcher;Michiel van Breugel;Michiel van Breugel;Miguel Martínez-Ramos

  • Multiple successional pathways in human-modified tropical landscapes: New insights from forest succession, forest fragmentation and landscape ecology research

    Víctor Arroyo-Rodríguez;Felipe P. L. Melo;Miguel Martínez-Ramos;Frans Bongers

  • Carbon sequestration potential of second-growth forest regeneration in the Latin American tropics

    Robin L. Chazdon;Robin L. Chazdon;Eben N. Broadbent;Danaë M. A. Rozendaal;Danaë M. A. Rozendaal;Danaë M. A. Rozendaal;Frans Bongers

  • Persistent effects of pre-Columbian plant domestication on Amazonian forest composition

    C. Levis;F. R. C. Costa;F. Bongers;M. Peña-Claros

  • Functional traits and environmental filtering drive community assembly in a species-rich tropical system

    Edwin Lebrija-Trejos;Eduardo A. Pérez-García;Jorge A. Meave;Frans Bongers

  • ARCHITECTURE OF 54 MOIST-FOREST TREE SPECIES: TRAITS, TRADE-OFFS, AND FUNCTIONAL GROUPS

    Lourens Poorter;Laurent Bongers;Frans Bongers

  • Diversity enhances carbon storage in tropical forests

    L. Poorter;M. T. van der Sande;J. Thompson;E. J. M. M. Arets

  • Increasing liana abundance and biomass in tropical forests: emerging patterns and putative mechanisms

    Stefan A. Schnitzer;Frans Bongers

  • Large trees drive forest aboveground biomass variation in moist lowland forests across the tropics

    J.W. Ferry Slik;Gary Paoli;Krista L. McGuire;Iêda Leão Amaral

  • Multidimensional tropical forest recovery

    Unknown

  • Relationships among ecologically important dimensions of plant trait variation in seven neotropical forests

    Ian J. Wright;David D. Ackerly;Frans Bongers;Kyle E. Harms;Kyle E. Harms

  • Compositional response of Amazon forests to climate change

    Adriane Esquivel‐Muelbert;Timothy R. Baker;Kyle G. Dexter;Simon L. Lewis;Simon L. Lewis

  • Biodiversity recovery of Neotropical secondary forests

    Danaë Rozendaal;Frans Bongers;T. Mitchell Aide;Esteban Álvarez-Dávila

  • No growth stimulation of tropical trees by 150 years of CO2 fertilization but water-use efficiency increased

    Peter van der Sleen;Peter Groenendijk;Mart Vlam;Niels P. R. Anten;Niels P. R. Anten

  • SEED MASS AND MAST SEEDING ENHANCE DISPERSAL BY A NEOTROPICAL SCATTER-HOARDING RODENT

    Patrick A. Jansen;Frans Bongers;Lia Hemerik

  • Structure and floristic composition of the lowland rain forest of Los Tuxtlas, Mexico

    F. Bongers;J. Popma;J. Meave del Castillo;J. Carabias

  • Ecological differentiation in xylem cavitation resistance is associated with stem and leaf structural traits

    Lars Markesteijn;Lourens Poorter;Horacio Paz;Lawren Sack

Frequent Co-Authors

Lourens Poorter
Lourens Poorter Wageningen University & Research
Frank J. Sterck
Frank J. Sterck Wageningen University & Research
Michiel van Breugel
Michiel van Breugel National University of Singapore
Marielos Peña-Claros
Marielos Peña-Claros Wageningen University & Research
Miguel Martínez-Ramos
Miguel Martínez-Ramos National Autonomous University of Mexico
Pieter A. Zuidema
Pieter A. Zuidema Wageningen University & Research
Patrick A. Jansen
Patrick A. Jansen Wageningen University & Research
Robin L. Chazdon
Robin L. Chazdon University of Connecticut
Stefan A. Schnitzer
Stefan A. Schnitzer Marquette University
Jorge A. Meave
Jorge A. Meave National Autonomous University of Mexico

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