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2025
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Ecology and Evolution
USA
2026

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Best Scientists

D-Index
207
Citations
185937
World Ranking
224
National Ranking
147

Ecology and Evolution

D-Index
216
Citations
203389
World Ranking
1
National Ranking
1

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Ecology and Evolution in United States Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Best Scientists Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Ecology and Evolution in United States Leader Award
  • 2022 - Research.com Ecology and Evolution in United States Leader Award
  • 2021 - William S. Cooper Award, The Ecological Society of America Climate and competition affect growth and survival of transplanted sugar maple seedlings along a 1700‐km gradient. Ecological Monographs, 87(1), 130-157. DOI: 10.1002/ecm.1237
  • 2018 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • 2017 - Fellow of the Ecological Society of America (ESA)
  • 2017 - Polish Academy of Science
  • 2011 - Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 2009 - BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award

Overview

Peter B. Reich is affiliated with the University of Minnesota in the United States. Their research primarily spans the fields of Environmental Science and Agricultural and Biological Sciences, with a focus on several subfields including Global and Planetary Change, Nature and Landscape Conservation, Plant Science, Soil Science, and Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics.

The scientist's work covers a range of main topics centered around ecological and environmental dynamics such as:

  • Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
  • Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics
  • Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
  • Plant and Animal Studies
  • Species Distribution and Climate Change
  • Plant Responses to Elevated CO2
  • Fire Effects on Ecosystems

Some recent publications exemplify the breadth and impact of their research, including:

  • Multiple elements of soil biodiversity drive ecosystem functions across biomes, 2020, Nature Ecology & Evolution
  • Erosion reduces soil microbial diversity, network complexity and multifunctionality, 2021, The ISME Journal
  • A trade-off between plant and soil carbon storage under elevated CO2, 2021, Nature
  • Extinction risk and threats to plants and fungi, 2020, Plants People Planet
  • The fate of carbon in a mature forest under carbon dioxide enrichment, 2020, Nature

Peter B. Reich frequently collaborates with a number of researchers, including:

  • Artur Stefański
  • Sarah E. Hobbie
  • Alain Paquette
  • Nico Eisenhauer
  • Christian Messier

The scientist's work is regularly published in notable venues such as Global Change Biology, Nature Communications, Nature Ecology & Evolution, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Ecology Letters.

Throughout their career, Peter B. Reich has received multiple recognitions, including:

  • William S. Cooper Award, The Ecological Society of America, 2021, for work on climate and competition affecting growth and survival of transplanted sugar maple seedlings
  • Member of the National Academy of Sciences, 2018
  • Fellow of the Ecological Society of America, 2017
  • Polish Academy of Science, 2017
  • Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2011
  • BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award, 2009

Best Publications

  • The worldwide leaf economics spectrum

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

  • A handbook of protocols for standardised and easy measurement of plant functional traits worldwide

    J. H. C. Cornelissen;S. Lavorel;E. Garnier;S. Diaz

  • New handbook for standardised measurement of plant functional traits worldwide

    N. Pérez-Harguindeguy;S. Díaz;E. Garnier;S. Lavorel

  • The Influence of Functional Diversity and Composition on Ecosystem Processes

    David Tilman;Johannes Knops;David Wedin;Peter Reich

  • The world‐wide ‘fast–slow’ plant economics spectrum: a traits manifesto

    Peter B. Reich;Peter B. Reich

  • Corrigendum to: New handbook for standardised measurement of plant functional traits worldwide

    N. Pérez-Harguindeguy;S. Díaz;E. Garnier;S. Lavorel

  • Biomass allocation to leaves, stems and roots: meta-analyses of interspecific variation and environmental control

    Hendrik Poorter;Karl J. Niklas;Peter B. Reich;Peter B. Reich;Jacek Oleksyn;Jacek Oleksyn

  • The global spectrum of plant form and function

    Sandra Myrna Díaz;Jens Kattge;Johannes H. C. Cornelissen;Ian J. Wright

  • Diversity and productivity in a long-term grassland experiment

    David Tilman;Peter B Reich;Johannes M Knops;David Wedin

  • From tropics to tundra: global convergence in plant functioning

    Peter B. Reich;Michael B. Walters;David S. Ellsworth

  • TRY - a global database of plant traits

    J. Kattge;S. Díaz;S. Lavorel;I. C. Prentice

  • Biodiversity and ecosystem stability in a decade-long grassland experiment

    David Tilman;Peter B. Reich;Johannes M. H. Knops

  • Global patterns of plant leaf N and P in relation to temperature and latitude.

    Peter B. Reich;Jacek Oleksyn

  • Plant species traits are the predominant control on litter decomposition rates within biomes worldwide

    William K. Cornwell;Johannes H. C. Cornelissen;Kathryn Amatangelo;Ellen Dorrepaal

  • Microbial diversity drives multifunctionality in terrestrial ecosystems

    Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo;Fernando T. Maestre;Peter B. Reich;Peter B. Reich;Thomas C. Jeffries

  • Leaf Life-Span in Relation to Leaf, Plant, and Stand Characteristics among Diverse Ecosystems

    Peter B Reich;M B Walters;D S Ellsworth

  • Assessing the generality of global leaf trait relationships

    Ian J. Wright;Peter B. Reich;Johannes H. C. Cornelissen;Daniel S. Falster

  • High plant diversity is needed to maintain ecosystem services

    Forest Isbell;Vincent Calcagno;Andy Hector;John Connolly

  • Biodiversity increases the resistance of ecosystem productivity to climate extremes

    Forest Isbell;Dylan Craven;John Connolly;Michael Loreau

  • Three keys to the radiation of angiosperms into freezing environments

    Amy E. Zanne;David C. Tank;William K. Cornwell;Jonathan M. Eastman

  • GENERALITY OF LEAF TRAIT RELATIONSHIPS: A TEST ACROSS SIX BIOMES

    Peter B. Reich;David S. Ellsworth;Michael B. Walters;James M. Vose

Frequent Co-Authors

Jacek Oleksyn
Jacek Oleksyn Polish Academy of Sciences
Mark G. Tjoelker
Mark G. Tjoelker Western Sydney University
Sarah E. Hobbie
Sarah E. Hobbie University of Minnesota
Ian J. Wright
Ian J. Wright Western Sydney University
David Tilman
David Tilman University of Minnesota
Nico Eisenhauer
Nico Eisenhauer Leipzig University
Lee E. Frelich
Lee E. Frelich University of Minnesota
Jens Kattge
Jens Kattge Max Planck Society
David S. Ellsworth
David S. Ellsworth Western Sydney University
Joseph M. Craine
Joseph M. Craine Independent Scientist / Consultant, US

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