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Sönke Zaehle

Sönke Zaehle

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Biology and Biochemistry
Germany
2026
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Environmental Sciences
Germany
2023

D-Index & Metrics

Environmental Sciences

D-Index
106
Citations
65774
World Ranking
244
National Ranking
15

Biology and Biochemistry

D-Index
104
Citations
61274
World Ranking
1227
National Ranking
78

Sönke Zaehle publication distribution in Environmental Sciences in 2026

The chart shows the distribution of publications by all Research.com ranked scientists in the field of Environmental Sciences in 2026. The highlighted bar marks where Sönke Zaehle sits on this spectrum.

41–50 publications: 21 scientists 51–60 publications: 62 scientists 61–70 publications: 133 scientists 71–80 publications: 257 scientists 81–90 publications: 361 scientists 91–100 publications: 440 scientists 101–110 publications: 492 scientists 111–120 publications: 541 scientists 121–130 publications: 617 scientists 131–140 publications: 544 scientists 141–150 publications: 541 scientists 151–160 publications: 539 scientists 161–170 publications: 444 scientists 171–180 publications: 444 scientists 181–190 publications: 400 scientists 191–200 publications: 377 scientists 201–210 publications: 318 scientists 211–220 publications: 283 scientists 221–230 publications: 263 scientists 231–240 publications: 220 scientists 241–250 publications: 217 scientists 251–260 publications: 180 scientists 261–270 publications: 181 scientists 271–280 publications: 155 scientists 281–290 publications: 130 scientists 291–300 publications: 127 scientists 301–310 publications: 130 scientists 311–320 publications: 85 scientists 321–330 publications: 106 scientists 331–340 publications: 80 scientists 341–350 publications: 83 scientists 351–360 publications: 75 scientists 361–370 publications: 69 scientists 371–380 publications: 52 scientists 381–390 publications: 54 scientists 391–400 publications: 56 scientists 401–410 publications: 44 scientists 411–420 publications: 40 scientists 421–430 publications: 36 scientists 431–440 publications: 25 scientists 441–450 publications: 25 scientists 451–460 publications: 32 scientists 461–470 publications: 29 scientists 471–480 publications: 21 scientists 481–490 publications: 26 scientists 491–500 publications: 25 scientists 501–510 publications: 17 scientists 511–520 publications: 18 scientists 521–530 publications: 15 scientists 531–540 publications: 22 scientists 541–550 publications: 12 scientists 551–560 publications: 15 scientists 561–570 publications: 11 scientists 571–580 publications: 19 scientists 581–590 publications: 9 scientists 591–600 publications: 9 scientists 601–610 publications: 7 scientists 611–620 publications: 11 scientists 621–630 publications: 5 scientists 631–640 publications: 5 scientists 641–650 publications: 6 scientists 651–660 publications: 3 scientists 661–670 publications: 3 scientists 671–680 publications: 4 scientists 681–686 publications: 3 scientists 687+ publications: 100 scientists
41 publications 687+

This scientist: 348 publications — 91st percentile

91% of scientists in this discipline score the same or lower.

The last bar groups every scientist with 687 publications or more.

Sönke Zaehle D-index placement in Environmental Sciences in 2026

The chart shows the D-index (discipline H-index) distribution of Environmental Sciences scientists ranked by Research.com in 2026. The highlighted bar marks where Sönke Zaehle sits on this spectrum.

30 D-Index: 12 scientists 31 D-Index: 26 scientists 32 D-Index: 51 scientists 33 D-Index: 88 scientists 34 D-Index: 123 scientists 35 D-Index: 163 scientists 36 D-Index: 206 scientists 37 D-Index: 267 scientists 38 D-Index: 265 scientists 39 D-Index: 275 scientists 40 D-Index: 321 scientists 41 D-Index: 343 scientists 42 D-Index: 305 scientists 43 D-Index: 336 scientists 44 D-Index: 330 scientists 45 D-Index: 348 scientists 46 D-Index: 291 scientists 47 D-Index: 275 scientists 48 D-Index: 272 scientists 49 D-Index: 273 scientists 50 D-Index: 263 scientists 51 D-Index: 232 scientists 52 D-Index: 266 scientists 53 D-Index: 217 scientists 54 D-Index: 199 scientists 55 D-Index: 177 scientists 56 D-Index: 202 scientists 57 D-Index: 204 scientists 58 D-Index: 166 scientists 59 D-Index: 177 scientists 60 D-Index: 166 scientists 61 D-Index: 152 scientists 62 D-Index: 143 scientists 63 D-Index: 150 scientists 64 D-Index: 124 scientists 65 D-Index: 119 scientists 66 D-Index: 120 scientists 67 D-Index: 118 scientists 68 D-Index: 82 scientists 69 D-Index: 98 scientists 70 D-Index: 94 scientists 71 D-Index: 105 scientists 72 D-Index: 74 scientists 73 D-Index: 84 scientists 74 D-Index: 70 scientists 75 D-Index: 67 scientists 76 D-Index: 78 scientists 77 D-Index: 60 scientists 78 D-Index: 59 scientists 79 D-Index: 52 scientists 80 D-Index: 47 scientists 81 D-Index: 38 scientists 82 D-Index: 48 scientists 83 D-Index: 42 scientists 84 D-Index: 42 scientists 85 D-Index: 43 scientists 86 D-Index: 29 scientists 87 D-Index: 37 scientists 88 D-Index: 29 scientists 89 D-Index: 30 scientists 90 D-Index: 34 scientists 91 D-Index: 20 scientists 92 D-Index: 22 scientists 93 D-Index: 17 scientists 94 D-Index: 19 scientists 95 D-Index: 24 scientists 96 D-Index: 21 scientists 97 D-Index: 20 scientists 98 D-Index: 24 scientists 99 D-Index: 17 scientists 100 D-Index: 17 scientists 101 D-Index: 21 scientists 102 D-Index: 25 scientists 103 D-Index: 18 scientists 104 D-Index: 26 scientists 105 D-Index: 19 scientists 106 D-Index: 15 scientists 107 D-Index: 10 scientists 108 D-Index: 13 scientists 109 D-Index: 15 scientists 110 D-Index: 12 scientists 111 D-Index: 8 scientists 112 D-Index: 7 scientists 113 D-Index: 9 scientists 114 D-Index: 6 scientists 115 D-Index: 12 scientists 116 D-Index: 7 scientists 117 D-Index: 8 scientists 118 D-Index: 3 scientists 119 D-Index: 5 scientists 120 D-Index: 7 scientists 121 D-Index: 2 scientists 122 D-Index: 4 scientists 123 D-Index: 8 scientists 124 D-Index: 7 scientists 125+ D-Index: 99 scientists
30 D-Index 125+

This scientist: 106 D-Index — 97th percentile

97% of scientists in this discipline score the same or lower.

The last bar groups every scientist with 125 D-Index or more.

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Biology and Biochemistry in Germany Leader Award
  • 2023 - Research.com Environmental Sciences in Germany Leader Award

Overview

Sönke Zaehle is affiliated with the Max Planck Society in Germany and has an extensive body of research primarily in environmental and earth sciences. Their work spans various main fields of study, including Environmental Science and Earth and Planetary Sciences, with a notable focus on subfields such as Global and Planetary Change, Atmospheric Science, Ecology, Soil Science, and Plant Science.

The scientist's research topics cover a broad range of environmental and atmospheric dynamics. These include:

  • Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics
  • Climate Variability and Models
  • Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics
  • Atmospheric Chemistry and Aerosols
  • Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
  • Atmospheric Ozone and Climate
  • Plant Responses to Elevated CO2

The publication record of Sönke Zaehle comprises papers in several reputable venues, with frequent appearances in:

  • Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
  • Biogeosciences
  • Global Change Biology
  • Nature
  • Geoscientific Model Development

They have coauthored numerous studies with collaborators including Stephen Sitch, Hanqin Tian, Pierre Friedlingstein, Atul K. Jain, and Sebastian Lienert. These partnerships have contributed to a significant body of work on environmental and climate sciences.

Recent notable papers authored or coauthored by Sönke Zaehle include:

  • Global Carbon Budget 2020, 2020, Earth system science data
  • A comprehensive quantification of global nitrous oxide sources and sinks, 2020, Nature
  • Global Carbon Budget 2021, 2022, Earth system science data
  • Integrating the evidence for a terrestrial carbon sink caused by increasing atmospheric CO2, 2020, New Phytologist
  • Direct and seasonal legacy effects of the 2018 heat wave and drought on European ecosystem productivity, 2020, Science Advances

Best Publications

  • Global Carbon Budget 2016

    Corinne Le Quere;Robbie M. Andrew;Josep G. Canadell;Stephen Sitch

  • Global Carbon Budget 2015

    C. Le Quéré;R. Moriarty;R. M. Andrew;J. G. Canadell

  • TRY - a global database of plant traits

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

  • Global carbon budget 2013

    C. Le Quere;G.P. Peters;R.J. Andres;Robbie M Andrew

  • Greening of the Earth and its drivers

    Zaichun Zhu;Zaichun Zhu;Shilong Piao;Shilong Piao;Ranga B. Myneni;Mengtian Huang

  • Global Carbon Budget 2018

    Corinne Le Quéré;Robbie M. Andrew;Pierre Friedlingstein;Stephen Sitch

  • Recent decline in the global land evapotranspiration trend due to limited moisture supply

    Martin Jung;Markus Reichstein;Philippe Ciais;Sonia I. Seneviratne

  • Global Carbon Budget 2020

    Pierre Friedlingstein;Pierre Friedlingstein;Michael O'Sullivan;Matthew W. Jones;Robbie M. Andrew

  • Ecosystem Service Supply and Vulnerability to Global Change in Europe

    Dagmar Schröter;Wolfgang Cramer;Rik Leemans;I. Colin Prentice

  • A comprehensive quantification of global nitrous oxide sources and sinks

    Hanquin Tian;Rongting Xu;Josep G. Canadell;Rona L. Thompson

  • Global Carbon Budget 2019

    Pierre Friedlingstein;Pierre Friedlingstein;Matthew W. Jones;Michael O'Sullivan;Robbie Andrew

  • Global Carbon Budget 2021

    Unknown

  • Modelling the role of agriculture for the 20th century global terrestrial carbon balance

    Alberte Bondeau;Pascalle C. Smith;Sönke Zaehle;Sibyll Schaphoff

  • The dominant role of semi-arid ecosystems in the trend and variability of the land CO2 sink

    Anders Ahlström;Anders Ahlström;Michael R. Raupach;Guy Schurgers;Benjamin Smith

  • Global Carbon Budget 2017

    Corinne Le Quere;Robbie M. Andrew;Pierre Friedlingstein;Stephen Sitch

  • Recent trends and drivers of regional sources and sinks of carbon dioxide

    S. Sitch;P. Friedlingstein;N. Gruber;S. D. Jones

  • Evaluation of terrestrial carbon cycle models for their response to climate variability and to CO2 trends.

    Shilong Piao;Shilong Piao;Stephen Sitch;Philippe Ciais;Pierre Friedlingstein

  • Implications of incorporating N cycling and N limitations on primary production in an individual-based dynamic vegetation model

    Benjamin Smith;David Wårlind;Almut Arneth;Thomas Hickler

  • The global carbon budget 1959-2011

    C. Le Quere;R.J. Andres;T.A. Boden;T. Conway

  • Compensatory water effects link yearly global land CO2 sink changes to temperature

    Martin Jung;Markus Reichstein;Christopher R. Schwalm;Christopher Huntingford

  • Changes in climate and land use have a larger direct impact than rising CO2 on global river runoff trends.

    Shilong Piao;Pierre Friedlingstein;Philippe Ciais;Nathalie de Noblet-Ducoudré

  • Terrestrial biogeochemical feedbacks in the climate system

    Almut Arneth;S. P. Harrison;S. P. Harrison;S. Zaehle;K. Tsigaridis;K. Tsigaridis

Frequent Co-Authors

Pierre Friedlingstein
Pierre Friedlingstein University of Exeter
Stephen Sitch
Stephen Sitch University of Exeter
Belinda E. Medlyn
Belinda E. Medlyn Western Sydney University
Almut Arneth
Almut Arneth Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Atul K. Jain
Atul K. Jain University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Anthony P. Walker
Anthony P. Walker Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Etsushi Kato
Etsushi Kato Institute of Applied Energy
Benjamin Poulter
Benjamin Poulter Goddard Space Flight Center
Julia Pongratz
Julia Pongratz Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Christian Rödenbeck
Christian Rödenbeck Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry

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