World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!

D-Index & Metrics

Ecology and Evolution

D-Index
59
Citations
17070
World Ranking
2382
National Ranking
129

Overview

Walter Durka is a researcher affiliated with the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Germany. The scientist's work primarily spans the fields of Environmental Science and Agricultural and Biological Sciences.

Their research engages extensively with several subfields, notably Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Nature and Landscape Conservation, Plant Science, Genetics, and Ecology. A significant focus within their research topics includes plant and animal studies, ecology and vegetation dynamics, and genetic diversity and population structure. Additional areas covered include species distribution and climate change, plant parasitism and resistance, rangeland and wildlife management, as well as botany and plant ecology studies.

Durka's publishing record includes important contributions to various scientific journals. Frequent publication venues are:

  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
  • Ecology and Evolution
  • New Phytologist
  • Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
  • Nature Communications

Among their recent papers are:

  • Widespread vulnerability of flowering plant seed production to pollinator declines, 2021, Science Advances
  • Land use and pollinator dependency drives global patterns of pollen limitation in the Anthropocene, 2020, Nature Communications
  • Urbanization Effects on Biodiversity Revealed by a Two-Scale Analysis of Species Functional Uniqueness vs. Redundancy, 2020, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
  • The neglected importance of floral traits in trait-based plant community assembly, 2020, Journal of Vegetation Science
  • Resilience trinity: safeguarding ecosystem functioning and services across three different time horizons and decision contexts, 2020, Oikos

The scientist has collaborated frequently with several coauthors, including Oliver Bossdorf (13 collaborations), Stefan G. Michalski (11), Christiane Roscher (9), Anna Bucharová (9), and Bernhard Schmid (8).

Best Publications

  • TRY - a global database of plant traits

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

  • TRY plant trait database : Enhanced coverage and open access

    Jens Kattge;Gerhard Bönisch;Sandra Díaz;Sandra Lavorel

  • Indicators for biodiversity in agricultural landscapes: a pan‐European study

    R. Billeter;J. Liira;D. Bailey;R.J.F. Bugter

  • Impacts of species richness on productivity in a large-scale subtropical forest experiment.

    Yuanyuan Huang;Yuxin Chen;Nadia Castro-Izaguirre;Martin Baruffol;Martin Baruffol

  • The niche of higher plants: evidence for phylogenetic conservatism.

    Andreas Prinzing;Walter Durka;Stefan Klotz;Roalnd Brandl

  • Effects of forest decline on uptake and leaching of deposited nitrate determined from 15 N and 18 O measurements

    Walter Durka;Ernst-Detlef Schulze;Gerhard Gebauer;Susanne Voerkeliust

  • Contrasting changes in taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional diversity during a long‐term succession: insights into assembly processes

    Oliver Purschke;Barbara Christine Schmid;Martin Sykes;Peter Poschlod

  • Designing forest biodiversity experiments : general considerations illustrated by a new large experiment in subtropical China

    Helge Bruelheide;Karin Nadrowski;Thorsten Assmann;Jürgen Bauhus

  • Ecological plant epigenetics: Evidence from model and non-model species, and the way forward

    Christina L. Richards;Conchita Alonso;Claude Becker;Oliver Bossdorf

  • Community assembly during secondary forest succession in a Chinese subtropical forest

    Helge Bruelheide;Martin Böhnke;Sabine Both;Teng Fang

  • Molecular evidence for multiple introductions of garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata, Brassicaceae) to North America.

    Walter Durka;Oliver Bossdorf;Daniel Prati;Harald Auge

  • Multiple plant diversity components drive consumer communities across ecosystems

    Andreas Schuldt;Andreas Schuldt;Anne Ebeling;Matthias Kunz;Michael Staab

  • Daphne: a dated phylogeny of a large European flora for phylogenetically informed ecological analyses

    Walter Durka;Stefan G. Michalski

  • Which species become aliens

    Andreas Prinzing;Walter Durka;Stefan Klotz;Roland Brandl

  • Widespread vulnerability of flowering plant seed production to pollinator declines.

    James G. Rodger;James G. Rodger;Joanne M. Bennett;Joanne M. Bennett;Mialy Razanajatovo;Tiffany M. Knight;Tiffany M. Knight

  • Mix and match: regional admixture provenancing strikes a balance among different seed-sourcing strategies for ecological restoration

    Anna Bucharova;Anna Bucharova;Anna Bucharova;Oliver Bossdorf;Norbert Hölzel;Johannes Kollmann

  • Land use and pollinator dependency drives global patterns of pollen limitation in the Anthropocene.

    Joanne M. Bennett;Joanne M. Bennett;Janette A. Steets;Jean H. Burns;Laura A. Burkle

  • Scoring and analysis of methylation‐sensitive amplification polymorphisms for epigenetic population studies

    Benjamin Schulz;R. Lutz Eckstein;Walter Durka

  • A comparative test of phylogenetic diversity indices

    Oliver Schweiger;Stefan Klotz;Walter Durka;Ingolf Kühn

  • Genetic differentiation and regional adaptation among seed origins used for grassland restoration: lessons from a multispecies transplant experiment

    Anna Bucharova;Stefan Michalski;Julia‐Maria Hermann;Karola Heveling

  • Community assembly during secondary forest succession in a Chinese subtropical forest

    Helge Bruelheide;Martin Bohnke;Sabine Both;Fang Teng

Frequent Co-Authors

Markus Fischer
Markus Fischer University of Bern
Helge Bruelheide
Helge Bruelheide Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
Ingolf Kühn
Ingolf Kühn Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research
Stefan Klotz
Stefan Klotz Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research
Christian Wirth
Christian Wirth Leipzig University
Bernhard Schmid
Bernhard Schmid University of Zurich
Andreas Schuldt
Andreas Schuldt University of Göttingen
Oliver Bossdorf
Oliver Bossdorf University of Tübingen
Erik Welk
Erik Welk Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
Isabell Hensen
Isabell Hensen Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg

If you think any of the details on this page are incorrect, let us know.

Report an issue

We appreciate your kind effort to assist us to improve this page, it would be helpful providing us with as much detail as possible in the text box below:

Related Online Degrees & Career Pathways

Exploring Ecology and Evolution opens many doors to related fields and online degree options. For example, combining knowledge of living systems with creative design is possible by pursuing an architecture degree online. This interdisciplinary approach can lead to sustainable building solutions inspired by ecology.

Many students find that skills in statistics and quantitative analysis are crucial for careers in environmental science. Enrolling in an online mathematics degree provides a strong analytical foundation for research and data-driven roles in ecology, evolution, or conservation.

Visual communication is also vital for sharing scientific discoveries. With the rise of digital media, attending online graphic design schools can help aspiring scientists and educators create impactful presentations, infographics, and public outreach materials.

Finally, for those interested in a broader, customizable educational journey, researching online interdisciplinary studies admissions and costs can help you combine courses from ecology, mathematics, art, and more. This flexibility enables students to design career pathways tailored to their passions within environmental science and beyond.

Best Scientists Citing Walter Durka

Trending Scientists