Prof. Dr. Alexandra-Maria Klein

University of Freiburg
Ecology, Biodiversity

Senior Fellow
FRIAS Project Group “Agrivoltaics”

October 2025 – September 2026

Website

ORCID ID

E-Mail: alexandra.klein@nature.uni-freiburg.de

Last Update: 20.10.2025

Curriculum Vitae

Prof. Dr. Alexandra-Maria Klein has held the Chair of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology at the University of Freiburg since 2013. She is an ecologist with a strong background in pollination ecology and a long-standing commitment to understanding ecosystem functions mediated by multitrophic interactions.
She studied biology at the University of Göttingen, where she earned her diploma in 1999, followed by a PhD (2003) and habilitation (2010) in ecology at the University of Göttingen. After research stays at UC Berkeley and UC Davis, she became Professor of Sustainable Land Use at Leuphana University Lüneburg (2010–2013) before moving to Freiburg. In 2023/24, she was Visiting Professor at the Centre for Environmental and Climate Science, Lund University.
Prof. Klein has coordinated or contributed to more than 30 research projects (>20 M €) funded by the DFG, BMBF, BMEL, BfN, and international foundations. She has supervised over 20 PhD and 30 MSc students and has published more than 240 peer-reviewed papers with over 32,000 citations (H-index = 74).
Her awards include for example the Highly Cited Researcher Award (Clarivate) or the Töpfer Prize for Environmental Research. She is frequently invited as an expert advisor and keynote speaker on biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Selected Publications

Bishop, G.A., Kleijn, D., …, Fornoff, F., …, Klein, A.M., …, von Königslöw, V., … & Fijen, T.P.M. (2025): Critical habitat thresholds for effective pollinator conservation in agricultural landscapes. Science 389: 1314–1319.
Eeraerts, M., Osterman, J., Batáry, P., Klein, A.M., … & Verheyen, K. (2025): Global synthesis of apple pollination research highlights general pollen limitation and positive contributions of wild bees compared to honeybees. Journal of Applied Ecology, doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.70155
Mupepele, A.C., Hellwig, N., Dieker, P., Klein, A.M. (2025): What evidence exists on wild bee trends in Germany? A systematic map. Environmental Evidence, 14, 11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13750-025-00364-7
Mupepele, A.C., von Königslöw, V., Bleile, A.M., Fornoff, F., Fründ, J, Klein, A.M. (2025): Plant-pollinator interactions in apple orchards from a production and conservation perspective. Conservation Science and Practice, e13280. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.13280.
Klein, A.M., Thompson, A., Lakner, S., Mupepele, A.C., Paetow, H., Sponagel, C., Bieling, C., Bleidorn, C., Breitkreuz, L., Hasenöhrl, U., Sommer, M., Tanneberger, F., Bruelheide, H., Muus, K., Schmidt, A., Settele, J., Sporbert, M. (2024): Agrar- und Offenland. In: Wirth, C., Bruelheide, H., Farwig, N., Marx, J., Settele, J. (eds.) Faktencheck Artenvielfalt. Bestandsaufnehme und Perspektiven für den Erhalt der biologischen Vielfalt in Deutschland. Oekom Verlag, Munich, Germany, pp. 217-356.

FRIAS Project

Project Group “Agrivoltaics.”

The Agri-Photovoltaics Project Group at the University of Freiburg advances Agri-PV as a key technology for sustainable land use: solar generation and farming co-located on the same plots to boost land productivity and climate resilience. Our interdisciplinary approach links field insights, modeling, and techno-economic analysis with social-science work on adoption, governance, and value chains. In doing so, we contribute to core UN goals—climate-resilient agriculture (SDG 2), efficient water use (SDG 6), clean energy (SDG 7), climate action (SDG 13), and responsible consumption (SDG 12). We aim to strengthen collaboration across the university, build international visibility, and deepen research capacity—complementing the application-oriented activities of Fraunhofer ISE.