Dr Boris Sakschewski

Current position

• 2024-...: Co-Lead of the Planetary Boundaries Science Lab @ Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research: Advancing the science behind Planetary Boundaries Assessments and leading the annual Planetary Boundary Health Check in the project Planetary Boundaries Science (PBScience)

Past Positions

• 2022-2024: Project lead @ Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research: Searching for Europe's resilient forests and forestry under climate change in the Forest Spectrum project
• 2020-2022: PostDoc @ Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research: Investigating the safe and just corridor for humanity in the Earth Commission (extended secretariat)
• 2016 -2020: PostDoc @ Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research: Investigating the role of functional diversity for the water cycle in the international research project CLIMAX
• 2012 - 2016: PhD @ Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Biodiversity Research University of Potsdam: Implementing functional diversity into a Dynamic Global Vegetation Model (DGVM). Investigating the role of functional diversity for the carbon cycle in the international research project ROBIN. PhD thesis: "Major impacts of anthropogenic pressure on the terrestrial biosphere and its resilience to global change"

Education

• 2009 - 2012: M.Sc. Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, University of Potsdam, Germany, Master thesis: "New estimations of specific leaf area and leaf longevity relationship in the Amazon rainforest: improving functional diversity in LPJmL"
• 2006 - 2010: B.Sc. Organismic Biology, University of Potsdam, Germany

Main research interests:

•     The causal net behind Planetary Boundary processes
•      A safe and just Earth system
•     Tipping systems in the Earth system
•     Links between biodiversity, functional diversity and ecosystem functions
•     Effects of biodiversity on climate change
•     Improving functional diversity in dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs)
•     Quantifying phenotypic plasticity of plant traits
•     Implementing phenotypic plasticity into DGVMs
•     Implementing plant dispersal into DGVMs
•     Quantifying the role of Amazon forests for continental atmospheric moisture recycling
•     Coupling Dynamic Global Vegetation Models and Moisture Recycling Models

Further information

Nian, D.; Bathiany, S.; Sakschewski, B.; Drüke, M.; Blaschke, L.; Ben-Yami, M.; von Bloh, W.; Boers, N. Rainfall Seasonality Dominates Critical Precipitation Threshold for the Amazon Forest in the LPJmL Vegetation Model. Science of the Total Environment 2024, 947, 174378.

Gupta, J.; Bai, X.; Liverman, D. M.; Rockström, J.; Qin, D.; Stewart-Koster, B.; Rocha, J. C.; Jacobson, L.; Abrams, J. F.; Andersen, L. S. A Just World on a Safe Planet: A Lancet Planetary Health–Earth Commission Report on Earth-System Boundaries, Translations, and Transformations. The Lancet Planetary Health 2024.

Flores, B. M.; Montoya, E.; Sakschewski, B.; Nascimento, N.; Staal, A.; Betts, R. A.; Levis, C.; Lapola, D. M.; Esquível-Muelbert, A.; Jakovac, C. Critical Transitions in the Amazon Forest System. Nature 2024, 626 (7999), 555–564.

Drüke, M.; Lucht, W.; von Bloh, W.; Petri, S.; Sakschewski, B.; Tobian, A.; Loriani, S.; Schaphoff, S.; Feulner, G.; Thonicke, K. The Long-Term Impact of Transgressing Planetary Boundaries on Biophysical Atmosphere–Land Interactions. Earth System Dynamics 2024, 15 (2), 467–483.

Billing, M.; Sakschewski, B.; von Bloh, W.; Vogel, J.; Thonicke, K. ‘How to Adapt Forests?’—Exploring the Role of Leaf Trait Diversity for Long‐term Forest Biomass under New Climate Normals. Global Change Biology 2024, 30 (4), e17258.

Wunderling, N.; Winkelmann, R.; Rockström, J.; Loriani, S.; Armstrong McKay, D. I.; Ritchie, P. D.; Sakschewski, B.; Donges, J. F. Global Warming Overshoots Increase Risks of Climate Tipping Cascades in a Network Model. Nature Climate Change 2023, 13 (1), 75–82.

Rockström, J.; Gupta, J.; Qin, D.; Lade, S. J.; Abrams, J. F.; Andersen, L. S.; Armstrong McKay, D. I.; Bai, X.; Bala, G.; Bunn, S. E. Safe and Just Earth System Boundaries. Nature 2023, 619 (7968), 102–111.

Obura, D. O.; DeClerck, F.; Verburg, P. H.; Gupta, J.; Abrams, J. F.; Bai, X.; Bunn, S.; Ebi, K. L.; Gifford, L.; Gordon, C. Achieving a Nature-and People-Positive Future. One Earth 2023, 6 (2), 105–117.

Lichstein, J.; Longo, M.; Bereswill, S.; Blanco, C.; Bonal, D.; Chave, J.; Christoffersen, B.; de Paula, M.; Derroire, G.; Fisher, R. A Model Intercomparison Project to Study the Role of Plant Functional Diversity in the Response of Tropical Forests to Drought. 2023.

Lenton, T. M.; Xu, C.; Abrams, J. F.; Ghadiali, A.; Loriani, S.; Sakschewski, B.; Zimm, C.; Ebi, K. L.; Dunn, R. R.; Svenning, J.-C. Quantifying the Human Cost of Global Warming. Nature Sustainability 2023, 6 (10), 1237–1247.

Drüke, M.; Sakschewski, B.; von Bloh, W.; Billing, M.; Lucht, W.; Thonicke, K. Fire May Prevent Future Amazon Forest Recovery after Large-Scale Deforestation. Communications Earth & Environment 2023, 4 (1), 248.

Wunderling, N.; Staal, A.; Sakschewski, B.; Hirota, M.; Tuinenburg, O. A.; Donges, J. F.; Barbosa, H. M.; Winkelmann, R. Recurrent Droughts Increase Risk of Cascading Tipping Events by Outpacing Adaptive Capacities in the Amazon Rainforest. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2022, 119 (32), e2120777119.

Ruscica, R. C.; Sörensson, A. A.; Diaz, L. B.; Vera, C.; Castro, A.; Papastefanou, P.; Rammig, A.; Rezende, L. F.; Sakschewski, B.; Thonicke, K. Evapotranspiration Trends and Variability in Southeastern South America: The Roles of Land‐cover Change and Precipitation Variability. International Journal of Climatology 2022, 42 (4), 2019–2038.

Papastefanou, P.; Zang, C. S.; Angelov, Z.; De Castro, A. A.; Jimenez, J. C.; De Rezende, L. F. C.; Ruscica, R. C.; Sakschewski, B.; Sörensson, A. A.; Thonicke, K. Recent Extreme Drought Events in the Amazon Rainforest: Assessment of Different Precipitation and Evapotranspiration Datasets and Drought Indicators. Biogeosciences 2022, 19 (16), 3843–3861.

McKay, D. A.; Staal, A.; Abrams, J. F.; Winkelmann, R.; Sakschewski, B.; Loriani, S.; Fetzer, I.; Cornell, S. E.; Rockström, J.; Lenton, T. M. Exceeding 1.5 C Global Warming Could Trigger Multiple Climate Tipping Points. Science 2022, 377 (6611), eabn7950.

Billing, M.; Thonicke, K.; Sakschewski, B.; von Bloh, W.; Walz, A. Future Tree Survival in European Forests Depends on Understorey Tree Diversity. Scientific Reports 2022, 12 (1), 20750.

Armstrong McKay, D. I.; Staal, A.; Abrams, J. F.; Winkelmann, R.; Sakschewski, B.; Loriani, S.; Fetzer, I.; Cornell, S. E.; Rockström, J.; Lenton, T. M. Exceeding 1.5 C Global Warming Could Trigger Multiple Climate Tipping Points. Science 2022, 377 (6611), eabn7950.

Sakschewski, B.; Von Bloh, W.; Drüke, M.; Sörensson, A. A.; Ruscica, R.; Langerwisch, F.; Billing, M.; Bereswill, S.; Hirota, M.; Oliveira, R. S. Variable Tree Rooting Strategies Are Key for Modelling the Distribution, Productivity and Evapotranspiration of Tropical Evergreen Forests. Biogeosciences 2021, 18 (13), 4091–4116.

Maréchaux, I.; Langerwisch, F.; Huth, A.; Bugmann, H.; Morin, X.; Reyer, C. P.; Seidl, R.; Collalti, A.; Dantas de Paula, M.; Fischer, R. Tackling Unresolved Questions in Forest Ecology: The Past and Future Role of Simulation Models. Ecology and Evolution 2021, 11 (9), 3746–3770.

Drüke, M.; von Bloh, W.; Petri, S.; Sakschewski, B.; Schaphoff, S.; Forkel, M.; Huiskamp, W.; Feulner, G.; Thonicke, K. CM2Mc-LPJmL v1. 0: Biophysical Coupling of a Process-Based Dynamic Vegetation Model with Managed Land to a General Circulation Model. Geoscientific Model Development Discussions 2021, 2021, 1–33.

Drüke, M.; Bloh, W. von; Sakschewski, B.; Wunderling, N.; Petri, S.; Cardoso, M.; Barbosa, H. M.; Thonicke, K. Climate-Induced Hysteresis of the Tropical Forest in a Fire-Enabled Earth System Model. The European Physical Journal Special Topics 2021, 230 (14), 3153–3162.

Thonicke, K.; Billing, M.; Von Bloh, W.; Sakschewski, B.; Niinemets, Ü.; Peñuelas, J.; Cornelissen, J. H. C.; Onoda, Y.; Van Bodegom, P.; Schaepman, M. E. Simulating Functional Diversity of European Natural Forests along Climatic Gradients. Journal of Biogeography 2020, 47 (5), 1069–1085.

Rahmstorf, S.; Levermann, A.; Winkelmann, R.; Donges, J.; Levke, C.; Sakschewski, B.; Thonicke, K. Kipppunkte Im Klimasystem. Im Internet verfügbar unter https://www. pik-potsdam. de/~ stefan/Publications/Kipppunkte% 20im% 20Klimasystem 2019.

Boit, A.; Sakschewski, B.; Boysen, L.; Cano-Crespo, A.; Clement, J.; Garcia Alaniz, N.; Kok, K.; Kolb, M.; Langerwisch, F.; Rammig, A. Using Dynamic Global Vegetation Models (DGVMs) for Projecting Ecosystem Services at Regional Scales. Atlas of Ecosystem Services: Drivers, Risks, and Societal Responses 2019, 57–61.

Reyer, C. P.; Adams, S.; Albrecht, T.; Baarsch, F.; Boit, A.; Canales Trujillo, N.; Cartsburg, M.; Coumou, D.; Eden, A.; Fernandes, E. Climate Change Impacts in Latin America and the Caribbean and Their Implications for Development. Regional Environmental Change 2017, 17, 1601–1621.

Sakschewski, B.; Von Bloh, W.; Boit, A.; Poorter, L.; Peña-Claros, M.; Heinke, J.; Joshi, J.; Thonicke, K. Resilience of Amazon Forests Emerges from Plant Trait Diversity. Nature climate change 2016, 6 (11), 1032–1036.

Boit, A.; Sakschewski, B.; Boysen, L.; Cano‐Crespo, A.; Clement, J.; Garcia‐alaniz, N.; Kok, K.; Kolb, M.; Langerwisch, F.; Rammig, A. Large‐scale Impact of Climate Change vs. Land‐use Change on Future Biome Shifts in Latin America. Global change biology 2016, 22 (11), 3689–3701.

Sakschewski, B.; von Bloh, W.; Boit, A.; Rammig, A.; Kattge, J.; Poorter, L.; Peñuelas, J.; Thonicke, K. Leaf and Stem Economics Spectra Drive Diversity of Functional Plant Traits in a Dynamic Global Vegetation Model. Global Change Biology 2015, 21 (7), 2711–2725.

Sakschewski, B. Impacts of Major Anthropogenic Pressures on the Terrestrial Biosphere and Its Resilience to Global Change. 2015.

Poorter, L.; van der Sande, M. T.; Thompson, J.; Arets, E. J.; Alarcón, A.; Álvarez‐Sánchez, J.; Ascarrunz, N.; Balvanera, P.; Barajas‐Guzmán, G.; Boit, A. Diversity Enhances Carbon Storage in Tropical Forests. Global Ecology and Biogeography 2015, 24 (11), 1314–1328.

Sakschewski, B.; von Bloh, W.; Huber, V.; Müller, C.; Bondeau, A. Feeding 10 Billion People under Climate Change: How Large Is the Production Gap of Current Agricultural Systems? Ecological modelling 2014, 288, 103–111.

Adams, S.; Aich, V.; Albrecht, T.; Baarsch, F.; Boit, A.; Trujillo, N. C.; Cartsburg, M.; Coumou, D.; Eden, A.; Fader, M. Turn down the Heat: Confronting the New Climate Normal. 2014.

Franck, S.; von Bloh, W.; Müller, C.; Bondeau, A.; Sakschewski, B. Harvesting the Sun: New Estimations of the Maximum Population of Planet Earth. Ecological modelling 2011, 222 (12), 2019–2026.

Photo: Boris Sakschewski, Tapajós National Forest canopy, Brazil

• University Bachelor course "The Earth as a system", University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany WS 2017/2018
• University Master course "Global Ecology", University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany WS 2017/2018
• University Master course "Global Ecology", University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany WS 2015/2016
• University Master course "Global Ecology", University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany WS 2014/2015
• University Master course "Global Ecology", University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany WS 2013/2014
• Lecture series "Aspects of tropical ecology", University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany WS 2013

03.03.2020 Managing forests in the 21^st century Konferenz @ PIK, Potsdam, Germany: “Variable rooting strategies stabilize biome productivity”

12.11.2019 EU project meeting in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil: “The effects of deep roots and root diversity on Amazon forest transpiration”

25.10.2019 European Tour of Amazonia's tribal chiefs @ PIK, Potsdam, Germany: “The role of Amazonia’s forests”

24.10.2019 Visit of science minister of Venezuela @PIK, Potsdam, Germany: “The importance of biodiversity under climate change”

08.10.2019 invited talk @ Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Center for „Ginkgo network meeting“, Frankfurt/Main, Germany: “Variable rooting strategies stabilize biome productivity”

03.11.2018 EU project meeting @ Servicio Meteorologico Nacional, Buenos Aires, Argentinia: “How to improve evapotranspiration in land surface models”

07.03.2018 invited talk @ “second expert roundtable for Perspectives of forest modelling” @ Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung (UFZ) Leipzig, Germany:  “Interrelations between functional biodiversity and biogeochemical cycles”

08.12.2017 EU project meeting Brasilia, Brazil: “The effects of deep roots and root diversity on Amazon forest transpiration”

31.01.2017 invited talk Technical University Munich, Munich, Germany: “Tropical forest resilience emerges from biodiversity”

15.12.2016 Talk @ American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, USA: “Tropical Tree Trait Diversity Enhances Forest Biomass Resilience in a Dynamic Global Vegetation Model”

15.11.2016 invited talk @ Free University Berlin, Germany: “Tropical forest resilience emerges from biodiversity”

19.10.2015  EU project meeting in Brussels, Belgium: “Biodiversity matters: it has a direct effect on carbon stocks and forest biomass resilience”

17.06.2015 invited talk @ University of Wageningen, Wageningen, Netherlands: “Amazon resilience to climate change: Effects of introducing plant trait diversity into a dynamic global vegetation model”

14.01.2015 Workshop on “Species adaptation to global change” at PIK. Talk: “Using a trait-based dynamic global vegetation model for predicting habitat change”

17.12.2014 invited talk @ Museum of Natural History Berlin, Berlin, Germany: “How to link species distribution models and trait based dynamic global vegetation models”

11.09.2013 Talk @ University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany @ “43^rd Annual of the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland”: “Implementation of functional diversity in a dynamic global vegetation model”

03.09.2013 Talk @ Deutsches Zentrum für integrative Biodiversitätsforschung, Leipzig, Germany, für  “5^th workshop of the TRY initiative – Quantifying and scaling global plant trait diversity”: “Implementation of functional diversity in a dynamic global vegetation model”

05.10.2012 EU project meeting in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia: “Functional diversity in dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) and how to improve it”

Poster

12.04.2013 European Geosciences Union, Vienna, Austria: “The role of biodiversity for the carbon cycle: Implementation of functional diversity in a dynamic global vegetation model”

Events

Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften / Long Night of Sciences: Explaining vegetation modelling to visitors by using visualization tool

Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning:

• ZDF heute journal (German television) on the impacts of the 2018 drought on Gemran forests
• Washington Post - 2016/08/29 : "Scientists have identified a key way the Amazon’s forests may adapt to climate change"
• taz - 2016/09/03: "Den Wald besser in Ruhe lassen"
• der Standard 2016/08/30: "Gute Nachricht für die Amazonas-Region: Biodiversität mildert Klimarisiken"
• Le Monde 2016/08/30: "La forêt amazonienne ne résistera pas à un réchauffement climatique important"
• Le Soir - 2016/08/29: "La forêt amazonienne ne pourra pas résister à un grand réchauffement climatique"
• Nature World News - 2016/08/30: "Biodiversity Crucial in Saving Amazon From Climate Change"

Amazon rainforest moisture recycling:

Süddeutsche Zeitung - 2016/12/01. "Massive Regenwald-Abholzung in Brasilien"