People

Anna Mária Csergő, Associate Professor

I lead an international team of students interested in plant populations. I have joined the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 2018. Previously I was a postdoctoral researcher in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. For more information about my career, please visit my personal website. 

E_mail: Csergo.Anna.Maria(at)uni-mate.hu

Personal website: https://annamariacsergo.weebly.com/

Dániel Szijj, BSc (2022), MSc (2023), PhD (2025-2029)

Currently I work on developing predictive ecological models of plant demography in habitat islands. My work is situated at the intersection of ecological niche modelling and plant demography, and I source my data from long-term field observations and experiments.

For my MSc thesis, I explored the effects of macro- and microclimate on the demography of the endemic plant Seseli leucospermum across the species' geographic area of distribution, in the Transdanubian Mountains. As part of this research have investigated comparatively microhabitat preferences of different Seseli species across the geographic range of S. leucospermum. For my BSc, I tested parallel patterns of biodiversity and abundance of S. leucospermum in the Transdanubian Mountains of Hungary. I have investigated determinants of these patterns at biogeographic, landscape and microhabitat scales. 

Rewards

• Student’s Scientific Research Conference (TDK) in 2022 at Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE) – 3rd place

• National Scientific Students’ Associations Conference (OTDK) in 2023 – Special prize

• Student’s Scientific Research Conference (TDK) in 2024 at Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE) – 2nd place

• New National Excellence Programme (ÚNKP) Research Scholarship 2023/24

E_mail: Szijj.Daniel(at)PhD.uni-mate.hu

Hilda Meso Odongo, PhD Student (2022 - 2026)

My research is focused the role of plasticity and adaptation on the demographic pathways of Plantago lanceolata. This will be achieved through a reciprocal transplant experiment, measurement of changes in traits due to exposure to drought conditions and development of demographic models that will deduce which traits influence the persistence of Plantago lanceolata populations. The results of my study are important in the recommendation crops to be grown for adaptation to climate change (Plantago lanceolata is used as a fodder crop), and in breeding for resistance to drought conditions which are predicted to become more frequent and severe.

E_mail: Odongo.Hilda.Meso(at)phd.uni-mate.hu

Verbényiné Neumann Krisztina, PhD Student

I have recently defended my PhD thesis with Professor Szilárd Czóbel at the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Gödöllő. My research is focused on the effects of urban excess heat and climate change on wild growing plant species. To find out how excess heat in urban environments affects the phenological patterns of species we planted specimens representing 6 different life-forms of the Raunkiær system (phanerophytes, chamaephytes, hemicryptophytes, geophytes, hemitherophytes, therophytes) in two different mesoclimatic environments, in Budapest, Füvészkert and in the MATE Botanical Garden of Gödöllő. These findings can help us to prepare for the expected effects of climate change and inform biodiversity conservation actions.

In the Ecological Biogeography lab I am applying my experience of the PhD research to investigate the effects of flowering phenology on the demographic performance of Salvia nemorosa on kurgans of the Hungarian Great Plain.

E_mail: Neumann.Krisztina86(at)gmail.com

Réka Fekete, Postdoctoral researcher

My previous research mainly focused on roadsides as anthropogenic orchid habitats with the lead of Attila Molnár V. as the supervisor of my PhD at the University of Debrecen. During the last seven years, we surveyed 17 European countries and gathered data on habitat characteristics and traits of roadside orchids. 

I joined the Ecological Biogeography Lab to start using this large dataset for testing general, well-known biogeographical patterns such as the centre-periphery hypotheses and the island theory on roadside orchid data. On the one hand we test how the distance of roadside orchid populations from the centre of their geographic range affects the vegetative traits of individuals, on the other hand we analyze the difference in traits between orchid populations found on island and mainland. This would be the first research that analyzes the above mentioned biogeographical hypotheses in anthropogenic habitats, and could help us understand the mechanisms influencing the persistence of plant populations in these habitats and provide guidelines for orchid conservation. 

E_mail: feketereka722(at)gmail.com

Santiago Ordonez, PhD candidate (2020 - 2024 )

My research focused on the effects of anthropogenic pressures and climate change on plant populations and their geographic distribution. Through testing the relationship between spatial distribution patterns and several plant life history traits related to dispersal, colonisation, regeneration and persistence, my findings could contribute to a better understanding of species’ ability to respond to the spatial rearrangement of natural habitats, an important indicator of vulnerability to environmental changes. 

E_mail: Ordonez.Jacome.Santiago.Fernando(at)phd.uni-mate.hu

Publications:

Ordonez JS, Deák B, Valkó O, Szász V, Verbényiné NK & Csergő AM (2025) Microclimate and dry years interfere with landscape structure effects on intraspecific trait variation. Ecology and Evolution 15(5), e71417.

Ordonez JS, Deák B, Valkó O, Szász V, Verbényiné NK, Elhouda Z N & Csergő AM (2023) A long-term demographic study of Salvia nemorosa L. to determine the effects of landscape structure on the mechanisms of population persistence. Palaearctic Grasslands 57, 26-27

​Nour Zayani Elhouda, BSc (2021), MSc (2023) 

For my MSc thesis, (2023), I have investigated the effect of microhabitat conditions and geographic isolation on the vital rates of Salvia nemorosa in fragmented dry grasslands. Earlier, for my BSc thesis (2021), I studied the demography and population dynamics of orchid species in Soroksár Botanical Garden, Budapest. 

E_mail: nourhouda728(at)gmail.com

Publications:

Zayani EN, Miklósi, Sz & Csergő AM (2025) More stable population of a generalist, than two specialist orchid species in a drying Molinia meadow. Acta Botanica Hungarica 67(4), pp. 503–516

Vivien Szász, BSc (2022)

My research is focused on ecological islands on the mainland. I am particularly interested in whether isolation can cause shifts in seed traits of Salvia nemorosa, a perennial, a dry grassland specialist plant. I work on ancient burial mounds (kurgans) as model system to test my hypotheses. 

Rewards

During my BSc studies, I placed second at the Student’s Scientific Research Conference (TDK), in 2022 at the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences. I advanced to the National Scientific Students’ Associations Conference (OTDK) in 2023, where I received a special prize in the Agrobotany and Plant Physiology with the project  titled "The effect of kurgan area and isolation on Salvia nemorosa L. in fragmented dry grasslands".

E-mail: vivusszasz(at)gmail.com

Zsófia Szórádi, MSc student  (2021)

Zsófia studied determinants of biodiversity in boreal temporary ponds of the Carpathian Mountains, Romania. She tested how pond area and spatial location affects the diversity of plant species and the diversity of different plant functional groups. Her research contributes to a better understanding of habitat islands in anthropogenic landscapes and fundament their conservation. 

Publications:

Herceg-Szórádi Z., Demeter L., & Csergő A M. (2023). Small area and low connectivity constrain the diversity of plant life strategies in temporary ponds. Diversity and Distributions, 29, 629– 640.

Caroline Carelli Baptistella, BSc student  (2021)

Caroline studied the ecosystem services of weeds in Soroksár Botanical Garden, Budapest

Szabina Miklósi, BSc student (2019)

Szabina studied the population biology of Ophioglossum vulgatum L. in Soroksár Botanical Garden, Budapest