Carmen Alicia Rivera Perez
Carmen Alicia Rivera Perez
Scientist
Carmen Alicia Rivera Pérez
Institute for Biology and Environmental Sciences (» Postal address)
Curriculum vitae
- Since 2022 Research Assistant, University of Oldenburg, Germany.
- 2017-2021 Research Assistant, University of Göttingen, Germany.
- 2014-2017 MSc. Ecology, University of Bremen, Germany.
- 2011-2014 BSc. Biology, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, USA.
Research Interests
The salt marsh is a dynamic environment that is subject to inundation and drought cycles and is characterized by fluctuations in oxygen availability and salt concentration along an elevation gradient. Under these conditions, the organisms living in the salt marsh are required to possess certain tolerance mechanisms that enable them to thrive under low oxygen availability or increased salinity. One strategy that salt marsh plants have evolved is the symbiotic association with Dark Septate Endophytic (DSE) fungi (facultative biotrophs) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (obligate biotrophs). Although these fungi are not easily visible in the salt marsh, they play essential roles in the ecological performance of plant species by influencing nutrient uptake and tolerance to abiotic stress. Since DSE fungi are known to possess remarkably heterogeneous genetic traits, depending on multiple factors like host identity, host age, or environmental parameters, the fungal partners may behave as beneficial or harmful symbionts. Thus, the fungal lifestyle may range from parasitic to mutualistic and even exhibit saprophytic behavior in different circumstances. This symbiotic spectrum might even be observable at the individual level and may be influenced by interactions between fungi that live in the same host. Therefore, our goal is to elucidate the functional contribution of fungi to the ecological stability of the salt marsh. At this point, we are trying to understand how plant-fungi symbiotic interactions operate in vivo under salinity stress in the salt marsh and are gaining insights of the fungal functional diversity from a molecular perspective by combining field experiments, greenhouse experiments, and metatranscriptomics. Furthermore, we are studying the spatial distribution of roots in the salt marsh and the interactions between plants and animals using metabarcoding and eDNA approaches to broaden our understanding of the salt marsh food webs.
Lectures
Summer term 2026
Publications
Klenke, J., von Groß, V., Fuchs, J. M., Topanotti, L. R., Wildermuth, B., Rivera Pérez, C. A., Lu, J.-Z., Likulunga, L. E., Knoke, T., & Paul, C. 2026. Balancing biodiversity and economics: Using robust Pareto-optimisation to quantify ecological–economic trade-offs in German mixed beech forests. Ambio. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-026-02441-8
Lu, J. Z., Yang, J., Bluhm, C., Foltran, E., Rivera Pérez, C. A., Glatthorn, J., Ammer, C., Lamersdorf, N., Polle, A., Berg, M., Potapov, A. M., & Scheu, S. 2025. Mixed forests with native species mitigate impacts of introduced Douglas fir on soil decomposers (Collembola). Ecological Applications, 35(3). https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.70034
Lu, J. Z., Bluhm, C., Foltran, E., Rivera Pérez, C. A., Ammer, C., Caruso, T., Glatthorn, J., Lamersdorf, N., Polle, A., Sandmann, D., Schaefer, I., Schuldt, A., Maraun, M., Scheu, S. 2024. Functional traits in soil-living oribatid mites unveil trophic reorganization in belowground communities by introduced tree species. Geoderma, 448(June). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2024.116947
Topanotti, L. R., Fuchs, J. M., Albert, M., Schick, J., Penanhoat, A., Lu, J-Z., Rivera Pérez, C. A., Foltran, E. C., Appleby, S., Wildermuth, B., Stuckenberg, T., Likulunga, E. L., Glatthorn, J., Schuldt, A., Polle, A., Balkenhol, N., Scheu, S., Ammer, C., Paul, C., Gerrero-Ramírez, N. 2024. Enhancing economic multifunctionality without compromising multidiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality via forest enrichment. Science Advances, 10(43), 17–19. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adp6566
Yang, Y., Rivera Pérez, C. A., Richter-Heitmann, T., Nimzyk, R., Friedrich, M. W., & Reich, M. 2023. Effects of oxygen availability on mycobenthic communities of marine coastal sediments. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 15218. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-42329-1
Glatthorn J, Appleby S, Balkenhol N, Kriegel P, Likulunga LE, Lu JZ, Matevski D, Polle A, Riebl H, Rivera Pérez CA, Scheu S, Seinsche A, Schall P, Schuldt A, Wingender S, Ammer C. 2023. Species diversity of forest floor biota in non-native Douglas-fir stands is similar to that of native stands. Ecosphere, vol. 14, no. 7, 2023, doi:10.1002/ecs2.4609.
Rivera Pérez, C. A., Janz, D., Schneider, D., Daniel, R., Polle, A. 2022. Transcriptional landscape of ectomycorrhizal fungi and their host provide insight into N uptake from forest soil.
mSystems, 2021.07.23.453179. https://doi.org/10.1128/mSystems.00957-21
Likulunga, E. L., Rivera Pérez, C. A., Schneider, D., Daniel, R., Polle, A. 2021. Tree species
composition and soil properties in pure and mixed beech-conifer stands drive soil fungal
communities. Forest Ecology and Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119709
Belby, Colin S., Rivera Pérez, C. A., Gerrish, Gretchen A. 2015. Understanding ecosystem
change in Upper Mississippi River backwaters through geochemical and biological analyses
of sediment cores. River Systems. 21: 163-181, http://dx.doi.org/10.1127/rs/2015/0102