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Technische Universität München

Richard L. Peters

Function
Associate Professor and head of the Tree Growth and Wood Physiology group. 
Co-Editor-in-Chief at the European Journal of Forest Research
Contact
Email: richard.peters(at)tum.de / Tel: +49 8161 71 4710 / Room: 1.3.2.11
Links
ResearchGate / ORCID / LinkedIn / Google Scholar

Biography

The Tree Growth and Wood Physiology Group is led by Richard L. Peters (1987), who studied biology at the University of Utrecht and received his PhD (summa cum laude) at the University of Basel in collaboration with the Swiss WSL in 2018. As a tree physiologist with a strong background in dendrochronology, Peters obtained a prestigious grant from the SNSF where he developed mechanistic models which combine high-resolution sensors to predict tree water use and wood formation in diverse range of tropical and temperate tree species, at the Ghent University. Subsequently, he returned to the University of Basel and became the scientific coordinator of the Swiss Canopy Crane II research infrastructure to study species-specific drought responses and acclimation. In 2024 he was appointed as an associate professor at the TUM (Video introduction).

Research interests

Tree Physiology / Xylem formation / Hydraulic functioning / Forest monitoring networks / Mechanistic whole-tree modelling

Key publications

Peters RL, Arend M, Zahnd C, Hoch G, Arndt SK, Cernusak LA, Poyatos R, Zhorzel T, Kahmen A. 2025 Uniform regulation of stomatal closure across temperate tree species to sustain nocturnal turgor and growth. Nature Plants 11: 725–730.

Peters RL, Steppe K, Pappas C, Zweifel R, …, Kahmen A. 2023. Daytime stomatal regulation in mature temperate trees prioritizes stem rehydration at night. New Phytologist 239: 533–546

Salomon RL, Peters RL*, Zweifel R, Sass-Klaassen U, Lerink BJW, …, Steppe K. 2022. The 2018 European heatwave led to stem dehydration but not to consistent growth reductions in forests. Nature Communications 13: 28. *equally contributing first author

Peters RL, Steppe K, Cuny HE, de Pauw DJW, Frank DC, …, Fonti P. 2021. Turgor ‐ a limiting factor for radial growth in mature conifers along an elevational gradient. New Phytologist 229: 213–229.

Babst F, Friend A, Karamichalaki M, Wei J, von Arx G, Papale D, Peters RL. 2021. Modelling ambitions outpace observations of forest carbon allocation. Trends in Plant Science 3: 210–219.

Peters RL, Groenendijk P, Vlam M, Zuidema PA. 2015. Detecting long-term growth trends using tree rings: a critical evaluation of methods. Global Change Biology 21: 2040–2054.

Education and professional experience

Since 2024 Associate Professor, Tree Growth and Wood Physiology, Technical University of Munich, DE
2021-2024 Postdoctoral Researcher, Physiological Plant Ecology group, University of Basel, CH
2021-2021 Postdoctoral Researcher, Gembloux Agro-Bio, University of Liège, BE
2019-2021 SNSF Postdoctoral Fellow, Laboratory of Plant Ecology, Ghent University, BE
2018-2019 Postdoctoral Researcher, Swiss Federal Research Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, CH
2014-2018 PhD in Botany, University of Basel, Department of Environmental Sciences, CH
2012-2014 Visiting Researcher, Forest Ecology and Management group, Wageningen University and Research, NL
2009-2012 MSc in Environmental Science, Utrecht University, NL
2006-2009 BSc in Biology, Utrecht University, NL
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