Karina Clemmensen

My overarching research goal is to integrate knowledge about fungal communities and their traits into ecosystem contexts. Fungi – and particularly mycorrhizal fungi - are at the core of potentially opposing processes, such as soil carbon sequestration, decomposition, nutrient mobilization and plant production. Therefore, understanding their ecology is integral to understanding trade-offs among ecosystem properties such as biodiversity, plant productivity and climate-mitigation in both natural and managed ecosystems.

I collaborate with colleagues in the Soil Microbiology Group, as well as with colleagues at other SLU departments and other Universities. Our methodological approach is often to combine molecular-based community analyses with other data, such as mycelial growth, enzyme activities, C and N pools and isotopic ratios and nutrient cycling proxies. Most of our work is based on field experiments.

Current projects are sorted into three main themes below.

Diversity and ecology of grassland fungi

• CHEGDmate – diversity, conservation and nutritional mode of waxcaps and allied in Swedish grasslands. Swedish Research Council Formas (2026-2030)
• MicrObial DIversity and functions in (h)edges of CUltivated Soils (MODICUS). Swedish Research Council Formas. PI: C. Castaño, SLU (2026-2030).

Mycorrhizal ecology in boreal forest

• Tree establishment in ericaceous understory – importance of mycorrhizal networks and guild interactions. Swedish Research Council VR (2024-2027)
• Soil organic matter dynamics in boreal forests – the role of mycorrhizal mycelia and microbial communities. Swedish Research Council VR. PI P. Fransson, SLU (2025-2028)
• Post-fire recruitment, microbial communities and ecosystem shifts in the Boreal forest. Swedish Research Council VR. PI: MC Nilsson, SLU (2025-2028)
• Invasive earthworms in northern Scandinavia; effects on soil microorganisms and carbon. Swedish Research Council VR. PI: Eveline Krab, SLU (2022-2026)

Climate change and seasonality in the Arctic

• Year-round climate feedbacks of winter phenological (mis)matches of plants and microbes across the Arctic. Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. PI: E. Dorrepaal, Umeå University, Sweden (2021-2026)
• Role of saprotrophic and mycorrhizal fungi in soil carbon storage in the Arctic. Independent Research Fund Denmark. PI: A. Michelsen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark (2022-2026)

I am director of postgraduate studies at department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology since January 2024.

I am course leader and teach on the MSc level course Soil Biology and Biogeochemical Cycles (BI1322, 15 hp) since 2019.

I teach on several other courses as well and have earlier led the BSc level course Molecular Ecology & Evolution (15 hp, 2013-2018) and the PhD course Sample preparation for high-throughput sequencing of fungal communities (2011, 2014, 2018).

2017  Docent (associate professor) in Biology, Forest Faculty, SLU

2006 PhD in Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

2001  MSc in Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark