Profile

Katalin Szitár is an ecologist whose research focuses on biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration. Her work integrates landscape-scale processes with local ecological dynamics to better understand biodiversity patterns, particularly in human-shaped landscapes such as towns and villages. She has contributed to national-level assessments of green infrastructure condition and planning. A major part of her research centers on the restoration of Hungarian sand grasslands, including studies on abandoned agricultural lands and post-disturbance habitats such as burnt pine plantations. She is also involved in the reintroduction of native grassland species, evaluating innovative approaches such as the use of stored seed bank material from the Pannon Seed Bank. In addition, her work addresses invasion ecology, particularly the impacts of Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed) on both spontaneous and assisted regeneration processes, and she investigates management practices such as cattle grazing and their effects on invasive species dynamics in wetland ecosystems. She is involved in developing and testing standardized and automated monitoring approaches for plant–pollinator interactions during restoration. She also contributes to research on the co-design and landscape-scale evaluation of agroecological practices in vineyards, aiming to enhance the multifunctionality and sustainability of European agricultural systems.

Publications

2026

• Kövendi-Jakó, A., Reis, B. P., Szitár, K., Török, K., Sáradi, N., Halász, K., … & Halassy, M. (2026). Short-term seed banking enables adaptive, multi-year seeding strategies in grassland restoration.  Global Ecology and Conservation, e04156.
• Vörös, A. F., Götzenberger, L., Kalapos, T., Kertész, M., Lepš, J., Mojzes, A., … Szitár, K. & Kröel-Dulay, G. (2026). Precipitation change and biomass allocation in a temperate grassland: the role of intraspecific variation and species composition change. Global Ecology and Conservation, e04160.

2025

• Szitár, K., Deák, B., Domokos, E., Gallé, R., Korányi, D., Lakatos, T., … & Batáry, P. (2025). Native and alien plant species respond differently to landscape and local factors shaping spontaneous herbaceous vegetation in villages. Basic and Applied Ecology, 89: 50-58.
• Batáry, P., Gallé, R., Korányi, D., Lakatos, T., Deák, B., Gallé-Szpisjak, N., … Szitár, K. & Török, E. (2025). Biodiversity and human well-being trade-offs and synergies in villages. Nature Sustainability, 8(8), 894-904.
• Lakatos, T., Báldi, A., Gallé, R., Korányi, D., Kovács, I., … Szitár, K., … & Batáry, P. (2025). Functional trait filtering and decline in species richness in urban parks hinder ground-breeding and insectivorous birds. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 128988.
• Mojzes, A., Szitár, K., Ónodi, G., Orbán, I., & Kröel‐Dulay, G. (2025). Extreme drought and long‐term vegetation change: Seedling establishment as a bottleneck of grassland recovery. Ecosphere, 16(12), e70475.
• Csecserits, A., Berki, B., Csákvári, E., Halassy, M., Mártonffy, A., Rédei, T., … Szitár, K. & Botta‐Dukát, Z. (2025). Similarity in Persistence Traits Is Important for CoExistence With Perennial Invasive Asclepias syriaca but Not Annual Invasive Conyza canadensis. Journal of Vegetation Science, 36(6), e70081.

2024

• Szitár, K., Bánhidai, A., Csecserits, A., Csőszi, M., Halassy, M., Kertész, M., … & Török, K. (2024). The zone cube model–a tool to operationalise green infrastructure prioritisation. Landscape and Urban Planning, 243, 104976.
• Kröel-Dulay, G., Rigó, A., Tanács, E., Szitár, K., Ónodi, G., Aradi, E., … & Mojzes, A. (2024). Explosive spread of sand dropseed (Sporobolus cryptandrus), a C4 perennial bunchgrass, threatens unique grasslands in Hungary (Central Europe). NeoBiota, 95, 59-75.
• Lončarević, N., Liu, U., Stefanaki, A., Carapeto, A., Ensslin, A., Meade, C., … Szitár, K., … & Glasnović, P. (2024). Database of European vascular plants red lists as a contribution to more coherent plant conservation. Scientific data, 11(1), 1138.