Mariska’s main research interest lies in systems ecology and conservation, with a strong focus on plant communities, global change and the ongoing biodiversity crisis. She is specifically interested in ecological feedbacks between plants and climate, fire, herbivory and the soil compartment. Mariska has worked extensively with invasive alien plants, focusing on factors that determine community invasibility, such as natural disturbance regimes, plant-soil feedbacks and resource competition, as well as factors that determine species invasiveness, such as plant functional traits, niche dynamics and evolutionary processes. Most of her research is related to open systems, including both the grassy biomes (savannas and grasslands) of the South and the tundra’s of the North. Working across systems and hemispheres enables identifying similarities and differences and allows for challenging current ecological paradigms. 

Mariskas current research interests focus on: (1) The effects of plant diversity and fire on carbon storage in Afromontane grasslands, (2) The role of forbs in grassy biomes, (3) Climate-vegetation feedbacks in grassy biomes, focussing on fire, experimental warming, surface albedo and the consequences of land use change, and (4) Using plant traits to predict ecological responses.