Long Term Drivers of Aboveground-Belowground Linkages
February 10, 2009. 15:45 in room C-121
Prof.dr. David Wardle
Professor of Soil and Plant Ecology
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Umeå, Sweden
Title: "Long Term Drivers of Aboveground-Belowground Linkages"
Abstract
In this seminar I describe three pieces of work that employ ‘natural’ or ‘unintended’ experiments to investigate aboveground and belowground processes in forested ecosystems and linkages in the long term perspective. The first involves the aboveground and belowground effects of invasive mammals such as deer and rats in New Zealand rainforests that have occurred over a time-span of decades to centuries. The second involves an ongoing study of lake islands in northern Sweden in which historical fire regime drives aboveground-belowground feedbacks in the order of millennia. The third involves the aboveground and belowground consequences of ecosystem retrogression in contrasting long term chronosequences around the world, over the order of millennia and beyond.
Relevant Publications
David Wardle 2004
David Wardle 2005
David Wardle 2006
CV
Current position:
Professor of Soil and Plant Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden
Research interests:
My primary research focus is on aboveground and belowground ecology, linkages between aboveground and belowground communities, and the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. This research is focused on field, glasshouse and laboratory studies in both natural and managed ecosystems, and much of the field work is performed in Swedish boreal forest and subarctic tundra communities and in New Zealand rainforests. Current projects involve studying the community and ecosystem effects of invasive animals, the ecological consequences of wildfire, ecosystem succession and retrogression, and how plant species changes in plant communities influence aboveground and belowground properties.
Academic training:
1986: BSc (honours) in Botany, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
1990: PhD in Soil Ecology, University of Calgary, Canada
Further information:
See: http://www2.seksko.slu.se/dwe.htm
