Dr. Nadia Soudzilovskaia

e-mail: nadia.soudzilovskaia@ecology.falw.vu.nl

Main research aim

Hello! I am a postdoc researcher at the Department of Systems Ecology. My main research interest is ecology of plants in cold biomes, in particular the applicability of plant functional trait data to prediction of vegetation change induced by global climate change. My current project is investigation of the roles of cryptogams (bryophytes and lichens) in arctic and alpine ecosystems.

I am interested in two sorts of questions:
1)      Consequences of presence of cryptogams for their host ecosystems. How do they affect nutrient turnover in the ecosystem? What do they do to other plants, animals and (soil) micro-organisms? In particular I am interested in acidification, thermal insulation and water retention capacity of cryptogams. 
2)      Relation betweens the above mentioned, hard-to-measure, plant functional traits to other, relatively easy to measure traits, for instance tissue nutrient content or morphology. Is it possible to predict the former via the latter?
 
Besides my own research project I am closely involved in a Dutch-Russian collaboration program, aimed at screening and comparison of plant functional trait spectra in relation to climate-vegetation pattern between alpine and (sub-)arctic regions. My own research forms one of the core subprojects within this program. Besides this, I am the logistic coordinator of the project and, together with project leader Hans Cornelissen (LINK: Hans Cornelissen), responsible for synchronization and accomplishment of a number of collaborative investigations performed by staff of this department and our colleagues from Moscow State University. I also develop and manage an ACCESS database containing the (meta-)data for the whole project.

Dr. Hans Cornelissen

For related papers, please use the Publications link below and select: Soudzilovskaia, N.A.

Publications IEW

Below you will find a detailled description of my research projects

Why cryptogam functional traits?
 
The quantification of interspecific variation in plant functional traits is an important tool helping us to understand ecosystem functioning. Till now investigations of plant functional traits have been biased almost exclusively towards vascular plants. Very little is known about the role and applicability of functional traits in non-vascular cryptogams, particularly bryophytes and lichens. Yet, cryptogams are principal determinants of ecosystem functioning in many biomes (particularly cold biomes and tropical rainforests), where they contribute substantially to aboveground biomass and therefore control soil temperatures, hydrology, pH and nutrient turnover. However, the role of cryptogam functional traits underlying these processes is poorly understood, partly due to general unfamiliarity of ecologists with cryptogams, partly due to the absence of protocols for cryptogam trait investigations.

This project aims to screen a large number of cryptogam species (c. 60) for their functional traits. Of particular interest and novelty are those cryptogam traits that control important ecosystem functions and processes, such as water retention capacity, temperature retention capacity and acidifying potential. Since these traits have not yet been screened for systematically, new measurement protocols need to be developed. With the multi-species information for cryptogam traits obtained within this project, relations and trade-offs between the traits can be analyzed, as well as their predictive power of functions and processes of target ecosystems in cold biomes. 

Projects of bryophyte trait screening are conducted in close cooperation with Hans Cornelissen and Heinjo During.

Investigation of thermal insulation capacity of cryptogamic plants
 
The influence of cryptogams on the soil temperature has crucial implications for carbon and nutrient cycling within an ecosystem. A temperature increase of 10 degrees (Q10) is known to double the rate of mineralization. Large differences in soil temperature and time of soil thaw in the Arctic were shown to be responsible for the variability in plant available nutrients such as ammonium, nitrate and phosphate, with feedbacks to plant community composition and biodiversity. Yet, the question how different cryptogam species and types vary in their insulation capacity, and which traits should underlie this variation, is unknown.

I screen a large number of cryptogamic species in (sub-)arctic regions for their ability to affect soil temperature regimes. Using this data I aim to develop a model predicting temperature under the cryptogam turf, as a function of air temperature, precipitation and species traits. This model together with data on cryptogam distribution in the (sub-)arctic zone, will be coupled to the existing LPJ model for cold biome carbon turnover and, thereby, correct the calculations of soil temperature in LPJ for the sites dominated by cryptogams. This will be done for current and for future climate regimes. This way, I aim to quantify the impact of cryptogams in carbon turnover process in (sub-)arctic ecosystems now and in future climatic conditions.

The project is conducted in close cooperation with Hans Cornelissen and Heinjo During 
 
 
Investigation of acidification capacity of bryophytes
 
The ability of bryophytes to acquire cations in exchange for protons is widely believed to cause acidification of their environment. Indeed Sphagnum (peat moss) is a spectacular example of a bryophyte that, being put into water, lowers its pH by 1-2 units. However, little is known about mechanisms supporting (or disturbing) this process in a real ecosystem. Very little is known also about cation exchange capacity and acidification capacity of bryophyte species other than Sphagnum. Nevertheless the acidification potential of bryophytes is presumed to be one of the crucial factors forcing a switch between fen and bog wetland types. The goal of this project is to screen a wide range of bryophyte species for their cation exchange capacity and unravel their potential to rise soil pH of their host ecosystem.

The project is conducted in close cooperation with Hans Cornelissen  and Heinjo During
 

Other research projects on cryptogam traits
 
Together with colleagues from Moscow State University I examine water retention capacity of bryophytes and its role for the host ecosystems of the bryophytes. 
 
Moscow State University (Geobotany)

Further on, together with Bente Graae , we investigate ability of bryophyte species to inhibit germination of vascular plants.

I am very interested in the role of cryptogams for the nitrogen balance in the Sub-arctic. I co-supervised two MSc projects on this subject. These project were: uptake of amino acids via bryophytes (Eva Krab, and symbiotic nitrogen fixation via cryptogams (Konstantin Gavazov)

PhD degree, 2006
Accomplished at the department of Geobotany of Moscow State University under supervision of Professor Vladimir Onipchenko  in close cooperation with Hans Cornelissen.
Thesis: Response of North-Caucasian alpine lichen dominated heath to release from nutrient limitation
 
Master degree, 1998 (graduated cum laude)
Bauman Moscow State Technical University (Russia), Faculty of Informatics and control systems, Main subject: Artificial intelligence, modelling and data control  

Other activities
I am particularly interested in nature conservation. I participated in a number of projects for classification and monitoring of Russian ancient forest territories carried out by Russian ecological organisations. This included monitoring of such territories using satellite imagery (GIS) and field expeditions for verification on the ground. During my student period I was an active participant in wetland conservation and bird protection activities in the ‘Motherland of the Crane’ a wetland natural reserve in Taldom, Russia.

Bente Graae
Professor Vladimir Onipchenko
Drs EJ Krab
Dr Hans Cornelissen