Prof.dr. J.H.C. (Hans) Cornelissen

 Hello, I am Hans and this is the question that keeps me awake at night:

How do different plant species, with their different functional traits, control carbon cycling processes (e.g. decomposition, fire, productivity); and how does this help us to understand the consequences of global changes through shifts in vegetation composition?

 

Research projects

 

TRAITS AND FIRE. Experimental research on the flammability of different plant species in tundra, heathland and forest ecosystems. In FLARE (Fire Laboratory Amsterdam for Research in Ecology), we do comparative controlled burns involving parts of different species of vascular plants, mosses and lichens. This work links to climate in the present, future and past.
With Will Cornwell, Richard van Logtestijn, Nadia Soudzilovskaia and others.

TRAITS AND DECOMPOSITION. Litter incubation experiments linking the traits of multiple plant species in ecosystems to the decomposition rate of their dead parts (litter) in different biomes of the world. We compare the ‘decomposabilities’ of leaves, roots, coarse wood and twigs of different species. A new extension is the ‘tree cemetery’ experiment LOG LIFE, which will soon host big decaying logs of many Dutch tree species.
With many partners all over the world.

TRAITS AND CARBON CYCLING IN THE PAST. Can we reconstruct the influence of vegetation composition on carbon cycling from the Mesozoic (dinosaur era) to the Holocene based on trait information of today’s plant species? This work involves screening many species, from different evolutionary branches of the Tree of Life, for decomposability and flammability (see above). It also involves new experimental work on plant trait responses to low CO₂-concentrations of the past.
With Will Cornwell, Andries Temme, Rien Aerts, Ming Dong, Kunfang Cao and others.

CHINA. One project studies the role of plant traits in reducing soil erosion in dry ecosystems. Coordinated by the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IB-CAS), Beijing, it involves a network of field manipulation experiments (VEWALNE) that mimic future precipitation and nitrogen deposition regimes in China and Mongolia. With IB-CAS and colleagues at SW University, Chongqing and Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (Chinese Academy of Sciences) I also collaborate long-term on linking plant traits and carbon and nutrient cycling in contrasting Chinese ecosystems.
With Ming Dong, Jianping Tao, Kunfang Cao and others.

FUTURE. An NWO-funded Dutch-Russian Centre of Excellence, coordinated at VU University with partners at Moscow University, PAGBI Kirovsk and Utrecht University. We work together in Abisko, N-Sweden and in the Caucasus mountains, linking variation in plant traits among species to soil processes in cold biomes. The project has a strong focus on nutrient uptake strategies like N fixing and mycorrhizal symbioses of different plant species, but also our new discovery - snow roots! Another strong focus is on ecosystem impact traits of bryophytes and lichens.
With Vladimir Onipchenko, Nadia Soudzilovskaia, Mikhail Makarov, Heinjo During and others. 

ANIMAL TRAITS VERSUS PLANT TRAITS. We link trait variation in invertebrate animals to variation in plant traits to learn about animal effects on carbon and nutrient cycling. This work involves experimental mesocosm studies, field experiments with different mixtures of vascular plants, mosses and soil invertebrates, where the fate of (¹³C labelled) litter is followed through different living and dead plant parts, animals and microbes. We also study how these interactions depend on soil moisture regimes.
With Matty Berg, Eva Krab, Andre Dias, Jurgen van Hal and others.

TRAIT DATABASES. International data syntheses related to plant traits, soil processes, ecosystem services and climate. I actively help to assemble large-scale databases and apply them to global questions. Examples are the ARTDECO project, linking traits and decomposition worldwide; the TRY project, which now maintains the largest plant trait database in the world and actively supports large-scale modelling projects; the ARC-NZ Network of Vegetation Function; DIVERSUS (Functional Biodiversity and Sustainability in the Americas).
With many partners all over the world.

THE WARMING TUNDRA. How do tundra plant species and carbon and nutrient cycles respond to climatic warming? We run our in-situ global change experiment in a sub-arctic blanket bog in N-Sweden. This experiment (since 2000) is unique in its factorial combination of treatments including spring and summer warming and winter snow regimes. It is a close collaboration with Abisko Research Station, Sweden. It also contributes to the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) network.
With Rien Aerts, Richard van Logtestijn, Terry Callaghan, Ellen Dorrepaal and others.

 

 

Links

 

TRY database
ARC-NZ network of Vegetation Function
DIVERSUS:              
International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) 
Will Cornwell
Nadia Soudzilovskaia 
Eva Krab
Andries Temme
Rien Aerts
Matty Berg
Peter van Bodegom
Andre Dias
Richard van Logtestijn
Rob Broekman
Jurgen van Hal

 

Five selected publications in 2011:

 

Freschet, G.T, J.T. Weedon, R. Aerts, J.R. van Hal & J.H.C. Cornelissen. Interspecific differences in wood decay rates: insights from a new short-term method to study long-term wood decomposition. Journal of Ecology, doi 10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01896.x

Freschet, G.T., R. Aerts & J.H.C. Cornelissen. A plant economics spectrum of litter decomposability. Functional Ecology, doi 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2011.01913.x

Soudzilovskaia, N.A., B. Braae, J. Douma, O. Grau, A. Milbau, A. Shevtsova, L. Wolters, J.H.C. Cornelissen. How do bryophytes govern generative recruitment of vascular plants? New Phytologist 190: 1019-1031.

Keuper F., E. Dorrepaal, P.M. van Bodegom, R. Aerts, R.S.P. van Logtestijn, T.V. Callaghan, J.H.C. Cornelissen 2011. A Race for Space? How Sphagnum fuscum stabilizes vegetation composition during long-term climate manipulations. Global Change Biology 17: 2162-2171.

Cornelissen, J.H.C., F. Sibma, R.S.P. van Logtestijn, R. Broekman & K. Thompson 2011. Leaf pH as a plant trait: species-driven rather than soil-driven variation. Functional Ecology 25: 449-455.

 

Full list of publications Hans Cornellisen

Full list of publications of the section Systems ecology including PDFs