Research Kevin Van Sundert

Abstract

The fate of the land carbon (C) sink is a major source of uncertainty in climate change projections. This uncertainty originates to a considerable degree from difficulties in estimating ecosystem responses to climate change itself, which depend on multiple factors. While moderating roles of for example ecosystem type and background climate are understood and accounted for in models, much less is known on how soil properties, resource availability and microbial symbionts influence global-scale responses to warming and precipitation change. I hypothesize that these soil-related factors explain to a significant degree why climate change responses vary so much, given their known role in determining ecosystem function. By using complementary benefits of ongoing, distributed climate change experiments and meta-analyses on a database I and international colleagues collaborated on, I aim to unravel global-scale patterns as well as in-depth mechanisms underlying soils' and symbionts' role in determining climate change responses. Using a novel approach to quantify nutrient availability, I here for the first time also plan to assess how climate change responses vary along resource availability gradients vs manipulations. Finally, I will evaluate if current land surface models realistically simulate soil/symbiont-dependent tradeoffs among C cycle pool and flux responses to climate change. Based on the findings, the project will contribute to more realistic projections of the land C sink.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Vicca Sara
• Fellow: Van Sundert Kevin

Research team(s)

• Plant and Ecosystems (PLECO) - Ecology in a time of change
• Biobased sustainability engineering (SUSTAIN)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Recent evidence suggests that the sensitivity of grassland plant communities to climate change depends on nutrient availability and fertilization, but the mechanisms behind these climate change x nutrient interactions remain unclear. Here, I propose that not only plant- and abiotic soil-related mechanisms such as plant biodiversity, soil moisture depletion and nutrient release play a role in determining plant community sensitivity to climate change, but that also arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) co-determine the outcome, as stabilizers of ecosystem functioning. Specifically, I propose here to complement a collaboration with globally distributed climate change x nutrient experiments in grasslands with measurements and analyses of AMF diversity. To this end, I plan to analyze mycorrhizal ingrowth bags microscopically for mycorrhizal hyphal abundance, and determine the mycorrhizal diversity by sequencing AMF DNA. In combination with already planned measurements of soil moisture and properties, and plant diversity, this will allow an assessment of the importance of and links among the listed factors in determining the plant community response to drought and warming. Moreover, the AMF diversity data will for the first time allow to assess at large scale the effect of single versus combined experimental climate change and nutrient pollution on grassland mycorrhizal community composition and diversity.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Van Sundert Kevin

Research team(s)

• Plant and Ecosystems (PLECO) - Ecology in a time of change

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This project investigates how terrestrial ecosystem functions (particularly carbon cycling) respond to environmental change (drought extremes) and how this depends on nutrient availability and mycorrhizal abundance. The fundamental research fits in the disciplines of ecosystem ecology and biogeochemistry.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Nijs Ivan
• Co-promoter: Vicca Sara
• Fellow: Van Sundert Kevin

Research team(s)

• Plant and Ecosystems (PLECO) - Ecology in a time of change

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This project investigates how terrestrial ecosystem functions (particularly carbon cycling) respond to environmental change (drought extremes) and how this depends on nutrient availability and mycorrhizal abundance. The fundamental research fits in the disciplines of ecosystem ecology and biogeochemistry.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Nijs Ivan
• Co-promoter: Vicca Sara
• Fellow: Van Sundert Kevin

Research team(s)

• Plant and Ecosystems (PLECO) - Ecology in a time of change

Project type(s)

• Research Project