Projects
Development trajectories in below-above-ground plant communities driven by nutrient availability and soil biota Ghent University
Accumulated nutrients in former agricultural soils are a major bottleneck for the restoration of species-rich semi-natural grasslands. In addition, the lack of a typical soil biota community can further hamper the desired vegetation succession. In this project, an extensive mesocosm experiment is set up to test how plant community development is influenced by nutrient levels in interaction with soil biota.
Predicting heat wave impacts on the stability of soil microbial communities Hasselt University
Quantifying the contributions of the entire free-living soil nematode and protozoa communities to nitrogen mineralization and plant growth. Ghent University
Protists and nematodes are estimated to contribute 25% of soil N mineralization, but such estimates have never been verified in realistic experimental settings. This project aims to quantify the role of protists and nematodes in soil nutrient cycling and plant growth at increasing complexity: from a few representative species to the entire community, and from simple to complex food webs.
Phenology underground: seasonality of soil microbial communities and functions. University of Antwerp
Analysis of the Soil Communities and Related Possibilities for Recovery of Nardetea in Nature Reserve 'De Liereman', in Function of Nature Design. University of Antwerp
Natural gradients in temperature and soil age:Iceland represents a unique environment to clarify longterm global change effects on nutrient dynamics,vegetation and microbial communities. University of Antwerp
Natural gradients in temperature, CO2 and soil age: Iceland represents a unique environment to clarify longtermglobal change effects on nutrient dynamics, vegetation and microbial communities. University of Antwerp
Effects of ecohydrological and management factors on microbial communities involved in rhizosphere C cycling and methane emission from natural wetlands and paddy soils Ghent University
Ecohydrological and management factors (water management and fertilization) are known to affect on the emission of CH4 from wetlands, though less information available on the microbial communities catalyzing this proces. Therefore, this project aims to analyze the effects of these factors on microbial communities in natural wetland and rice soils by Phospho Lipid Fatty Acid (PLFA) analysis.
Strategic ILVO PhD grant: Insight into soil microbiology for soil resistance and resilience Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
The aim here was to find an accurate way to measure biological soil quality in terms of resistance (degree of sensitivity to stress) and resilience (resilience of a soil after stress). The focus was on soil microbiology. Biological indicators are tested to assess the soil quality. The goal: to test indicators that relate well to soil quality that can also be measured efficiently.
Research ...