Detecting past peoples in the tropics

January 22, 2020
WDG

Vegetation History & ArchaeobotanyDetecting the presence, and impact, of peoples past impact in ecosystems and landscapes in the tropics is a challenging because the traces that they leave behind are few and disentangling them from ‘natural’ (non-human related) variability is a challenge. As an Associate Editor for Vegetation History & Archaeobotany (VHAA) I enjoy handling manuscripts that think about these issues and explore the role of humans in tropical landscapes. Two recent papers published in VHAA touched on this subject (one of which I “communicated” as an editor).

  • Bodin et al. (2020) studied charcoal recovered from soil at sites with a gradient of archaeological evidence for past human activity in French Guiana.
  • Goethals & Verschuren (2019) explored the relationship between the amount of dung fungi found in lake sediments and the herbivore populations living around the lakes.

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Human occupation and ecosystem change on Upolu (Samoa) during the Holocene

January 21, 2020
WDG

Now online open access:

Gosling, W.D., Sear, D.A., Hassall, J.D., Langdon, P.G., Bönnen, M.N.T., Driessen, T.D., van Kemenade, Z.R., Noort, K., Leng, M.J., Croudace, I.W., Bourne, A.J. & McMichael, C.N.H. (2020) Human occupation and ecosystem change on Upolu (Samoa) during the Holocene. Journal of Biogeography DOI: 10.1111/jbi.13783

Note: Co-authors Bönnen, Driessen, van Kemenade, and Noort all contributed to this work as part of the research projects related to their MSc or BSc degrees within the Department of Ecosystem & Landscape Dynamics at the University of Amsterdam.

Proxy reconstruction of ultraviolet-B irradiance at the Earth’s surface, and its relationship with solar activity and ozone thickness

September 16, 2019
WDG

Open access:

Jardine, P.E., Fraser, W.T., Gosling, W.D., Roberts, C.N., Eastwood, W.J. & Lomax, B.H. (2019) Proxy reconstruction of ultraviolet-B irradiance at the Earth’s surface, and its relationship with solar activity and ozone thickness. The Holocene DOI: 10.1177/0959683619875798

 

Local vegetation patterns of a Neolithic environment at the site of Tianluoshan, China, based on coprolite analysis

August 8, 2019
WDG

Zhang, Y., van Geel, B., Gosling, W.D., McMichael, C.N.H., Jansen, B., Absalah, S., Sun, G. & Wu, X. (2019) Local vegetation patterns of a Neolithic environment at the site of Tianluoshan, China, based on coprolite analysis. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 271, 104101. DOI: 10.1016/j.revpalbo.2019.104101

Leaf wax n-alkane patterns of six tropical montane tree species show species-specific environmental response

July 22, 2019
WDG

Open access:

Teunissen van Manen, M., Jansen, B., Cuesta, F., León-Yánez, S. & Gosling, W.D. (2019) Leaf wax n-alkane patterns of six tropical montane tree species show species-specific environmental response. Ecology and Evolution. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5458

JOB: Assistant Professor in Soil Carbon Cycling

June 21, 2019
WDG

Assistant Professor (tenure track) in Soil Carbon Cycling
Institute for Biodiversity & Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED)
University of Amsterdam
Deadline: 3 july 2019

IBED is looking for an Earth scientist/ecologist with expertise and interest in soil carbon cycling, in relation to the role of soil microbial communities therein to support ongoing work within the Department of Ecosystem & Landscape Dynamics (ELD). We are particularly looking for a researcher with an international track record with expertise in one, or more, of the following areas:

  • Interactions between organic carbon and the mineral soil.
  • Microbe-organic C interactions.
  • Molecular and computational approaches for analysing soil microbial communities and their functionality.
  • Scaling of soil carbon cycling processes from microbe to globe.
  • Linking global carbon cycle models and laboratory experiments.

This is one of two positions currently open in Earth Systems Science within ELD. The other position is related to Environmental Chemistry and we will be looking at complimentary between the two appointments.

For further details and information on how to apply click here.

Contact: Franciska de Vries (Prof. Earth Surface Science) or William D. Gosling (Head of ELD)

JOB: Assistant Professor in Environmental Chemistry

June 21, 2019
WDG

Assistant Professor (tenure track) in Environmental Chemistry
Institute for Biodiversity & Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED)
University of Amsterdam
Deadline: 3 july 2019

IBED is looking for an environmental chemist/environmental scientist experienced in studying sources, transport, transformation and degradation and fate of chemicals in ecosystems to support ongoing work within the Department of Ecosystem & Landscape Dynamics (ELD), and create links with the Department of Freshwater & Marine Ecology. We are particularly looking for a researcher with an international track record with expertise in one, or more, of the following areas:

  • The fate and effects of organic contaminants of emerging concern in the environment.
  • The mitigation of environmental pollution.
  • Environmental policy and circular economy.
  • Regional and larger-scale systems analysis of human impacts on the environment.​

This is one of two positions currently open in Earth Systems Science within ELD. The other position is related to Soil Carbon Cycling and we will be looking at complimentary between the two appointments.

For further details and information on how to apply click here.

Contact: Annemarie van Wezel (IBED Director) or William D. Gosling (Head of ELD)

Chemotaxonomy of domesticated grasses: a pathway to understanding the origins of agriculture

June 7, 2019
WDG

Open access:

Jardine, P.E., Gosling, W.D., Lomax, B.H., Julier, A.C.M. & Fraser, W.T. (2019) Chemotaxonomy of domesticated grasses: a pathway to understanding the origins of agriculture. Journal of Micropalaeontology 38, 83-95. DOI: 10.5194/jm-38-83-2019

JOB: Post-doctoral researcher in Global Ecology

June 7, 2019
WDG

Post-doctoral researcher in Global Ecology
Institute for Biodiversity & Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED)
University of Amsterdam
Deadline: 14 july 2019

There is a 18 month post-doctoral research position within the Department of Theoretical & Computational Ecology at IBED focused on Global Ecology, we are looking for someone with skills and experience the following areas:

  • PhD in ecology, biodiversity or a related discipline
  • quantitative skills and statistical analyses
  • species distribution modelling
  • analyses of species composition, functional traits and species interactions

For further details and how to apply click here, or contact Daniel Kissling

Typha as a wetland food resource: evidence from the Tianluoshan site, Lower Yangtze Region, China

June 3, 2019
WDG

Zhang, Y., van Geel, B., Gosling, W.D., Sun, G., Qin, L. & Wu, X. (2019) Typha as a wetland food resource: evidence from the Tianluoshan site, Lower Yangtze Region, China. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. DOI: 10.1007/s00334-019-00735-4

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