Netherlands Annual Ecology Meeting 2015

February 13, 2015
WDG

NERN-NWO-ELIFE-NECOV_2015Netherlands Annual Ecology Meeting
10-11 February 2015
by William Gosling

On Wednesday I attended my first Netherlands Annual Ecology Meeting (NAEM) unfortunately, due to prior commitments, I was not able to attend the whole event, but I still managed to get a nice insight into the vibrant Dutch Ecological research community. Particularly exciting for me was the “Biodiversity in Space and Time” theme. Plenary sessions by Alexandre Anotonelli (University of Gothenburg) and Hans ter Steege (Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden) focused on the Amazon ecology past and present. The subsequent session on the same theme, organized by Daniel Kissling (University of Amsterdam) and Niels Raes (Naturalis Biodiversity Center), was also excellent and ranged from species richness patterns past and present in Gabon (Andre van Proosdij, Naturalis Biodiversity Center), through soil microbes (Kelly Ramirez, Netherlands Institute of Ecology) to the role of sea level change on island biodiversity (Kenneth Rijsdijk, University of Amsterdam). I am looking forward to attending more of these meetings in the future and getting involved with the NERN community.

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Introducing the XPERT network

January 16, 2015
WDG

ErazoRegion1

The Cross-disciplinary Palaeo-Environmental Research Training (XPERT) network commences in 2015. This international network will bring together early career researchers from five countries to learn new skills and develop collaborative projects. Training will be provided during a field school in Ecuador, and a summer school at the University of Amsterdam. For further details please visit the respective field school, summer school and staff pages hosted on this blog.

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Ecology of the past 2014

January 4, 2015
WDG

William shortly after a haircut

William shortly after first Dutch haircut

2014 has seen more people visit this blog and more “clicks” through to articles than in any previous year (see Annual Report 2014). So thanks for reading! I hope that the information provided is useful. For me 2014 has been a big year of change; with the largest work related change being taking up my new post at the University of Amsterdam in September.

2015 promises to be an exciting year with a number of key projects generating exciting findings (including chironomid climate for the Neotropics, Andean flank evolution, and ‘deep time’ palynomorphs) , the start of the XPERT network, and new proposals and collaborations being developed here in the Netherlands (including new proposal to work in Europe!).

Any comments, thoughts or contributions on the blog welcome.

William

News article

Science check call over Badger cull, Pallab Ghosh (@BBCPallab), BBC News.
Reporting on: Transparency and Evidence-Based Policy: An Open Letter to Defra from Journal of Animal Ecology

New fanged frog ‘gives both to tadpoles’, Jonathan Webb, BBC News.

Journal Articles

Hodgson, J.A., Thomas, C.D., Wintle, B.A. & Moilanen, A. (2009) Climate change, connectivity and conservation decision making: back to basics. Journal of Applied Ecology 46, 964-969.

…and published comment:
Doerr, V.A.J., Barrett, T. & Doerr, E.D. (2011) Connectivity, dispersal behaviour and conservation under climate change: a response to Hodgson et al. Journal of Applied Ecology 48, 143-147.
Summary (Will): The debate over the effectiveness of corridors to link landscapes

Jeffers, E.S., Bonsall, M.B. Froyd, C.A., Brooks, S.J. & Willis, K.J. The relative importance of biotic and abiotic processes for structuring plant communities through time. Journal of Ecology.

Jussila, T. & Virtanen, V. (2014) Learning in Virtual Forest: a forest ecosystem in the web-based learning environment. Journal of Biological Education 48, 196-200.
Associated Virtual forest site: http://www.helsinki.fi/biosci/biopop/virtualforest/index.html

 

Assistant Professor Palaeoecology

November 18, 2014
WDG

02_05_2007_AsteraceaeVacancy: Assistant Professor Palaeoecology
(5-year tenure track)

Palaeoecology & Landscape Ecology
Institute of Biodiversity & Ecosystem Dynamics
University of Amsterdam

Closing data: 14 December 2014
Interviews: January 2015

We are looking for an ecologist with experience and interest in long timescales specifically related to one, or more, of the following research areas:

  • the Quaternary (last 2.6 million years);
  • sedimentary archives;
  • application and interpretation of proxy indicators (physical, biological and/or geochemical);
  • novel proxy development;
  • numerical/statistical methods in ecology.

For full details on the position and how to apply click here.
For informal discussion of the position please contact William Gosling.

Current research within the P&L group focuses on examining past environmental change in lake sediments (Yanacocha, Peru)

Current research within the P&L group focuses on examining past environmental change in lake sediments (Photo: Yanacocha, Peru)

Paleontologia: Cenários de Vida – Paleoclimas Volume 5Bush, M.B., de Oliveira, P.E., Raczka, M.F., Gosling, W.D., Mayle, F.E., McMichael, C.H. & Urrego, D.H. (2014) Paleoclimates of Amazonia: An ice-age view. IN: Ribeiro F. & Carvalho, I. (eds.) Paleontologia: Cenários de Vida – Paleoclimas Volume 5. Editora Interciência Ltda., Brazil, pp. 353-368. ISBN: 9788571933439

Media articles

Relics discovered in Mexico’s Teotihuacan, BBC News

Tree of the year finalists announced, BBC News

Journal articles

Kessler, M., Toivonen, J.M., Sylvester, S.P., Kluge, J. & Hertel, D. (2014) Elevational patterns of Polylepis tree height (Rosaceae) in the high Andes of Peru: role of human impact and climatic conditions. Frontiers in Plant Science: Functional Plant Ecology 5, Article 194.

Sylvester, S.P., Sylvester, M.D.P.V. & Kessler, M. (2014) Inaccessible ledges as refuges for the natural vegetation of the high Andes. Journal of Vegetation Science 25, 1225-1234.

Keller, A., Danner, N., Grimmer, G., Ankenbrand, M., von der Ohe, K., von der Ohe, W., Rost, S., Härtel, S. & Steffan-Dewenter, I. (2014) Evaluating multiplexed next-generation sequencing as a method in palynology for mixed pollen samples. Plant Biology online.

INQUA 2015: Climate change in the tropical South Pacific during the Late Quaternary

October 27, 2014
WDG

 

inqua-JPPosted on behalf of Prof. David Sear (University of Southampton)

The next INQUA Congress will be held in Nagoya (Japan) on July 27 – August 2, 2015

This is a call for contributions to session P05 on ‘Climate change in the tropical South Pacific during the Late Quaternary’.

The session abstract is as follows:
Establishing well dated, quantitative, highly resolved palaeoclimate data for the major climate systems of the tropical south Pacific has become a research priority owing to the paucity of instrumental data from this critical region of the Earth. Whilst the quantity of proxy climate data for this region is increasing rapidly, compared to records from the Northern Hemisphere there is a surprising paucity especially when considering the importance of this region to global climate. Such information is vital for fully understanding inter-hemispheric climate linkages, global energy fluxes and the long-term evolution of natural climate variability such as the El Nino-Southern Oscillation. The dearth of pre-industrial climate records from this region contributes to large uncertainties associated with future climate change impacts far beyond the south Pacific. This session aims to bring together researchers working on Late Quaternary ocean/climate proxies with those whose research lies in modelling ocean-climate processes and dynamics in the tropical south pacific region, and their implications for global climate.

We hope this session will be of interest to you. If you plan to contribute to this session, please submit your abstract before December 20, 2014 click here.

We hope to see you at INQUA 2015.

Best Wishes,

David Sear, Julian Sachs, Kim Cobb, John Chiang, Peter Langdon – session conveners.

Professor David Sear
Geography & Environment
University of Southampton

Organisms and environments: Frontiers in palaeoecological technique development

October 16, 2014
WDG

inquaXIX INQUA Congress
NAGOYA, JAPAN 27 July－2 August, 2015

Grass pollen from Lake Bosumwti picked for individual chemical analysis

Grass pollen from Lake Bosumwti picked for individual chemical analysis

Abstract submission is now open for the XIX International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) Congress. “Ecology of the past” researchers will be there and are hosting a special session, entitled Organisms and environments: Frontiers in palaeoecological technique development, at which we hope to bring together a wide range of palaeoecologists working on novel proxy development. Members of the “Ecology of the past” group will be showcasing recent findings on the environmental significance of pollen chemistry change through time; linked to the 500,000 years of solar irradiance, climate and vegetation change in tropical West Africa project (Fraser et al., 2014). Please take a look at our session and consider submitting YOUR abstract today!

For information on abstract submission click here. Closing date for abstract submission 20 December 2014.

For further information on our session click here, or “Continue reading” below…

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