Profile

David was a postdoctoral researcher in the Ecosystem Dynamics Group within the Environmental Change Institute until 2012, when he took a lectureship position at Leeds University. He obtained his PhD at the School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, where he investigated the sensitivity of Amazonian rainforests to climate change through a combination of ecosystem modelling and fieldwork at an artificial drought experiment in Brazil. Prior to this, David obtained an MSc in Ecology at the University of Aberdeen, where his dissertation work involved modelling the impact of the expansion of the soybean agricultural frontier on soil carbon stocks in the Brazilian Cerrado.

David's research interest lies in simulating the carbon cycle of Amazonian ecosystems, both under present conditions and under an array of future climate change scenarios.

Publications:

Published peer-reviewed articles

• Galbraith, D., Levy, P., Sitch, S., Huntingford, C., Cox, P., Williams, M. and Meir P. (2010) Multiple mechanisms of Amazonian forest biomass losses in three dynamic global vegetation models under climate change. New Phytologist, 187: 647-665.
• da Costa, A.C.L., Galbraith, D., Almeida, S., Portela, B.T.T., da Costa, M., Silva, J.A., Braga, A.P., de Gonçalves, P.H.L., de Oliveira, A.A.R., Fisher, R., Phillips, O.L., Metcalfe, D.B., Levy, P. and Meir, P. (2010) Effect of 7 yr of experimental drought on vegetation dynamics and biomass storage in an eastern Amazonian rainforest. New Phytologist, 187: 579-591.
• Metcalfe, D.B., Meir, P., Aragão, L.E.O.C., Lobo-do-Vale, R., Galbraith, D., Fisher, R.A., Chaves, M.M., Maroco, J.P., da Costa, A.C.L., de Almeida, S.S., Braga, A.P., Goncalves, P.H.L., de Athaydes, J., da Costa, M., Portela, T.T.B., de Oliveira, A.A.R., Malhi, Y. and Williams, M. (2010) Shifts in plant respiration and carbon use efficiency at a large-scale drought experiment in the eastern Amazon. New Phytologist, 187: 608-621.
• Phillips, O.L., van der Heijden, G., Lewis, S.L., Lopez-Gonzalez, G., Aragão, L.E.O.C., Lloyd, J., Malhi, Y., Monteagudo, A., Almeida, S., Davila, E.A., Amaral, I., Andelman, S., Andrade, A., Arroyo, L., Aymard, G., Baker, T.R., Blanc, L., Bonal, D., de Oliveira, A.C.A., Chao, K.J., Cardozo, N.D., da Costa, L., Feldpausch, T.R., Fisher, J.B., Fyllas, N.M., Freitas, M.A., Galbraith, D., Gloor, E., Higuchi, N., Honorio, E., Jimenez, E., Keeling, H., Killeen, T.J., Lovett, J.C., Meir, P., Mendoza, C., Morel, A., Vargas, P.N., Patino, S., Peh, K.S.H., Cruz, A.P., Prieto, A., Quesada, C.A., Ramirez, F., Ramirez, H., Rudas, A., Salomão, R., Schwarz, M., Silva, J., Silveira, M., Slik, J.W.F., Sonke, B., Thomas, A.S., Stropp, J., Taplin, J.R.D., Vasquez, R. and Vilanova, E. (2010) Drought-mortality relationships for tropical forests. New Phytologist, 187: 631-646.
• Malhi, Y., Aragão, L.E.O.C., Galbraith, D., Huntingford, C., Fisher, R., Zelazowski, R., Sitch, S., McSweeney, C. and Meir, P. (2009) Exploring the likelihood and mechanism of a climate-induced dieback of the Amazon rainforest. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106: 20610-20615.
• Ostle, N.J., Smith, P., Fisher, R., Woodward, F.I., Fisher, J.B., Smith, J.U., Galbraith, D., Levy, P., Meir, P., McNamara, N.P. and Bardgett, R.D. (2009) Integrating plant-soil interactions in global carbon cycle models. Journal of Ecology, 97(5): 851-863.

Articles in review or in advanced stages of preparation

• Galbraith, D., Levy, P., Huntingford, C., Sitch, S., Williams, M. and Meir, P. (in prep, 2010) Partitioning sources of uncertainty in modelled responses of the Amazon rainforest to climate change: the role of CO₂ scenarios, climate models and vegetation models. Journal of Geophysical Research.
• Galbraith, D., da Costa, A.C.L., Portela, B.T.T., Levy, P., Williams, M., Fisher, R.A. and Meir P. (in prep, 2010) Effect of imposed drought on root biomass and its distribution with depth in an Amazonian rainforest. Ecosystems.
• Galbraith, D. and Smith, P. (in prep, 2010) Using the Rothamsted Carbon model to estimate changes in soil organic carbon resulting from the soybean expansion in the Brazilian Cerrado. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment.

Non peer-reviewed publications

• Galbraith, D., Smith, P., Mortimer, N., Stewart, R., Hobson, M., McPherson, G., Matthews, R., Mitchell, P., Nijnik, M., Norris, J., Skiba, U., Smith, J. and Towers, W. (2006) Review of greenhouse gas life cycle emissions, air pollution impacts and economics of biomass production and consumption in Scotland. Contract report commissioned by SEERAD.