School of Geography and the Environment

Research Projects

• Carbon dynamics of mountain cloud forests in the Andes. Read more...
• Responses to nitrogen and phosphorus fertilisation in Amazonian and Andean rainforests. Read more...
• Modelling cloud formation in the Peruvian Andes. Read more...
• Modelling vegetation dynamics in the Peruvian Andes. Read more...
• Investigating the effects of seasonality and mean annual temperature on key ecophysiological processes of an Andean Tropical Cloud Montane Forest. Read more...
• Elevational trends in epiphyte distribution ecology. Read more...
• Leaf traits and carbon cycling in the Peruvian Andes. Read more...
• Spatial and temporal land change patterns in the Eastern Peruvian Andes: remote sensing, understanding, and making projections. Read more...
• Avoided deforestation in the Peruvian Andes. Read more...
• Fire detection in the Peruvian Andes. Read more...

Project Summaries

• How do carbon stocks and fluxes vary along an altitudinal gradient in the cloud forests of the Peruvian Andes?

  

  Project researcher: Dr Luiz Aragao

  Almost nothing is known as to exactly what aspect of the carbon dynamics of cloud forests is varying across the altitudinal gradient: the amount of carbon being photosynthesised, the amount being respired, or the amount being allocated to above-ground growth. In this project, we are quantifying carbon stocks and fluxes in 1ha plots along a transect covering a range of elevations from 200 m (a.s.l.) to 3000 m (a.s.l.). Two hypothesis are being tested: (1) Decrease in temperature from the bottom to the top of the transect reduces metabolic rates (productivity) of the forests, consequently reducing leaf respiration rates; (2) decrease in temperature from the bottom to the top of the transect reduces decomposition rates leading to an increase of soil C stocks (soil organic matter and coarse wood debris).

  My specific objectives in this project are: (1) To quantify changes in CWD stocks and leaf respiration fluxes to understand how climatic and environmental variables affect forest functioning in cloud forests.(2) To infer from our results what would be the potential impacts of climate change on this ecosystem.

• Responses to nitrogen and phosphorus fertilisation in Amazonian and Andean rainforests

  

  Project researcher: Dr Joshua B Fisher

  Tropical forests account for the largest component of global terrestrial productivity, and yet this productivity is generally sustained on nutrient-poor soils. Hence the nutrient cycling and nutrient limitation of these forests is a topic of major interest, with consequences for how these forests respond in the aftermath of both direct disturbance and global climate change. Under business-as-usual climate change scenarios, the Amazon-Andes region will warm by 3-5 ºC this century, leading to a possible increase in soil decomposition and nutrient mineralization rates. It has been considered that nitrogen (N) is the nutrient that most limits plant growth in most forest ecosystems, including tropical montane forests. In tropical lowland forests, however, phosphorus (P) may be equally or more limiting for plant growth than is nitrogen.

  We are conducting a comprehensive assessment of nutrient dynamics and the impacts of nitrogen and phosphorus addition to forest ecosystem function. This study spans four sites along an elevation gradient from the lowland Amazon rainforest (220 m) to the high Andean cloud forest (3000 m). The sites therefore range from potentially P-limited systems in the lowlands to N-limited systems in the mountains, though co-limitation may play a role in all sites. The novelty of this proposed work particularly stems from (i) the large elevation/temperature gradient; (ii) the comprehensive assessment of above-ground and below-ground responses, in both plant and fungal components; (iii) the uniqueness and importance of the Andes-Amazon region.

  
  

• Modelling cloud formation in the Peruvian Andes

  

  Project researcher: Dr Lorenzo de la Fuente

  The focus of this work is to get the MM5 or WRF weather/climate simulations running for the Andes study area and will aim to include modelling experiments with resolutions between 10 to 200km.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



• Modelling vegetation dynamics in the Peruvian Andes

  Project researcher: tbc

  Tropical montane forests are one of the last frontiers in our understanding of terrestrial ecosystem processes. The forests of the eastern Andean flank (Andean montane forests and the adjacent lowlands) in particular are home to the richest biodiversity on earth, hosting 15% of all plant species, half of which are endemic. Lowland Amazon forests are already known to host large reserves of carbon in their biomass , but some Andean montane forests may hold even larger reserves per unit area. Biodiversity and carbon stocks in tropical montane forests are thought to be particularly vulnerable to climate change.

  A particular feature of this system is the potential tight coupling between ecosystem and atmospheric processes, and the fine spatial scales at which variations occur. Vegetation distribution and productivity are strongly influenced by elevation (temperature), rainfall, fog (cloud) immersion, topography, and possibly ultraviolet radiation exposure. Conversely, cloud formation is likely to be strongly influenced by evapotranspiration, surface energy balance and topography, both in the montane belt and upwind areas in the lowland Amazon rainforest. This makes a reliable simulation of how this coupled system may respond to climate warming a particular challenge that is beyond the capability of current global and regional climate-vegetation modelling systems.

  The aim of this research program is to develop a coupled ecological-atmosphere model that will enable us to simulate the responses of tropical and montane cloud forests to environmental changes such as climate change and fire disturbance. The model will be developed and tested using an extensive set of field data from the eastern flank of the Peruvian Andes, collected through other funded research. The modelling framework will be generic in character, allowing application to different montane forests and other forest environments.

Doctoral Research Projects

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  Ecosystem carbon dynamics from Andes to Amazon

  Doctoral researcher: Cécile Girardin

  Tropical Montane Forests are the least studied and most vulnerable to warming climates. Cecile's project is an investigation of the effects of environmental parameters on key ecophysiological processes, carbon fluxes and stocks of an Andean Tropical Montane Forest. It will do so by examining the interactions between environmental factors (temperature, rainfall, light) and above and belowground forest carbon dynamics on a transect ranging from 3000m (26.4 ºC) to 220m (12.6 ºC), situated in the Kosñipata valley and Tambopata, Peru. The information obtained through this study will be used to provide impetus to research and conservation of South American forests, in the face of the impending threats caused by climate change.




• Elevational trends in epiphyte distribution ecology

  Doctoral researcher: Steven Heathcote

  Steven is working on the Bromeliaceae, a family showing a series of special adaptations to the epiphytic niche, looking at the importance of adaptations such as phytotelm, heterophylly and CAM photosynthesis in controlling distribution and population dynamics in the altitudinal transect. He is also collecting information the biomass and diversity of vascular epiphytes in the transect.



• Impacts of climate change on tropical cloud mountain forests.

  

  Doctoral researcher: Norma Salinas

  Norma is working to understand how differences in leaf phenology impacts and are impacted by carbon dynamics in the Peruvian Andes.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  Spatial and temporal land change patterns in the Eastern Peruvian Andes: remote sensing, understanding, and making projections

  Doctoral researcher: Przemek Zelazowski

  Przemek explores a range of techniques, which allow for application of satellite imagery in environmental assessment. The main questions asked are: which forest properties can be analysed through the imagery and how close are they to reality. Comparisons between datasets allow us to make conclusions about environmental change within forested areas which can ultimately be used for predicting future landscapes.

MSc Research Projects

• Avoided deforestation in the Peruvian Andes

  MSc researcher: Adam Gibbon

• Termite diversity in the Andes

  MSc researcher: Olivia Palin

• Room for growth? Predicting nitrogen uptake in Andean forests

  MSc researcher: Su-Yin Tan

Collaborators

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  Fire detection in the Peruvian Andes

  ECI Associate Research Fellow: Rosa Maria Roman Cuesta

  The major focus of this research is to understand how tropical ecosystems are suffering from increased fire impacts and to which extent these fire disturbances are responding to global atmospheric changes, to anthropogenic pressures, or to a combination of them both. Understanding the contribution of human versus climate drivers of fires in different tropical ecosystems will offer insights on the management of protected areas, it will help guiding policy making and development projects, and it will raise public awareness of the vulnerability of many tropical ecosystems to fire and climatic disturbances.

Links

• Andes Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research Group Wiki
• See more about ECI's research in the Amazon through this short video clip
• Data: A secure zip folder containing field data from the Andes. For access, please contact Yadvinder.malhi@ouce.ox.ac.uk
• Conference: Climate Change and the Fate of the Amazon. Listen to the sessions
• Photo-diary of fieldwork in the Andes Spring 2007 - by Josh Fisher