School of Geography - Faculty of Environment

PROJECTS & WORK IN PROGRESS

1. Evolution of neotropical tree communities

In collaboration with Toby Pennington (Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh) and Kyle Dexter (NSF Research Fellow), we are addressing the role that shifts between rain forest, dry forest and cerrado biomes have played in the evolution of neotropical tree communities. As well as addressing fundamental evolutionary questions, this work also has applied relevance for conservation: will the destruction of certain forests, for example, lead to the loss of particular aspects of evolutionary history? This work is funded by a NERC Standard grant.

2. Long-term dynamics of tropical forests

A long-term perspective on the changes that have occurred in intact tropical forests is crucial for understanding the causes of current trends in the ecology of these ecosystems, such as observations of increasing carbon storage. Working with Katy Roucoux (University of Leeds) and other colleagues, we have a range of projects linking ecological and palaeoecological approaches to explore the potential of peat swamps in northern Peru to record climate- and human-driven patterns of vegetation change over the last 3,000 years. This work has been funded by a NERC small grant and two NERC-funded PhD studentships,

3. Understanding the current trajectory of the tropical forest biome

A central part of my research interests lie in understanding current trends in the structure and dynamics of tropical forests using long-term inventory plots. Sophie Fauset is currently exploring the sensitivity of Ghanaian forests to the decadal-scale reduction in rainfall that has occurred in West Africa; Rosa Goodman is using destructively harvested tree biomass data, forest inventories and LiDAR remote sensing to improve methods to estimate tropical forest biomass. As part of the AMAZALERT consortium, funded by the EU, I am also interested in linking insights from field data and vegetation models to improve predictions of the resilience of Amazonian forests to future climate change.

4.  Designing effective management strategies for tropical forests

My research interests also extend to applied questions related to the design and implementation of mechanisms that aim to provide payments for the ecosystem services provided by tropical forests. I led an interdisciplinary ESPA (Ecosystem Services and Poverty Alleviation) programme project in 2009 that quantified the risk that an increased frequency of drought might pose to emerging REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) projects in southern Peru. Recent work with Marta Giannichi has examined the institutional and socio-economic factors that underlie the successful implementation of emerging REDD+ projects in this region.