Participation

Most of the workshop participants have been invited and they are listed in the preliminary list of participants. They were selected based on the Director’s knowledge of their research and publications. However, we have reserved several places for people we might have overlooked. If you have a strong interest to participate, please contact the Directors of the Workshop immediately, presenting a one-page summary of your contribution. We especially encourage application of scientists from the Former Soviet Union Republics and from Eastern Europe (for people from these countries we will cover some costs). All other possible participants are welcome to submit a summary but we will not be able to cover any costs.

List of participants, their talks and backgrounds

1) Andreas Rothe, Germany

Influence of tree species and stand age on nitrate leaching in forests of Southern Bavaria.

Background and areas of interest:

Degree in Chemistry and Forestry from Munich University

1989 to 1992: Trainee programme with the Bavarian State Forest Service and Forest Manager at the regional forest office in Munich.

1992 to 2000: Research assistant at the Chair of Soil and Site Science, Technical University of Munich. Several national and international research projects mainly in the following areas: fertilization, forest nutrition, forest management effects on water quality, ecology and growth of mixed stands, forest hydrology. Doctoral thesis (1997): “Effect of tree species composition on ecology and growth of a spruce-beech forest at the Höglwald site”.

Since 2000: Senior forest manager at the Headquarters of the Bavarian State Forest Service, Department of Biological Production, Responsibilities: planning of annual cut, thinning programmes, timber inventories, regeneration activities and soil protection. Recent projects: sustainability report, new concept of forest planning and inventory, revision of general silvicultural guidelines, medium term timber scenario.

Main professional areas of interest: Tree species effects on soil and water, interactions in mixed species stands, implementation of research results into forestry practice.

At home my family with four daughters keeps me busy and I like mountaineering.

2) Jacek Oleksyn, Poland

Linking leaf and root traits to ecosystem processes and properties: results from a common garden study of 14 temperate tree species

Current position: University of Minnesota, Department of Forest Resources, St. Paul (Research Associate, 1992-) and Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Dendrology, Kornik, Poland (Professor of Plant Ecology and Ecophysiology Lab head, 1996-). Education: Dr. hab. Forestry (1993) College of Forestry, Agricultural University, Poznan, Poland; Ph.D. Biology (1982) College of Biology and Environmental Protection, Silesian University, Katowice (Poland), major in environmental biology; M.Sc. Forestry (1976) Department of General Ecology, Anatomy and Physiology of Plants, Forest-Technical Academy, St. Petersburg (Leningrad, Russia), major in ecophysiology. Areas of interest: ecophysiology (gas exchange, nutrient circulation, plant growth), global change biology and environmental pollution (CO2, temperature, and pollutant effects on woody plants), dendroclimatology (study of climate and pollution effects on tree growth and wood formation); population genetics (plasticity and response of pine and spruce populations to seed transfer, abiotic and biotic factors).

3) Christian P. Giardina, USA

Belowground carbon allocation in forests in response to global change.

My current research interests include: the effects of forest  management on carbon and nutrient cycling, especially belowground carbon allocation and soil carbon formation; the effects of global  change on belowground carbon cycling; and the effects of tree species  on soil carbon formation and chemistry.   

I am examining the following questions: i)  the effects of elevated carbon dioxide and ozone on forest canopy dynamics (leaf area index and leaf primary production) in experimental stands of  aspen and birch at the  FACTS-II-FACE facility  in

Rhinelander, Wisconsin; ii) how above and belowground carbon allocation and storage vary with stand age, fertility and species, with a particular emphasis on total belowground carbon allocation and soil and coarse root carbon storage; iii) the effects of modified plant tissue quality on leaf physiology, whole plant carbon allocation and soil carbon formation; and iv)  climate change effects on soil C formation

and decomposition.
 

4) Roman S. Sobachkin, Russia

The productivity of coniferous forests grown at different density levels

I have graduated from the Siberian Technological University majoring in Forestry. Now I work toward PhD degree at the Institute of Forestry. My major interests are productivity of forests ecosystems, trees competition in community, forest management. As a hobby I like learning English, swimming in a cold water (Yenisey), traveling.
I have studied the effects of stand density on forest characteristics including stem diameter, trees height, wood stock, etc. The research plots were artificially established 22 years ago. For this, seedlings of three most dominant coniferous species (larch, pine and spruce) were sown at 18 levels of density, ranging from 500 to 128 000 trees per hectare. Overall, stands density strongly affected not only the trees characteristics but also trees mortality. The most important finding is that the species differed in their abilities to grow in a very high-density stands. Plantations of different densities enable us to achieve several forest management objectives and to reduce negative outcomes when restoring forest.
 

5) Estella F. Vedrova, Russia

Biogeochemical processes of the carbon and mineral elements cycles in the Siberian afforestation experiment

I graduated Krasnoyarsk Agricultural Institute in 1962 and working in Institute of Forest SB RAS from 1963 up until now. Position-sinior researcher of Forest Soil Laboratory. I had achieved the degree of a PhD in 1983. My main research interests concern the following themes: (1) the soil cover structure of taiga landscape; (2) direction and rate of pedogenic processes during the formation of forest ecosystems; (3) soil factors of forest productivity; (4) biogeochemical cycle and balance of carbon, nitrogen and mineral elements in forest ecosystems.

6) Ludmila S. Shugalei, Russia

Creation of the Siberian Afforestation Experiment. History, methodology and problems

I graduated Krasnoyarsk Agricultural Institute in 1962 and working in Institute of Forest SB RAS from 1963 up until now. Position - sinior researcher of Forest Soil Laboratory. I had achieved the degree of a Doctor in 1991. My main research focuses on anthropogenic transformation of soils: (1) agricultural reclamation, (2) recreation, (3) re-vegetation after man-caused impact.

7) Irina N. Bezkorovaynaya, Russia

The case study of formation of soil invertebrate complexes at the Siberian afforestation experiment

I graduated Krasnoyarsk State University in 1987.
PhD degree was received in 1994. My position - sinior researcher of Forest Soil Laboratory. 
Research interests: (1) Soil invertebrate complexes of natural and antropogenic forest ecosystems of Siberia. (2) The estimation of forest soil invertebrate biomass. (3) The role soil invertebrates in transformation organic matter. 

8) Liudmila V.Mukhortova, Russia

The transformation dynamic of plant residues in the soil under different tree species in Siberian afforestation experiment

I graduated in biological department of the Krasnoyarsk State University in 1992. Since then I have worked as a researcher in the Institute of Forest SB RAS. In 2001 I received PhD degree. The title of my thesis was “Storage and transformation of organic matter in soils under the artificial forest ecosystems”. I am currently working on the project “Carbon, nitrogen and ash element pools and fluxes in forests and agroecosystems in Middle Siberia”. The object of my research is the forest ecosystems are situated in the southern, middle, northern taiga and forest-tundra zone in borders of Krasnoyarskiy Krai. I investigate storage, structure and transformation of organic matter in the soil of forest ecosystems. The aim of my research is to estimate pools of carbon, nitrogen and mineral elements in the soil of different types of forest ecosystems to model its changes connected with climatic and land use changes. 

9) Valery V. Kuzmichev, Russia

Dynamics of six tree species in 35-year old plantations

 
1993-2004  V.N. Sukachev Institute of forest SB RAS
1986-1993 Siberian state technological university
1961-1986 V.N. Sukachev Institute of forest SB RAS
1955-1960 Forest inventory enterprise, Novosibirsk
 
Research Interests: Growth of stands, forest ecology, forest measurement

10) Marta Tesarova, Czech Republic

Effect of air pollution on some biogeochemical processes in forest soils

 
Background
1964 RNDr degree from Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Rep.CSc degree (PhD equiv.) from Czechoslov. Academy of Sciences, Brno
Professorship in Soil Microbiology from Mendel Univ. of Agric. And Forestry, Brno, Czech Rep. 
 
Member of Group of Expert UN Convention to Combat Desertification
Member of Sci. Committee of the Czech Ministry of Agriculture
 
Research topics
Biological aspects of soil quality; nutrient cycling in soil; human impact on environment

11) Zdenek Karel Filip (Czech Republic/Germany)

Microbial processing of humic substances from soils under forest and permanent meadow

Background:
1960 Dipl.-Ing. (MSc equiv.) from Mendel Univ. of Agric. and Forestry,
 Brno, Czech Rep.
1967 CSc (PhD equiv.) from Czech Univ. of Agriculture, Prague
1970 Dr.agr. from Univ. of Giessen, Germany
1975 Habilitation Degree in Microbiology from Univ. of Giessen, Germany
1987 Professorship in Environ. Microbiology from Univ. of Technology (TU),
 Berlin, Germany
1995 Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology
1996 DSc in Biology from Lomonossov Moscow State Univ., Russia
2003 Retired from Federal Environmental Agency, Berlin, Germany
 
Research topics
Environmental Microbiology; Biogeochemistry; Human impact on soil quality

12) Jordi Cortina, Spain

Functional consequences of ecosystem restoration in drylands

 
Jordi Cortina-Segarra (Barcelona, 1963). Permanent lecturer at the University of Alacant (Spain). He graduated at the University of Barcelona (1986) and received his Ph.D. in Biology in 1992 from the same institution. His main research areas are biogeochemistry and
productivity of terrestrial ecosystems. Lately he has focused his research on several aspects of ecosystem degradation and restoration, including the study of factors affecting the establishment of woody seedlings in degraded ecosystems, and the assessment and development of ecotechnological tools to restore degraded ecosystems. He currently
teaches Ecology and Restoration Ecology. Further details on his research and teaching can be found at www.ua.es/personal/jordi.
 

13) Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, Germany

Significance of forests as sources for atmospheric N-trace gases

 
Some key words on my research skills and current research interests:
RESEARCH SKILLS:
- Quantification of the biosphere-atmosphere exchange of C- and N-gases (NO, N2O, N2, CH4, CO2) by various techniques (chamber techniques, incubation studies)
- Characterisation and quantification of microbial processes involved in C- and N gas production, consumption and emission by various techniques (stable isotopes, incubations, enumerations etc.)
- Scanning microscopy
- Mechanistic modeling of C- and N-cycling in terrestrial ecosystems
 
CURRENT RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Biosphere-Atmosphere-Exchange of C- and N-trace gases, identification, characterisation and quantification of microbial processes and populations, mechanistic modeling, C- and N-trace gas inventories
 

14) Sophie Zechmeister-Boltenstern, Austria

Nutrient turnover, Greenhouse Gas Balance and Biodiversity in Natural Forest Communities of Central Europe

Background
1989  PhD in Biology, University of Vienna, Austria. Post Doc at the University of Edinburgh, UK. 
1994  lecturer at the University of Vienna, up to now.
1995  move from the Institute of Soil Management - Federal Agency for Agriculture to the Institute of Forest Ecology - Forest Research Centre. 
2001  Habilitation to University Docent. Head of Department of Soil Biology, head of the Austrian Society for Soil Biology.
http://fbva.forvie.ac.at/db/personen.anzeige?person_id_in=224

Research topics
Metabolism of trace gases in forest soils (CH4, C2H4, N2O, NO, CO2), microbial nitrogen and carbon cycling, soil warming, drivers and pressures of soil biodiversity.
 

15) Eugene F. Kelly, USA

Afforestation effects on soil development in the Ecuadoran Andes

 
Dr. Kelly’s research interests focus on the processes and patterns of long-term soil development, including the application of isotope techniques. 
 

16) Johannes Wilhelm Papen, Germany

Effects of tree species on C- and N-cycling and biosphere-atmosphere exchange of trace substances in forests

17) Liviu – Daniel GALATCHI, Romania

Analysis of the Potential for Increased Carbon Sequestration on Forested Areas. An Example From Romania

He is currently associate professor at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Agricultural Sciences, Department of Ecology and Environmental Protection, Ovidius State University of Constanta, Romania, where he teaches “Sustainable Development” and “Ecological Research Methods”. His main research areas include ecology and sustainable development concerning the interaction between environmental and development issues, with particular interest on the wetlands. He is specialized in the primary production and productivity of the ecosystems. His international experience includes research work at the United Nations University / Institute of Advanced Studies in Tokyo (Japan), the Central European University in Budapest (Hungary), in Slovakia, Poland, Germany, and international research expeditions in the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Romania.
 

18) Mikhail I. Makarov, Russia

Phosphorus compounds in primitive soils of artificial soil formation experiment under different plants

Mikhail has just a week ago defended his habilatation thesis and became to be a professor at the Department of Soil Science of the Moscow State University. He is interested in soil organic phosphorus and studied it with NMR techniques. He is also engaged in soil N transformations research. 

19) Hana Santruchkova, Czech Republic

Linking of soil microbial transformation with ecosystem nutrient cycling

Background: 
MS degree at Czech Agriculture University in Prague, PhD degree in microbial ecology at Academy of Sciences under supervision of V. Vancura and M. Tesarova, Associate Professor of Ecology. 
Current research interests:
(i)  Microbial C and N transformations in the N saturated mountain forest ecosystem,
(ii)  C transformation in the soil of different world biomes,
(iii)  The role of microbial transformation in C sequestration.
My research is focused on the following topics: (i) The effect of temperature on microbial N and C mineralisation and assimilation. (ii) The effect of texture on C sequestration in various biomes. (iii) The strategy of sampling and analyses to get soil microbial data for up scaling.

21) Phil Ineson, England

New ways of using carbon stable isotopes to study C cycling in ecosystems

22) Cindy Prescott, Canada

(co-author Lucie Jerabkova) Effects of tree species on soils: case studies from western Canada.

 
Biography
I am currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Forest Sciences and the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research for the Faculty of Forestry at UBC. My broad research interests are in forest nutrition and nutrient cycling; specific interests include controls on rates of organic matter decomposition, forest fertilization (including organic residuals), influences of forest management on nitrogen cycling,
nutritional importance of coarse woody debris, and relationships between microbial communities and nutrient cycling processes. I have been the coordinator of the multidisciplinary SCHIRP program on northern Vancouver Island for a decade, and am currently co-editor of the Canadian Journal of Forest Research. I teach undergraduate courses in forest ecology, soils processes and agroforestry.

23) Dan Binkley

How nitrogen-fixing trees alter soils

My research interests over the past 25 years have centered on forest growth and nutrient cycles, ranging from fast-growing tropical plantations to boreal forests. I have had a recurring interest in N-fixing tree species as a special case of “pushing” forest productivity and soil development. I met Oleg during his postdoc at Northern Arizona University, and was delighted with his idea for developing a new workshop on the effects of tree species on soils.

24) Oleg Menyailo, Russia

The effect of Siberian tree species on consumption and production of greenhouse gases. Novel approach for distinguishing the biological sources of N₂O.

I graduated from Moscow State University in 1993, defended PhD in soil microbiology (1996). Since 1996 I work for the Institute of Forestry in Krasnoyarsk. I have spent several years in Germany (Bayreuth) and in the USA (NAU, Bruce Hungate’s lab) as a postdoc. I am interested in many different things ranging from stable isotopes with Keeling plots to stable isotopes probing in microbial ecology. I am very excited to help with the organization of this workshop in my home-city and I hope you will enjoy Krasnoyarsk.