Tree Ecology
Tropical Rain Forest Ecology
The focus of our group is on fundamental research into tropical rain forests, their structure, dynamics and functioning, at the community and ecosystem level. Our extensive, long-term (since the mid 1980's) and detailed field work at two main sites (Korup National Park, Cameroon; and Danum Valley, Sabah, Borneo) is encouraged by central questions concerning empiricism, theory and understanding in vegetation ecology. Complex ecosystems are dynamic and contingent, being subject to deterministic as well as stochastic environmentally processes. Tropical ecosystems, with their emergent properties are the subject of a fascinating level of scientific inquiry – largely unrecognized by mainstream reductionist science, one that challenges the limits of what might be, or can be, known in ecology. At Danum we have principally been researching how lowland dipterocarp forest responds to ENSO-drought events (special attention to the understorey tree dynamics); at Korup we are most interested in explaining grove-dynamics of dominant caesalp species on the very nutrient-poor soils (special interest in phosphorus). Our approach involves combining field work, data analysis, statistical modeling, theory testing and – strange for some – philosophical reflection. These aspects all come into our teaching at the various stages.
Research topics
Structure, phenology and dynamics of woody vegetation
Ecosystem functioning and community processes
Nutrient cycling, soils and water relations of trees
Quantitative, statistical methods of analysis and modeling
Theory and philosophy of science in vegetation ecology
Interdisciplinary
Complexity and probability
Tropical forest models
Perturbation and stability
Top-down holistic thinking
