Highlighted Publications
Nijman, T.P.A., T.A. Davidson, S.T.J. Weideveld, J. Audet, C. Esposito, E.E. Levi, A. Ho, L.P. M. Lamers, E. Jeppesen & A.J. Veraart, 2021. Warming and eutrophication interactively drive changes in the methane-oxidizing community of shallow lakes. ISME Communications, 1, 32. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43705-021-00026-y
Global warming and eutrophication increase methane emissions from shallow lakes but to understand why this happens we need to understand the methane cycling microbial community in the sediment. We found that warming changes the methane-oxidizing community – which mitigate methane emissions – by shifting the community to more slow-growing methane oxidizers. These methane oxidizers also consume methane more slowly, which might explain why warmer lakes produce more methane. (5 July 2021)
Robroek, B.J., Martí, M., Svensson, B.H., Dumont, M.G., Veraart, A.J. and Jassey, V.E., 2021. Rewiring of peatland plant–microbe networks outpaces species turnover. Oikos, 130(3), pp.339-353. https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.07635
Interactions between plant and microbial communities in peatlands are complex, yet pivotal for the functioning of these carbon-dense ecosystems. Our understanding of how climate change affects important peatland processes such as carbon dynamics is often based on assumed fixed relationships between above-and belowground communities. Our work shows that the turnover in plant-microbial interactions along enviro-climatic gradients is faster than species turnover within both communities, resulting in a mismatch in alpha diversity between plant and microbial communities. Notably, warming and increased nutrient deposition weakens plant-microbe linkages, which may consequentially decrease the overall robustness of peatland ecosystem processes to future anthropogenic pressures. (19 January 2021)
Temmink, R. J. M., M. J. A. Christianen, G. S. Fivash, C. Angelini, C. Boström, K. Didderen, S. M. Engel, N. Esteban, J. L. Gaeckle, K. Gagnon, L. L. Govers, E. Infantes, M. M. van Katwijk, S. Kipson, L. P. M. Lamers, W. Lengkeek, B. R. Silliman, B. I. van Tussenbroek, R. K. F. Unsworth, S. M. Yaakub, T. J. Bouma, and T. van der Heide, 2020. Mimicry of emergent traits amplifies coastal restoration success. Nature communications, 11, 3668. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17438-4
In this paper, we have advanced restoration science by boosting coastal restoration success by mimicking key emergent traits that locally suppress physical stress using biodegradable establishment structures across (sub)tropical and temperate seagrass and salt marsh systems. (22 July 2020)
Renske J.E. Vroom, Ralph J.M. Temmink, Gijs van Dijk, Hans Joosten, Leon P.M. Lamers, Alfons J.P. Smolders, Matthias Krebs, Greta Gaudig, Christian Fritz, 2020. Nutrient dynamics of Sphagnum farming on rewetted bog grassland in NW Germany. Science of The Total Environment, 726, 138470. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138470
The cultivation of peat moss on rewetted degraded peatlands (“Sphagnum farming”) could provide a sustainable alternative to extracted peat in horticultural substrates. We found that Sphagnum farming works in the long term, and can result in rapid accumulation of Sphagnum biomass and efficient nutrient sequestration, acting as a nutrient filter in the landscape. Thus, Sphagnum farming has a high potential for peatland rehabilitation, effectively tackling environmental challenges such as local and regional downstream pollution and global climate change. (15 July 2020)
van Bergen, T. J., N. Barros, R. Mendonça, R. C. Aben, I. H. Althuizen, V. Huszar, L. P. Lamers, M. Lürling, F. Roland, and S. Kosten, 2019. Seasonal and diel variation in greenhouse gas emissions from an urban pond and its major drivers. Limnology and Oceanography 64, 2129-2139. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11173
This study found that a small, urban pond in the Netherlands acts as a “carbon hub”, receiving carbon from different sources, processing, and redirecting the carbon in different ways. Of the measured greenhouse gases, especially methane was emitted via bubbles and diffusion, which was strongly related to temperature. The pond emitted CO2 in every month of the year, even in months with a high primary production. (18 April 2019)