Annegreet Veeken - Gaining a long-term perspective on the effect of agriculture to the plant functional composition of European landscapes
Agriculture has been shaping ecosystems and their functioning for over 9000 years. To get a better understanding of the consequences of agriculture on ecological functions, it is important to gain a long-term perspective. The considerable amount of palynological records that have been produced over the last century are invaluable archives of temporal dynamics in vegetation.
We present a meta-analysis of European palynological studies on past agricultural landscapes and evaluate them with regard to their temporal coverage, spatial distribution and drivers of vegetation change. In a subset of 76 pollen records we investigate changes in vegetation composition by reconstructing the trends in plant functional composition, using both plant functional types and functional traits. Classifying plants in terms of their functional characteristics allows generalization of palaeoecological data and can give insights into various ecosystem functions that are affected by plants, such as nutrient retention and biomass production.
Amit Kumar - Investigating the factors influencing the transition from meteorological to hydrological droughts
Hydrological extremes (floods and droughts) are natural disasters, which are not restricted to a particular area; they are worldwide phenomenon and affects very large population. Droughts are considered one the most damaging natural disasters in economic terms as it can be a factor in initiating other disaster such as forest fire, landslides etc., and can results into hunger and mass migration. Development of drought is a complicated process. Investigating factors responsible for its occurrence, and analysing drought characteristics to understand the relation between different types of drought is crucial. Another crucial element is to consider its development over space and time, as a three dimensional phenomenon.
This PhD research aims at discussing drought transformation and assessing the relationship between meteorological and hydrological droughts. More specifically, assessing characteristics of meteorological and hydrological droughts in three-dimensional perspective (considering both, spatial and temporal extent), and investigating drought propagation features by studying variations in drought characteristics during transformation from meteorological to hydrological droughts.
All seminars online. Please contact sue.davis@nottingham.ac.uk for the link. Subject to change.
Part of the Geosciences Seminar Series.