Á fimmtudaginn, 16. apríl n.k., verður opið fræðsluerindi um örverurannsóknir og endurheimt votlendis í Southern Pennies í Bretlandi. Titill erindisins á ensku er: “Bacterial and fungal microbiome dynamics in blanket bog undergoing restoration in the Southern Pennines, UK”.
Fyrirlesari er Dr. Robin Sen frá Manchester Metropolitan háskólanum (MMU). Robin Sen er Íslandsvinur sem hefur í 35 ár stundað rannsóknir á virkni vistkerfa og örverum. Hann hóf vísindaferil sinn við hina þekkutu Rothamsted rannsóknastöð í Bretlandi þar sem hann rannsakaði áhrif innrænna sveppróta á grasvöxt. Hann gengdi síðar lengi prófessorsstöðu í örveruvistfræði við Helskiháskóla í Finnlandi þar sem hann var m.a. leiðbeinandi Dr. Eddu S. Oddsdóttur, sem starfar sem jarðvegslíffræðingur á Rannsóknastöð skógræktar á Mógilsá. Síðustu 10 árin hefur hann unnið við MMU þar sem hann hefur haldið áfram örveruvistfræðirannsóknum sínum; m.a. á mikilvægi sveppróta og annarra örvera við endurheimt votlenda sem og mikilvægu hlutverki þeirra í eyðimörkum og næringarsnauðum graslendum.
Fræðsluerindið fer fram á Keldnaholti, húsnæði LbhÍ, að Árleyni 22 í Reykjvaík í Sauðafelli (3. hæð) og stendur frá kl 11.15 til kl 12.00. Allir velkomnir.
Útdráttur á erindi Robin Sen fylgir hér á eftir:
Division of Biology and Conservation Ecology, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK M1 5GD. Email:
UK peatlands are under increasing threat from land management, anthropogenic pollution and climate change. These factors are implicated in severe degradation of former ombrotrophic blanket bog in the Southern Pennines. Significant areas of unconsolidated bare peat are both highly vulnerable to peat erosion and resistant to natural re-vegetation. Restoration efforts during the last 30 years have included liming and fertilisation of bare peat allowing transient growth of introduced lowland grass species for peat stabilisation that facilitates establishment of Calluna vulgaris and other dwarf shrubs. Key restoration goals through re-vegetation of bare peat are to increase biodiversity and recover hydrological, and retain carbon storage, functions. Below-ground bacterial and fungal communities were characterised in tandem across this vegetation mosaic using high-throughput DNA sequencing of respective phylogenetic ribosomal RNA gene markers (16S and ITS1). Restoration activities were reflected in changes in plant cover and the below-ground microbial community, which based on the situation in other ecosystems, are likely to be of functional importance in relation to restoration goals and future land management planning. Bare peat supported increased ligninolytic Basidiomycota and oligotrophic bacteria. In vegetated zones, root-associated Archaeorhizomyces and -symbiotic ericoid- and ectomycorrhizal fungal taxa were highly represented but arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi were present but rare. Candidate bio-indicator microbes of relevance to monitoring and restoration of peatlands were identified. Bacterial and fungal microbiome co-occurrence was examined through cross-kingdom network analyses, revealing putative functional ericoid and ecto-mycorrhiza-fungal-bacterial groupings linked to vegetation and soils edaphic status of relevance to maintenance and restoration of peatland function and potential management of succession trajectories to woodland or grassland ecosystems.
Dr. Robin Sen – Biography
I have spent 35 years researching plant-microbe-soil interactions and functioning in soil and plant productivity. Early research at Rothamsted Research, UK targeted agriculture with a focus on plant growth promoting root symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. A move to the University of Helsinki, Finland in the mid-80’s enabled work on soil bacterial, archaeal and fungal interactions in carbon-rich boreal forest podzols and nemoral grasslands using molecular DNA-based methods. I collaborated with Dr. Edda Oddsdóttir (Icelandic Forest Research) and colleagues in a project assessing diversity and application of ectomycorrhizal and entomopathogenic fungi in birch and pine regeneration in peatland, woodland and degraded Icelandic soils. At MMU, over the last 10 years, my interests have included plant-arbuscular mycorrhiza-bacteria interactions in nitrogen cycling in nutrient-limited dune and upland Mediterranean grasslands and characterisation of soil bacterial and fungal microbiomes in grasses, scrub and trees under intense livestock grazing in the semi-arid Kalahari desert and degraded peatland restoration in the Southern Pennines. I have also initiated research on low-input nursery Scots pine production and assessment of out-planting performance in areas with Dothistroma red-band needle blight disease. Other projects include glacial microbiomics in Iceland and bacteriome-immunogenetic relationships in population structuring of the salmonid, grayling (Thymallus thymallus) in UK river systems with different pollution histories.
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Robin_Sen
