Curriculum Vitae
Ad Huiskes (1947) graduated in biology at the University of Groningen. He received a PhD in Plant Population Ecology at the University of Wales (Bangor, UK) in 1977. He joined the Centre for Estuarine and Marine Ecology of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (at that time called the Delta Institute for Hydrobiological Research) in March 1978. He performed studies on the ecophysiology and population dynamics of salt-marsh species, with special interest in the intraspecific diversity of Salicornia spp. and Aster tripolium. From 1989 onwards he studies the ecophysiology of selected species from the vegetation in Antarctica. Since 1996 this research focuses on the influence of global change (enhanced UV-B radiation and temperature and moisture change) on the primary production and on the carbon and nitrogen fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems in the Antarctic Peninsula. Since 2001 he heads the Unit for Polar Ecology of Netherlands Institute of Ecology. Ad Huiskes is chair of the Netherlands SCAR committee (KNAW), co-chair of the Netherlands committee for the International Polar Year, Netherlands delegate and vice-president of SCAR (Scientific Commitee on Antarctic Research). Ad Huiskes has been and is coordinating several international programmes for research in the Antarctic.
Expertise
Polar Ecology
The main topic of my research is:
The study of the influence of climate change (including the effects of enhanced UV-B radiation) on the structure and functioning of and the relations between terrestrial, limnetic and coastal marine ecosystems in Polar Regions.
I am also interested in the changes in carbon and nitrogen fluxes in terrestrial systems, and the effects of non-indigenous species on the biodiversity of terrestrial Antarctic ecosystems.
Projects
Effects of environmental change on carbon and nitrogen Fluxes in Antarctic Terrestrial Ecosystems (FATE)
Terrestrial ecosystems in the higher latitudes of the Maritime Antarctic are structurally simple with only two trophic levels well developed: primary producers and decomposers. Nitrogen and other minerals are mostly imported from the marine ecosystem (by sea spray, precipitation, marine birds and mammals). Temperature is the ultimate key factor controlling the cycling of carbon and nitrogen.
We hypothesise that, as a result of the increasing temperatures in this region, terrestrial ecosystem structure and processes will become more complex and will ultimately develop increasing similarity with counterparts currently found in lower latitudes.
As temperature increases so will water availability (through both increased snow melt and precipitation), primary production (increased water availability) and carbon and nitrogen recycling (increased rate of decomposition). The import of nitrogen from marine sources will increase with increased precipitation. Soil formation processes will also become more important. Combining these factors, it is predicted that species and functional group diversity will increase.
In this project, a group effort, I focus on the import of C and N from the marine ecosystem.
Carbon assimilation strategies in lichenized ascomycetes
A critical step in colonizing a habitat for lichens, which dominate Antarctic vegetation, is to find a compatible algal partner. Some species solve this problem by producing vegetative propagules containing both photobiont and mycobiont. Sexually reproducing species depend on relichenisation in order to sucessfully colonize a habitat. Free-living photobionts are scarce in extreme environments. Therefore it might be of advantage for mycobionts to be able to use alternative sources of organic carbon i.e. sources other than the compatible mycobiont.
The questions I address in this project are:
- How autotrophic are lichens (during different stages of development)?
- Is the degree of autotrophy related to selectivity and specificity of the mycobiont towards the photobiont?
- Do these characteristics influence the genetic variability of the mycobionts? And is this variability connected to the carbon source?
FRAGILE -FRagility of Arctic Goose habitat: Impacts of Land use, conservation and Elevated temperatures
An important role of tundra ecosystems is the sequestering of atmospheric carbon dioxide, thus providing a global carbon ‘sink’. Research suggests that high latitudes will experience considerable temperature elevation during the next 50 years, and tundra systems may become net producers of carbon.
Arctic breeding populations of geese are known to be increasing and because of that grazing pressure on the tundra increases as well.
The effects arising from changes in climate and increased goose grazing have the potential to act as drivers of degradation in tundra ecosystems. There is a gap in scientific knowledge of the process, extent and consequences of these drivers, and the interactions between them.
My involvement in this project (which is an EU- funded project, executed by 13 institutions in six countries) is - apart from being the co-ordinator - the study of carbon fluxes between soil and atmosphere and the partitioning of nitrogen over the different components of the tundra ecosystem.
Co-Operation
UPE
The Unit for Polar Ecology brings together scientists from different research departments of NIOO, who are involved in polar research. The Unit for Polar Ecology will use the responses of the ecosystems to climate change, to study more fundamental processes occurring in ecosystems, such as functional diversity, structure and dynamics of food webs and carbon and nitrogen cycles, and the interactions between marine, terrestrial and limnetic ecosystems.
Links
Dossier Polar Ecology
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