Olivia Azevedo, PhD studentship, University of Stirling (2019-2022)

Background

Forests are crucial for biodiversity and also provide numerous ecosystem services that enhance human welfare. However, when studying forests, often the complexity of life belowground either goes unnoticed or it is studied in isolation from its aboveground component. Compartmentalising the above and belowground portions of terrestrial ecosystems diminishes our understanding of the ecological processes arising from the connectivity between these producer and decomposer subsystems. Ultimately, the missing links in above-belowground interactions are critical if we are to make predictions about the regulation of ecosystem processes and their response to change at regional and global scales, and recommendations for sustainable future woodland creation.