Dr David Burslem

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Personal Details

Telephone: +44 (0)1224 272695
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Research Interests

Tropical forests are important reservoirs of global biodiversity and fixed carbon. Research in my group investigates the processes that maintain diversity in tropical forests and the mechanisms that control the distribution of tropical tree species and communities. We focus on application of these principles to tropical forest conservation.

Comparative germination ecology : Germination is an important determinant of where and when plants establish in the community. We are testing the hypothesis that coexisting and congeneric species have contrasting germination responses to light, nutrients and water supply that contribute to species coexistence. Our longer-term goal is to derive a physically-based germination and seedling emergence model for a suite of neotropical pioneer trees.

Plant responses to resource heterogeneity : Environments are patchy and trade-offs among key plant traits might determine species distribution along gradients of resource supply. Our current research is testing the hypothesis that biotic interactions influence the response of tropical trees to the abiotic environment, based on experiments in a lowland dipterocarp forest in Malaysia.

Role of disturbance in structuring tropical forest communities : There may be feedbacks between disturbance regime, diversity and species composition of tropical forests that are important determinants of ecosystem function. We are exploring these links analytically using long-term time series of tropical forest plot data from the Solomon Islands and elsewhere.

Analysis of spatial patterns in tropical tree distribution and their implications : Most tropical trees are highly aggregated is space. Spatial structure may arise either because of habitat preferences or dispersal limitation, or some combination of these factors. We are exploring the causes and consequences of spatial patterning of tropical tree populations using spatially explicit data on large forest plots and designed experiments.

Restoration of degraded tropical lands: Large areas of the wet tropics have been degraded by the activities of people, particularly by fire and over-grazing. Land degradation has important negative impacts on biodiversity and the potential for carbon sequestration in forest biomass. Our current research is investigating the biophysical and social constraints to tree regeneration in grassland occupying abandoned tea plantations in central Sri Lanka.  

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Research Grants

2003-2006. European Commission. Development of human resource capacity for teaching and research on restoration of degraded tropical ecosystems.

1999-2003 British Ecological Society. Disturbance and regeneration in tropical rain forest: the importance of biotic interactions.

2001-2002 NERC. Small-scale spatial distribution of Shorea species in a Malaysian rain forest: effects of adult density on the production and fate of seeds.

1999-2001 NERC. Regeneration niche differences among tropical pioneer trees: the importance of interactions between seed size and germination responses to environmental factors.  

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External Responsibilities

Associate editor of Journal of Ecology

Council Member of the British Ecological Society

Aberdeen local secretary for the Botanical Society of Scotland

Aberdeen University representative on the Council of the Tropical Biology Association

Co-organiser of the joint meeting of the British Ecological Society and Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, July 2003  

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Publications

  • Burslem,D. F. R. P.; Pinard,M. A.; Hartley,S. E. Biotic Interactions in the Tropics, Edited Book, in press, Cambridge University Press, UK.
  • Queenborough,S.; Burslem,D. F. R. P.; Garwood,N. C.; Valencia,R. Neighborhood and community interactions determine the spatial pattern of tropical tree seedling survival, Original Article in Peer Reviewed Journal, in press, Ecology, ISSN/ISBN: 0012-9658
  • D'Oliveira,M. V. N.; Swaine,M. D.; Burslem,D. F. R. P.; Braz,E. M.; Araujo,H. J. B. Sustainable forest management for smallholder farmers in the Brazilian Amazon, Chapter in Book, in press, Slash-and-Burn Agriculture, The Search for Alternatives, pp199 - 221, ISSN/ISBN: 0-2311-3451-7
  • Burslem,D. F. R. P. Natural disturbance in forest environments, Chapter in Book, 2004, In: Encyclopaedia of Forest Sciences (eds J. Burley, J. Evans & J. Youngquist), Elsevier Science, Oxford, England, pp80 - 85
  • Burslem,D. F. R. P. Plant diversity in forests, Chapter in Book, 2004, In: Encyclopaedia of Forest Sciences (eds J. Burley, J. Evans & J. Youngquist), Elsevier Science, Oxford, England, pp40 - 44
  • Baker,T. R.; Swaine,M. D.; Burslem,D. F. R. P. Variation in tropical forest growth rates: combined effects of functional group composition and resource availability, Original Article in Peer Reviewed Journal, 2004, Perspectives in plant ecology, evolution and systematics, 6, 1-2, pp21 - 36, ISSN/ISBN: 1433-8319
  • Baker,T. R.; Burslem,D. F. R. P.; Swaine,M. D. Associations between tree growth, soil fertility and water availability at local and regional scales in Ghanaian tropical rain forest, Original Article in Peer Reviewed Journal, 2003, Journal of Tropical Ecology, 19, pp109 - 125, ISSN/ISBN: 0266-4674
  • Sheil,D.; Burslem,D. F. R. P. Disturbing hypotheses in tropical forests, Original Article in Peer Reviewed Journal, 2003, Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 18, pp18 - 26, ISSN/ISBN: 0169-5347
  • Burslem,D. F. R. P.; Whitmore,T. C. Functional diversity and response to disturbance in lowland tropical rain forest on Kolombangara, Solomon Islands, Chapter in Book, 2003, In: Long term changes in composition and diversity as a result of natural and man made disturbances: case studies from the Guyana Shield, Africa, Borneo and Melanesia (ed. H. Ter Steege), Tropenbos International, Wageningen, The Netherlands, pp61 - 77
  • Pearson,T. R. H.; Burslem,D. F. R. P.; Mullins,C. E.; Dalling,J. W. Functional significance of photoblastic germination in neotropical pioneer trees: a seed’s eye view, Original Article in Peer Reviewed Journal, 2003, Functional Ecology, 17, pp394 - 402, ISSN/ISBN: 0269-8463
  • Pearson,T. R. H.; Burslem,D. F. R. P.; Goeriz,R. E.; Dalling,J. W. Gap size partitioning of neotropical pioneers: responses to multiple interacting factors determine growth and survival in the field, Original Article in Peer Reviewed Journal, 2003, Oecologia, 137, pp456 - 465, ISSN/ISBN: 0029-8549
  • Pearson,T. R. H.; Burslem,D. F. R. P.; Goeriz,R. E.; Dalling,J. W. Interactions of gap size and herbivory on establishment, growth and survival of three species of neotropical pioneer trees, Original Article in Peer Reviewed Journal, 2003, Journal of Ecology, 91, pp785 - 796, ISSN/ISBN: 0022-0477
  • Daws,M. I.; Burslem,D. F. R. P.; Crabtree,L.; Kirkman,P.; Mullins,C. E.; Dalling,J. W. Differences in seed germination responses may promote coexistence of four sympatric Piper species, Original Article in Peer Reviewed Journal, 2002, Functional Ecology, 16, pp258 - 267, ISSN/ISBN: 0269-8463
  • Burslem,D. F. R. P.; Swaine,M. D. Forest dynamics and regeneration, Chapter in Book, 2002, In: Foundations of Tropical Forest Biology (eds. Chazdon,R. L.;Whitmore,T. C.), University of Chicago Press, pp577 - 583, ISSN/ISBN: 0-2261-0224-6
  • Pearson,T. R. H.; Burslem,D. F. R. P.; Mullins,C. E.; Dalling,J. W. Germination ecology of neotropical pioneers: Interacting effects of environmental conditions and seed size, Original Article in Peer Reviewed Journal, 2002, Ecology, 83, 10, pp2798 - 2807, ISSN/ISBN: 0012-9658
  • Debski,I.; Burslem,D. F. R. P.; Palmiotto,P. A.; Lafrankie,J. V.; Lee,H. S.; Manokaran,N. Habitat preferences of Aporosa in two Malaysian rain forests: Implications for abundance and co-existence, Original Article in Peer Reviewed Journal, 2002, Ecology, 83, 7, pp2005 - 2018, ISSN/ISBN: 0012-9658
  • Baker,T. R.; Affum-Baffoe,K.; Burslem,D. F. R. P.; Swaine,M. D. Phenological differences in tree water use and the timing of tropical forest inventories: conclusions from patterns of dry season diameter change, Original Article in Peer Reviewed Journal, 2002, FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, 171, 3, pp261 - 274, ISSN/ISBN: 0378-1127
  • Daws,M. I.; Mullins,C. E.; Burslem,D. F. R. P.; Paton,S. R.; Dalling,J. Topographic position affects the water regime in a semideciduous tropical forest in Panama, Original Article in Peer Reviewed Journal, 2002, Plant & Soil, 238, pp79 - 90, ISSN/ISBN: 0032-079X
  • Burslem,D. F. R. P.; Garwood,N. C.; Thomas,S. C. Ecology - Tropical forest diversity - The plot thickens, Original Article in Peer Reviewed Journal, 2001, Science, 291, 5504, pp606 - 607, ISSN/ISBN: 0036-8075
  • Burslem,D. F. R. P.; Miller,J. Seed size, germination and seedling relative growth rates in three tropical tree species, Original Article in Peer Reviewed Journal, 2001, Journal of Tropical Forest Science, 13, pp148 - 161, ISSN/ISBN: 0128-1283

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page content last modified: 31st May 2007 15:08:05