Biodiversity Project Manager and Ecohydrologist, Centre for Human and Ecological Sciences
Email: nadia.barsoum@forestry.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1420 22255
Tel direct: +44 (0)1420 526219
Fax: +44 (0)1420 23653
Address:
Forest Research
Alice Holt Lodge
Farnham
Surrey GU10 4LH
UK
Nadia joined Forest Research in 2004. She studied for an Ecology BSc. degree at King’s College London (1990-93). This was followed by a period of work as an Environmental Consultant in London. Between 1994-1998 Nadia worked towards her PhD degree in Floodplain Woodland Ecology at the Department of Geography, University of Cambridge.
Nadia continued to pursue her research interests in Riparian Ecology through Post-Doctoral Research (1999-2004) at the Centre d’Ecologie de Systèmes Aquatiques Continentaux (CESAC-CNRS), Toulouse, France and the Universities of Umeå and Mid-Sweden, Sweden. She also worked over this period for the French Ministry of Environment, producing for them a critical appraisal of 10+ years of French Ministry of Environment-funded Biodiversity research.
On joining Forest Research, Nadia was primarily engaged in developing and refining protocols for local and regional scale monitoring and assessment of environmental variables in forests. She lead the UK Long-term Intensive Forest Monitoring Network (an EU-wide forest monitoring platform) from 2004-2009. Since 2009 Nadia has been leading research in forest biodiversity
Current role
Biodiversity Project Manager and Ecohydrologist, Centre for Human and Ecological Sciences.
Responsibility to provide the Forestry Commission and wider forestry sector with guidance on best forestry practice to protect and enhance woodland biodiversity and also effective means of monitoring, assessing, and reporting on forest biodiversity. Current specific areas of research and knowledge transfer relate to the biodiversity implications of a number of key forestry policy measures in Britain including (i) a drive for an increase in woodfuel production from existing woodland resources and short rotation forestry crops (e.g. eucalypts), (ii) the promotion of increased structural complexity in forest stands by creating a mixed age/compositional structure and (iii) the conversion of non-native to native woodlands.
There are active collaborations with Forest Research’s Ecosystem Services and Climate Change Adaptation Programmes covering the topics of forest regeneration, tree growth, provenance selection and indicators of forest ecosystem function.
Current and previous programmes
- Forest biodiversity responses to changes in forest policy and management practice
Project Manager - Management of multifunctional forests (MULTIFOR)
Project Manager - Diversity of ectomycorrhizal fungal communities in forests
PhD and MSc supervisor - Climate change adaptation provenance trials (NFC-FR)
Project Leader - Further development and implementation of an EU-level forest monitoring system (FutMon)
Principal Investigator - Intensive long term monitoring of forest ecosystems
Project Manager (2004-2009) - Forest Focus review
Contributor
Affiliations and achievements
- Member of British Ecological Society
- Member of American Institute of Biological Sciences
- Member of Society for Wetland Scientists
- Member of COST E43 (Biodiversity Working Group) - WG3 - Harmonisation of National Forest inventories
Workshops organised to raise debate and generate discussion for future research:
| Workshop | Year | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Belowground Indicators of Tree Health | 2005 | Alice Holt, Farnham |
| Linking pattern and process in mycorrhizas at the European scale | 2009 | Centre for Population Biology at Silwood Park, Ascot |
| Ecosystem services – the answer to communicating the benefits of forestry? Institute of Chartered Foresters AGM |
2009 | Alice Holt, Farnham |
Current and past areas of research
- Forest biodiversity responses to a diversification of forest structure (mixed aged stands, mixed species stands)
- Woodfuel production and forest biodiversity
- Biodiversity indicators and forest condition indicators
- Multifunctional role of forests / forest ecosystem services
- Floodplain woodland /wetland ecology
- Ecology of the Salicaceae (environmental factors influencing regeneration, sex ratios, clonal growth, genotypic diversity)
- Climate change and forest adaptation
- Air pollution and forest health
- Genotypic and genetic structure of plant populations
- Ectomycorrhizal communities in forests
- Forest regeneration.
Main recent publications
Guilloy, H., Gonzalez, E., Muller, E., Hughes, F. M. R. and Barsoum, N. (2011) Abrupt drops in water table level influence the development of Populus nigra and Salix alba seedlings of different ages. WETLANDS. (In press).
Pennington, H.G., Bidartondo, M.I. and Barsoum, N. (2011). A few exotic mycorrhizal fungi dominate eucalypts planted in England. Fungal Ecology, 4, 299-302.
Barsoum, N. (2011). Monitoring regeneration in National Forest Inventories: A review of current practice and the scope for harmonisation. Forest Science. (In press).
Chirici, G., Winter, S., Bastrup-Birk, A., Rondeux, J., Bertini, R., McRoberts, R. E., Barsoum, N., Asensio, I. A., Brändli, U.-B. and Marchetti, M. (2011). Harmonised estimation of forest biodiversity indicators at the cross-regional scale using data from national forest inventories. Forest Science. (In press).
Barsoum, N., McCartan, S., Wilkinson, M., Morison, J., Cottrell, J., Hubert, J. and Ray, D. (2011). Increasing the adaptation potential of native tree species to climate change. Conference Proceedings Joint BES - Natural England Meeting ‘Adapting Conservation to a Changing Climate’ 11-12 January 2011, Charles Darwin House, London.
Cox F., Barsoum E., Lilleskov E.A., Bidartondo M.I. and Seidling W. (2010). Mykorrhizierung von Kiefernwurzeln. AFZ-DerWald , 65(24), 8-10.
Cox F., Barsoum E., Lilleskov E.A. and Bidartondo M.I. (2010). Nitrogen availability is a primary determinant of conifer mycorrhizas across complex environmental gradients. Ecology Letters, 13, 1103-1113.
Cox F., Barsoum N., Bidartondo M.I., Børja I., Lilleskov E., Nilsson L.O., Rautio P., Tubby K. and Vesterdal L. (2010). A leap forward in geographic scale for forest ectomycorrhizal fungi. Annals of Forest Science, 67(2), 200.
Barsoum, N. (2009). 3. NFI variables definitions, availability and comparability for assessing core forest biodiversity variables: 3.7 Regeneration. In 'Contribution of National Forest Inventories for Forest Biodiversity Assessment' Eds: Gherardo Chirici, Susanne Winter, Ronald McRoberts, Erkki Tomppo, Annemarie Bastrup-Birk. Springer-Verlag.
Barsoum, N., D. Williams, N. Straw, M. Jukes, R. Johnson, M. Bidartondo, A. Kiewitt and R. Ibrahim. (2009). Consequences of increased stand structural complexity for floral diversity and the prevalence of insect pests in Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) stands. Conference Proceedings ‘Adapting Forest Management to Maintain the Environmental Services: Carbon Sequestration, Biodiversity, Water’. Koli National Park, Finland 21.9.-24.9.2009.
Vanguelova, E. I., Benham, S., Pitman, R., Barsoum, N., Moffat, A. J., Broadmeadow, M., Nisbet, T., Durrant, D., Wilkinson, M., Bochereau, F., Hutchings, T., Broadmeadow. S., Crow, P., Taylor, P. and Durrant, T. (2009). Chemical fluxes in time through forest ecosystems in the UK - soil response to pollution recovery. Environmental Pollution, 158 (5): 1857-1869.
Barsoum, N. (2007). Forest health - has acid rain made way for climate change? (And how will we know?) Forestry and Timber News, December Issue, 17-19.
Dufour, S., Barsoum, N., Muller, E. and Piégay, H. (2007). Effects of channel confinement on pioneer woody vegetation structure, composition and diversity along the River Drôme (SE France). Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 32, 1244-56.
Vangelova, E., Barsoum, N., Benham, S., Broadmeadow, N., Moffat, M., Nisbet, T. and Pitman, R. (2007). Ten Years of Intensive Forest Monitoring (PDF-1295K). Forestry Commission Information Note 88. Forestry Commission, Edinburgh.
Barsoum, N., Anderson, R., Broadmeadow, S., Bishop, H and Nisbet, T. (2005). Eco-Hydrological Guidelines for Wet Woodlands - Phase 1 (PDF-2374K). English Nature Research Report 619. English Nature, Peterborough.
Barsoum, N., Muller, E. and Skot, L. (2004). Variations in levels of clonality among Populus nigra L. stands of different ages. Evolutionary Ecology. 18: 601-624.
Multiple authors and editors. (2004). The Flooded Forest: Guidance on Restoring Floodplain Woodlands for Policy Makers and River Managers in Europe. (PDF-4.6Mb). pp.96.
Barsoum, N. (2002). Relative contributions of sexual and asexual regeneration strategies in Populus nigra and Salix alba during the first years of establishment on a braided gravel bed river. Evolutionary Ecology 15, 255-279.
Guilloy-Froget, H., Muller, E., Barsoum, N., Hughes, F.M.R. (2002). Dispersal, Germination and Survival of Populus nigra L. (Saliacaceae) in Changing Hydrologic Conditions. WETLANDS 22 (3), 478-488.
Muller, E., Guilloy, H., Barsoum, N., Brocheton, L. (2002). Populus nigra L. en vallée de Garonne: legs du passé et constraintes du présent. C.R. Acad. Sciences 325, 1129-1141.
Barsoum, N. (2001). Regeneration: requirements and promotion measures. (PDF-787k). In EUFORGEN Technical Bulletin: In Situ Conservation of Populus nigra. (editors Lefèvre, F., Barsoum, N., Heinze, B., Kajba, D., Rotach, P., de Vries, S.M.G and Turok, J.) International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Rome, Italy. Pp. 16-24.
Hughes, F.M.R., Adams, W.M., Barsoum, N., Décamps, H., Foussadier, R., Girel, J., Guilloy, H., Hayes, A., Johansson, M., Lambs, L., Muller, E., Nilsson, C., Pautou, G., Peiry, J-L., Perrow, M., Richards, K.S.R., Vautier, F., Winfield, M. (2001). Managing flows for the restoration of floodplain woodland: Local and reach scale factors in different European river types. Regulated Rivers: Research & Management 17, 325-345.
Hughes, F.M.R., Barsoum, N., Richards, K., Hayes, A., Winfield, M. (2000). The response of male and female black poplar (Populus nigra var betulifolia) to different water table depths and sediment types: Implications for flow management and river corridor biodiversity. Hydrological Processes 14, 3075-3098.
Barsoum, N. (2000). The balance of black poplar (Populus nigra) regeneration strategies as a function of hydrology on floodplains. In 'Populus nigra' Network: Report of the Sixth Meeting, 6-8 February, 2000, Isle sur La Sorgue, France (compilers: Borelli, S., de Vries, S., Lefèvre, F., and Turok, J.) pp. 46-50, International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Rome, Italy.
Barsoum, N. and Hughes, F.M.R. (1998). Regeneration response of Black poplar to changing river levels. In Hydrology in a Changing Environment. Vol. 1. (eds H. Wheater & C. Kirby), pp.397-412, John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Hughes, F.M.R., Harris, T., Richards, K., Pautou, G., Barsoum, N., El-Hames, A., Girel, J., Peiry, J.-L., Foussadier, R. (1997). Woody riparian species response to different moisture conditions: Laboratory experiments on Alnus incana. J. Global Ecology and Biogeography Letters 6, 247-256.
Pautou, G., Girel, J., Peiry, J.-L., Hughes, F.M.R., Richards, K., Foussadier, R., Barsoum, N., Garguet-Duport, B., Harris, T. (1996). Changes in vegetation in fluvial hydrosystems using as examples the upper Rhône and the Isère in Grésivaudan. Rev. Ecol. Alp. Grenoble, tome III, 41-66.
Bark. A., Barsoum, N., Moore, P., Radcliffe, S., Turner, B. (1994). Software Review : Tablefit version 0.0 for Identification of Vegetation Types. Journal of Ecology, 82(4) pp. 987-8.
