Dr Lars Markesteijn

Senior Lecturer in Forest Science

Contact info

Thoday Building, room S10

Email: l.markesteijn@bangor.ac.uk

Tel: 01248 382337 (from U.K.)
+44 1248 382337 (International)

 

Google Scholar, ORCID, ResearchGate

 

Tropical forest ecology, Functional ecology, Restoration ecology, Plant-enemy interactions 


 

As a researcher I am foremost fascinated by biodiversity and as such most of my work is carried out in biologically complex tropical forest ecosystems. My research addresses processes underlying function and co-existence of tropical plants and mechanisms of biodiversity generation and maintenance. I take a special interest in density-dependent mortality or negative density dependence (NDD), as mediated by plant natural enemies, and how it affects regeneration dynamics of tropical plants. I further work on physiological plant responses to limiting resources, resource competition, and tolerance to environmental and global change - principally with respect to water and light. I explore the effects of variation in plant functional traits on individual plant performance and species distribution from local to cross-ecosystem scales.

In addition to being a Senior Lecturer in Forest Scsience at the School of Environmental & Natural Sciences, I am an Associate Professor in Ecology at the Area of Biodiversity and Conservation, Global Change Research Institute (IICG-URJC)  at the University Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid (Spain), and an affiliated researcher at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama.

I hold a Ph.D. in Tropical Forest Ecology and an M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Tropical Land Use from Wageningen University (the Netherlands). I worked as a postdoctoral researcher on different projects with STRI and the Universities of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (USA), Oxford (UK), Yale (USA), Oregon State (USA) and Bayreuth (Germany).

  1. Published

    Functional responses of mangrove fauna to forest degradation

    Barbanera, A., Markesteijn, L., Kairo, J., Juma, G. A., Karythis, S. & Skov, M., 17 Mar 2022, In: Marine and Freshwater Research.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  2. Published

    Functional traits determine trade-offs and niches in a tropical forest community

    Sterck, F., Markesteijn, L., Schieving, F. & Poorter, L., 20 Dec 2011, In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA. 108, 51, p. 20627-20632

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  3. Published

    Fungal pathogens and insect herbivores mediate seedling dynamics and diversity patterns along a tropical forest humidity gradient

    Markesteijn, L. & Lewis, O. T., 4 Jul 2018.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

  4. Global patterns of leaf mechanical properties

    Onoda, Y., Westoby, M., Adler, P. B., Choong, A. M. F., Clissold, F. J., Cornelissen, J. H. C., Diaz, S., Dominy, N. J., Elgart, A., Enrico, L., Fine, P. V. A., Howard, J. J., Jalili, A., Kitajima, K., Kurokawa, H., McArthur, C., Lucas, P. W., Markesteijn, L., Perez-Harguindeguy, N., Poorter, L., Richards, L., Santiago, L. S., Sosinski, E. E. . J., Van Bael, S. A., Warton, D. I., Wright, I. J., Wright, S. J. & Yamashita, N., Mar 2011, In: Ecology Letters. 14, 3, p. 301-312

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  5. Published

    How does grazing management influence the functional diversity of oak woodland ecosystems? A plant trait approach.

    Ford, H., Healey, J., Markesteijn, L. & Smith, A., 15 Apr 2018, In: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 258, p. 154-161 8 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  6. Hydraulics and life history of tropical dry forest tree species: coordination of species' drought and shade tolerance

    Markesteijn, L., Poorter, L., Bongers, F., Paz, H. & Sack, L., 2011, In: New Phytologist. 191, 2, p. 480-495

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  7. Published

    Increased mortality of tropical tree seedlings during the extreme 2015-16 El Niño

    Browne, L., Markesteijn, L., Engelbrecht, B. M. J., Jones, F. A., Lewis, O. T., Manzané-Pinzón, E., Wright, S. J. & Comita, L. S., Oct 2021, In: Global Change Biology. 27, 20, p. 5043-5053

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  8. Published

    Insect herbivory and predation pressure across a tropical rainfall and tree species richness gradient

    Weissflog, A., Markesteijn, L., Lewis, O. T. & Engelbrecht, B. M. J., 23 Feb 2016.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

  9. Published

    Intraspecific leaf trait variability along a boreal-to-tropical community diversity gradient

    C. Bastias, C., Fortunel, C., Valladares, F., Baraloto, C., Benavides, R., Cornwell, W., Markesteijn, L., de Oliveira, A. A., Sansevero, J. B. B., Vaz, M. C. & Kraft, N. J. B., 27 Feb 2017, In: PLoS ONE. 12, 2, p. 1-16

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  10. La disponibilidad hídrica estacional y topográfica en un bosque seco y húmedo tropical y la variación en la morfología de las plántulas arbóreas

    Markesteijn, L., Poorter, L. & Yanguas Fernandez, E., 2008, In: Revista Boliviana de Ecología y Conservación Ambiental. 24, p. 27-42

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review