Dr Sabine Both

Biography

I joined UNE in 2018 as Lecturer in Vegetation Management. Previously I was based at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, and the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany.

I have broad expertise in undertaking scientific research in forest ecosystems around the world, with observational studies in subtropical China, in small and large-scale forest biodiversity and ecosystem functioning experiments, and in pristine and selectively logged tropical rainforest in Malaysian Borneo. I have spent more than 29 months conducting fieldwork in these forests!

Observational studies form an important part of my research and shed light on the relationships between species richness of various taxa, the functional traits of species, and the interplay with their abiotic environment. To evaluate the functioning of forest ecosystems, I have focussed on a wide range of functions such as plant community productivity, decomposition and nutrient cycling, herbivory, habitat invasibility and the invasion of exotic plant species. Most recently, to quantify the relative importance of functional plant traits for ecosystem functions, I analysed more than 30 structural, physiological and anatomical traits from almost 300 tree species in tropical rainforest in Borneo.

I am passionate about designing and conducting ecological experiments, which enable us to understand biotic and abiotic relationships within an ecological community.