Clavel J (2024) Plant-mycorrhizal interactions and their role in plant invasions in mountains. 182 p
Abstract: Non-native species invasions are one of the most impactful drivers of biodiversity and ecosystem services loss worldwide. One aspect of plant species invasion, which is only recently starting to be recognized as a determinant of invasion success, is the symbiosis between plant and mycorrhizal fungi. Here, I focus on anthropogenic disturbance in mountain ecosystems and its impact on plant communities and mycorrhizal fungi to answer how these communities are impacted by disturbance and whether non-native plants can benefit to establish and spread. To this end I used a combination of different approaches: 1) repeated surveys of plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi along disturbed roadsides in the mountains of Norway, 2) combining a global dataset of native and non-native plants along mountain roads with a database associating plants with their mycorrhizal types, and 3) an in-situ experiment measuring non-native plant success and changes in fungal community following different types of disturbances. Through these methods, I could assess the effects of anthropogenic disturbance on mycorrhizal symbiosis and non-native plant species at multiple scales and resolutions. We found that road disturbance has a globally consistent effect on mycorrhizal types in mountain systems, as plants associated with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi were more abundant following disturbance. Conversely, vegetation associated with either ectomycorrhizal (EcM) or ericoid mycorrhizal (ErM) fungi was less abundant in disturbed sites. In the regional study, AM fungi were most abundant and diverse in the roots of plant communities affected by road disturbance. Non-native plants were also restricted to these disturbed sites. The experimental results showed that physical disturbance and nutrient addition have negative effects on EcM fungi and positive effects on fungal pathogens, and facilitate non-native plant success. Our results show that anthropogenic disturbance does have an effect on mycorrhizal fungi that in turn impacts the distribution of plant species in disturbed mountain systems. The resulting shift in mycorrhizal fungi benefiting AM fungi and AM plant species could have implications for non-native plant invasions. Indeed, we know that non-native plants predominantly form associations with AM fungi. Therefore, anthropogenic disturbance can facilitate non-native plant success through disruption of the native fungal communities, and especially so in high elevation and cold climate regions which are naturally less dominated by AM plants. I believe this highlights the importance of mycorrhizal symbiosis in understanding plant invasions and emphasizes the importance of monitoring sources of anthropogenic disturbance in mountains to prevent future establishment of non-native plants.
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plant and Ecosystems (PLECO) – Ecology in a time of change
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Ramirez-Rojas I (2024) Underground connections : the interplay between tropical rainforest trees and soil microbial communities. 205 p
Abstract: Tropical rainforests host an exceptional biodiversity and play a fundamental role in the regulation of global climatic cycles. Soil fungi and bacteria are key players in the transformation and processing of nutrients in terrestrial ecosystems while having an essential role as tree mutualists or antagonists. Still, there are gaps in our understanding of the main variables driving soil microbes on these forests and it is unclear how future climate change scenarios may impact soil microbes and further affect the ecosystem. In this thesis, we first explored the drivers of the microbial community composition in two pristine forests in French Guiana by using amplicon DNA sequencing. The neighboring tree species were found to be a crucial factor influencing the fungal and bacterial community composition at our sites regardless of the season. Additionally, within the environmental factors explored, soil moisture, phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) availability were consistently the main soil properties controlling the composition of soil microbial communities. Secondly, as increased nutrient deposition due to anthropogenic activities are expected to affect tropical forests ecosystems N and P availability, a factorial N and P nutrient addition experiment in the same sites was used to assess the effects of changes in the soil nutrient stoichiometry on the soil microbial communities. These results showed that after 3 years of nutrient additions, the bacterial and fungal community composition was affected by both the N and P additions. Besides, the fungal community composition had a stronger response to the nutrient addition, especially when P was added. Moreover, when the nutrient addition effect was assessed in bacteria and fungi with different life strategies, we found different nutrient optima between them. Furthermore, to study the effect of the connection to an existing mycorrhizal mycelium on tree seedlings, I established a mycelium exclusion experiment. Interestingly, we could not detect an effect of the mycorrhizal mycelium exclusion on the seedling N uptake, performance, or fungal community composition in roots after one year. All together this work provides a deeper understanding of the factors influencing the soil microbial communities on these lowland tropical forests, demonstrating that the tree community composition exerts a higher influence on the soil microbial community composition than previously expected. Moreover, our results show that the fungal and bacterial community composition and its relationship with trees in the vicinity is highly dependent on the ecosystem nutrient availability.
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plant and Ecosystems (PLECO) – Ecology in a time of change
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Yusupov M (2014) Atomic scale simulations for a better insight in plasma medicine. Antwerpen
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Eckert M (2010) Combined molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations for the deposition of (ultra)nanocrystalline diamond. Antwerpen
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Aghaei M (2014) Computational study of inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS). Antwerpen
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Setareh M (2014) Computational study of CH4 and CF4 conversion in presence of N2 and O2 in plasma discharges applied. Antwerpen
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Aerts R (2014) Experimental and computational study of dielectric barrier discharges for environmental applications. Antwerpen
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Bogaerts A (1996) Mathematical modeling of a direct current glow discharge in argon. Universitaire Instelling Antwerpen, Antwerpen
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Wendelen W (2014) Modeling ultrashort pulsed laser induced electron emission. Antwerpen
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Autrique D (2014) Multiphase modelling of a ns-laser-irradiated copper sample. Antwerpen
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Khalilov U (2013) New perspectives on thermal and hyperthermal oxidation of Si surfaces. Antwerpen
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Tinck S (2011) Numerical simulations of inductively coupled plasmas for applications in the microelectronics industry. Antwerpen
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Van Gaens W (2014) Plasma chemistry modelling of an atmospheric pressure argon plasma jet with air impurities for plasma medicine applications. Antwerpen
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Somers W (2015) Atomic scale simulations of the interactions of plasma species on nickel catalyst surfaces. Antwerpen
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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De Bie C (2016) Fluid modeling of the plasma-assisted conversion of greenhouse gases to value-added chemicals in a dielectric barrier discharge. Antwerpen
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Ozkan A (2016) CO2 splitting in a dielectric barrier discharge plasma : understanding of physical and chemical aspects. Université Libre de Bruxelles/Universiteit Antwerpen
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Van Laer K (2017) Numerical and experimental study of a packed bed plasma reactor for environmental applications. Antwerpen
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Dabaghmanesh S (2017) Atomistic modeling of the structural and electronic properties of Cr-based oxides and their potential application as TCO materials. Antwerpen
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Berthelot A (2018) Modeling of microwave plasmas for carbon dioxide conversion. University of Antwerp, Antwerp
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Sun S (2018) Study of carbon dioxide dissociation mechanisms in a gliding arc discharge. Beihang University, School of Astronautics, Beijing
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Bal K (2018) New ways to bridge the gap between microscopic simulations and macroscopic chemistry. Antwerpen
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Verlackt C (2018) The behavior of plasma-generated reactive species in plasma medicine. Antwerpen
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Razzokov J (2019) Molecular level simulations for plasma medicine applications. 173 p
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Trenchev G (2019) Computational modelling of atmospheric DC discharges for CO2 conversion. 206 p
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Van der Paal J (2019) Generation, transport and molecular interactions of reactive species in plasma medicine. 237 p
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Vets C (2020) Growth properties of carbon nanomaterials : towards tuning for electronic applications. 130 p
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Chuon S (2019) Simulation numérique multi-échelles du procédé de dépôt par pulvérisation cathodique magnétron. 137 p
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Vermeiren V (2020) Chemical kinetics modeling of non-equilibrium and thermal effects in vibrationally active CO2 plasmas. 207 p
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Nematollahi P (2020) Density functional theory calculations for understanding gas conversion reactions on single metal atom embedded carbon-based nanocatalysts. 173 p
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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Zhang H (2020) Optical diagnostics of spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of nanosecond laser-induced plasma in gases. 117 p
Keywords: Doctoral thesis; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
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