معرفی
Mariet M. Hefting is an Associate Professor in Soil Ecology at Utrecht University's Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, within the Ecology and Biodiversity research group. With over two decades of academic experience, she has established herself as a leading researcher in soil ecology, particularly focusing on plant-soil interactions in the context of carbon and nitrogen cycles under global change conditions. Her work bridges fundamental ecological understanding with practical applications for sustainable land management through her involvement in major initiatives like Future Deltas and Pathways to Sustainability.
Dr. Hefting's research spans multiple interconnected themes centered on soil ecosystem functioning. She investigates how plant functional traits influence nutrient cycling processes such as decomposition, soil respiration, nitrification, and denitrification. A significant portion of her work examines the interactive effects of nitrogen enrichment and climate change on soil organic matter dynamics and greenhouse gas emissions, with particular focus on riparian zone and riverine ecosystems where nitrogen cycling hotspots occur. Her innovative Tea Bag Index methodology has enabled global-scale soil functioning assessments through citizen science participation, creating one of the largest research networks of scientists and non-scientists ever.
Her extensive publication record demonstrates consistent contributions to understanding decomposition processes, plant-soil-microbe interactions, and ecosystem responses to environmental change. The research trends reveal a progression from foundational studies on nitrogen cycling in riparian zones toward increasingly integrative approaches that examine biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships under global change scenarios. Her work often involves large collaborative networks, including international field experiments across diverse ecosystems from Icelandic geothermal areas to mangrove forests.
- Nitrogen transformation processes in riparian buffer zones
- Soil organic matter dynamics under climate change
- Global decomposition patterns using standardized methods
- Wood decomposition processes across tree species
- Peatland carbon dynamics under different management practices
Dr. Hefting has successfully supervised numerous PhD students through completion of their degrees and has secured significant research funding for projects including Future Deltas, Pathways to Sustainability, Water-Climate and Future Deltas, and the Living on Soft Soils initiative. She serves as SAP coordinator for OEB (Organisms, Ecosystems and Biodiversity) and is a member of the expert team on River Landscapes for the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Innovation.
Her laboratory work centers around the LOG LIFE experiment, a long-term study examining coarse wood decomposition across multiple tree species, and the Tea Bag Index global soil functioning assessment. These projects involve interdisciplinary teams integrating expertise in microbiology, plant ecology, soil science, and biogeochemistry to address complex questions about ecosystem functioning and resilience under environmental change.
