Staff Profile:Dr Martin Lukac

Name:

Dr Martin Lukac

Job Title:

Associate Professor

Responsibilities:

• Teaching Countryside and The Environment, Forestry and Woodlands, Environmental Management, Carbon Management
• Module convenor for Teaching Countryside and The Environment, Forestry and Woodlands
• PhD student supervision and undergraduate tutor

Areas of Interest:

My research focuses on effects of changing environment on plants and soils. I am interested in studying the responses of managed and natural ecosystems to stress factors. Specifically, I am looking at ecosystem carbon cycle, ecosystem functioning and stability with the broad aim of climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Diversity and climate change

Greater diversity is likely to contribute to greater resilience of ecosystems to climate change, this is valid both for agricultural and for natural ecosystems. Existing long range forecasts highlight the need for increasing system diversity in order to secure food and ecosystem service supply in an increasingly unpredictable climate. Future climate change is likely to induce changes in temperature regimes, atmospheric humidity, water availability, light levels (e.g. changes in cloud cover) and increases carbon dioxide concentration. We are studying the effects of environmental stressors and their interaction with diversity in order to predict ecosystem response and stability when faced with changing environmental conditions.

Forest ecology

I work on determining above- and belowground productivity in forest ecosystems and their optimisation for preserving forest cover and forest carbon stocks. We are developing allometric relations for the estimation of above- and belowground biomass of common European tree species. Such equations and biomass expansion factors can also be used to adjust forest management strategies to maintain forest cover in areas severely affected by climatic change or to maximise carbon stocks held in tree biomass and forest soils. This work directly contributes to the IPCC conversion factors database.

Agroforestry

This is a traditional land management system which combines agriculture with permanent tree cover to provide multiple ecosystem services. Due to its inherent combination of species and product diversity, we are starting to consider agroforestry as one of the answers to climatic change. By growing several crops in the same space, this system might offer higher resource utilisation capacity, complementarity of resource use, as well as greater overall stability of crop yields and soil biodiversity conservation. We are studying the trade-off between increased system stability, ecosystem service delivery on the one hand, and the increase in management complexity and lower main crop productivity on the other hand.

Research groups / Centres:

Biodiversity, Crops and Agro-ecosystems Research Division

Soil Research Centre

Walker Institute

Publications:

Y

Jump to: 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008

Number of items: 38.

2016

• Simansky, V. , Horak, J., Igaz, D., Jonczak, J., Markiewicz, M., Felber, R., Rizhiya, E. Y. and Lukac, M. (2016) How dose of biochar and biochar with nitrogen can improve the parameters of soil organic matter and soil structure? Biologia, 71 (9). ISSN 0006-3088 doi: 10.1515/biolog-2016-0122
• Lukac, M., (2016) Tree and stand growth & productivity. LWEC Technical Paper. Technical Report. NERC pp28.
• Jones, H. E., Lukac, M., Brak, B., Martinez Eixarch, M., Alhomedhi, A., Gooding, M. J., Wingen, L. U. and Griffiths, S. (2016) Photoperiod sensitivity affects flowering duration in wheat. Journal of Agricultural Science. ISSN 0021-8596 doi: 10.1017/S0021859616000125
• Bishop, J., Jones, H. E., Lukac, M. and Potts, S. G. (2016) Insect pollination reduces yield loss following heat stress in faba bean (Vicia faba L.). Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 220. pp. 89-96. ISSN 0167-8809 doi: 10.1016/j.agee.2015.12.007
• Konopka, B., Pajtik, J., Marusak, R., Bosela, M. and Lukac, M. (2016) Specific leaf area and leaf area index in developing stands of Fagus sylvatica L. and Picea abies Karst. Forest Ecology and Management, 364. pp. 52-59. ISSN 0378-1127 doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2015.12.005

2015

• Hlásny, T., Barka, I., Sitková, Z., Konôpka, M., Bucha, T. and Lukáč, M. (2015) MODIS-based vegetation index has sufficient sensitivity to indicate stand-level intra-seasonal climatic stress in oak and beech forests. Annals of Forest Science, 72 (1). pp. 109-125. ISSN 1286-4560 doi: 10.1007/s13595-014-0404-2

2014

• Godbold, D. L., Tullus, A., Kupper, P., Sober, J., Ostonen, I., Smith, A., Godbold, J. A. and Lukac, M. (2014) Elevated atmospheric CO2 and humidity delay leaf fall in Betula pendula, but not in Alnus glutinosa or Populus tremula × tremuloides. Annals of Forest Science, 71 (8). pp. 831-842. ISSN 1286-4560 doi: 10.1007/s13595-014-0382-4
• Alghabari, F., Lukac, M., Jones, H. E. and Gooding, M. J. (2014) Effect of Rht alleles on the tolerance of wheat grain set to high temperature and drought stress during booting and anthesis. Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science, 200 (1). pp. 36-45. ISSN 1439-037X doi: 10.1111/jac.12038

2013

• Steinmeyer, F. T., Lukac, M., Reynolds, M. P. and Jones, H. E. (2013) Quantifying the relationship between temperature regulation in the ear and floret development stage in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under heat and drought stress. Functional Plant Biology, 40 (7). pp. 700-707. ISSN 1445-4408 doi: 10.1071/FP12362
• Smith, A. R., Lukac, M., Hood, R., Healey, J. R., Miglietta, F. and Godbold, D. L. (2013) Elevated CO2 enrichment induces a differential biomass response in a mixed species temperate forest plantation. New Phytologist, 198 (1). pp. 156-168. ISSN 1469-8137 doi: 10.1111/nph.12136
• Konôpka, B. and Lukac, M. (2013) Moderate drought alters biomass and depth distribution of fine roots in Norway spruce. Forest Pathology, 43 (2). pp. 115-123. ISSN 1437-4781 doi: 10.1111/efp.12005
• Lagomarsino, A., Lukac, M., Godbold, D. L. , Marinari, S. and De Angelis, P. (2013) Drivers of increased soil respiration in a poplar coppice exposed to elevated CO2. Plant and Soil, 362 (1-2). pp. 93-106. ISSN 0032-079X doi: 10.1007/s11104-012-1261-0
• Jones, H., Alhomedhi, A., Bishop, J., Brak, B., Brown, R., Lukac, M., Roberts, R., Varah, A. and Potts, S. (2013) Diversity for resilience : multi-scale application of agro-ecology. Aspects of Applied Biology, 121. pp. 17-24. ISSN 0265-1491
• Konopka, B., Pajtik, J., Noguchi, K. and Lukac, M. (2013) Replacing Norway spruce with European beech: a comparison of biomass and Net Primary Production patterns in young stands. Forest Ecology and Management, 302. pp. 185-192. ISSN 0378-1127 doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2013.03.026

2012

• Milcu, A., Lukac, M. and Ineson, P. (2012) The role of closed ecological systems in carbon cycle modelling. Climatic Change, 112 (3-4). pp. 709-716. ISSN 1573-1480 doi: 10.1007/s10584-011-0234-2
• Milcu, A., Lukac, M., Subke, J., Manning, P., Heinemeyer, A., Wildman, D., Anderson, R. and Ineson, P. (2012) Biotic carbon feedbacks in a materially-closed soil-vegetation-atmosphere system. Nature Climate Change (2). pp. 281-284. ISSN 1758-678X doi: 10.1038/nclimate1448
• Lukac, M., Gooding, M., Griffiths, S. and Jones, H. (2012) Asynchronous flowering and within-plant flowering diversity in wheat and the implications for crop resilience to heat. Annals of Botany, 109 (4). pp. 843-850. ISSN 1095-8290 doi: 10.1093/aob/mcr308
• Brunner, I., Bakker, M.R., Bjork, R.G., Hirano, Y., Lukac, M., Aranda, X., Borja, I., Eldhuset, T.D., Helmisaari, H.S., Jourdan, C., Konopka, B., Miguel Perez, C., Persson, H. and Ostonen, I. (2012) Fine-root turnover rates of European forests revisited: an analysis of data from sequential coring and ingrowth cores. Plant and Soil, 362 (1-2). pp. 357-372. ISSN 0032-079X doi: 10.1007/s11104-012-1313-5
• Smith, A. R., Lukac, M., Bambrick, M., Miglietta, F. and Godbold, D. L. (2012) Tree species diversity interacts with elevated CO2 to induce a greater root system response. Global Change Biology, 19 (1). pp. 217-228. ISSN 1365-2486 doi: 10.1111/gcb.12039

2011

• Milcu, A., Paul, S. and Lukac, M. (2011) Belowground interactive effects of elevated CO2, plant diversity and earthworms in grassland microcosms. Basic and Applied Ecology, 12 (7). pp. 600-608. ISSN 1439-1791 doi: 10.1016/j.baae.2011.08.004
• Lukac, M. and Godbold, D. L. (2011) Soil ecology in northern forests: a belowground view of a changing world. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp268. ISBN 9780521886796
• Pajtik, J., Konopka, B. and Lukac, M. (2011) Individual biomass factors for beech, oak and pine in Slovakia: a comparative study in young naturally regenerated stands. Trees: Structure and Function, 25 (2). pp. 277-288. ISSN 1432-2285 doi: 10.1007/s00468-010-0504-z
• Konopka, B., Pajtik, J., Seben, V. and Lukac, M. (2011) Belowground biomass functions and expansion factors in high elevation Norway spruce. Forestry, 84 (1). pp. 41-48. ISSN 0015-752X doi: 10.1093/forestry/cpq042
• Lukac, M., Milcu, A., Wildman, D., Anderson, R., Sloan, T. and Ineson, P. (2011) Non-intrusive monitoring of atmospheric CO2 in analogue models of terrestrial carbon cycle. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 2 (1). pp. 103-109. ISSN 2041-210X doi: 10.1111/j.2041-210X.2010.00058.x
• Lukac, M. (2011) Fine root turnover. In: Mancuso, S. (ed.) Measuring Roots: An Updated Approach. Springer, Heidelberg, Dordrecht, London, New York, pp. 363-374. ISBN 9783642220661
• Hoosbeek, M. R., Lukac, M., Velhorst, E. J., Smith, A. R. and Godbold, D. L. (2011) Free atmospheric CO2 enrichment increased above ground biomass but did not affect symbiotic N2-fixation and soil carbon dynamics in a mixed deciduous stand in Wales. Biogeosciences, 8 (2). pp. 353-364. ISSN 1726-4170 doi: 10.5194/bg-8-353-2011
• Lukac, M., Pensa, M. and Schiller, G. (2011) Tree species’ tolerance to water stress, salinity and fire. In: Bredemeier, M., Cohen, S., Godbold, D. L., Lode, E., Pichler, V. and Schleppi, P. (eds.) Forest Management and the Water Cycle: An Ecosystem-Based Approach. Eclological Studies (212). Springer, pp. 247-262. ISBN 9789048198337

2010

• Lukac, M., Calfapietra, C., Lagomarsino, A. and Loreto, F. (2010) Global climate change and tree nutrition: effects of elevated CO2 and temperature. Tree Physiology, 30 (9). pp. 1209-1220. ISSN 0829-318X doi: 10.1093/treephys/tpq040
• Liberloo, M., Luyssaert, S., Bellassen, V., Njakou Djomo, S., Lukac, M., Calfapietra, C., Janssens, I., Hoosbeek, M., Viovy, N., Churkina, G., Scarascia-Mugnozza, G. and Ceulemans, R. (2010) Bio-energy retains its mitigation potential under elevated CO2. PLoS ONE, 5 (7). e11648. ISSN 1932-6203 doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0011648
• Konopka, B., Moravcik, M., Pajtok, J. and Lukac, M. (2010) Effect of soil waterlogging on below-ground biomass allometric relations in Norway spruce. Plant Biosystems, 144 (2). pp. 448-457. ISSN 1126-3504 doi: 10.1080/11263501003726391
• Konopka, B., Pajtik, J., Moravcik, M. and Lukac, M. (2010) Biomass partitioning and growth efficiency in four naturally regenerated forest tree species. Basic and Applied Ecology, 11 (3). pp. 234-243. ISSN 1439-1791 doi: 10.1016/j.baae.2010.02.004
• Konopka, B. and Lukac, M. (2010) Fine root condition relates to visible crown damage in Norway spruce on acidified soils. Forest Pathology, 40 (1). pp. 47-57. ISSN 1437-4781 doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0329.2009.00606.x
• Lukac, M. and Godbold, D. L. (2010) Fine root biomass and turnover in southern taiga estimated by root inclusion nets. Plant and Soil, 331 (1-2). pp. 505-513. ISSN 0032-079X doi: 10.1007/s11104-009-0271-z
• Calfapietra, C., Ainsworth, E. A., Beier, C., De Angelis, P., Ellsworth, D. F., Godbold, D. L., Hendrey, G. R., Hickler, T., Hoosbeek, M. R., Karnosky, D. F., King, J., Körner, C., Leakey, A.D.B., Lewin, K. F., Liberloo, M., Long, S. P., Lukac, M., Matyssek, R., Miglietta, F., Nagy, J., Norby, R.J., Oren, R., Percy, K.E., Rogers, A., Scarascia Mugnozza, G., Stitt, M., Taylor, G. and Ceulemans, R. (2010) Challenges in elevated CO2 experiments on forests. Trends in Plant Science, 15 (1). pp. 5-10. ISSN 1360-1385 doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2009.11.001

2009

• Liberloo, M., Lukac, M., Calfapietra, C., Hoosbeek, M. R., Gielen, B., Miglietta, F., Scarascia-Mugnozza, G. E. and Ceulemans, R. (2009) Coppicing shifts CO2 stimulation of poplar productivity to above-ground pools: a synthesis of leaf to stand level results from the POP/EUROFACE experiment. New Phytologist, 182 (2). pp. 331-346. ISSN 0028-646X doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2008.02754.x
• Lukac, M., Lagomarsino, A., Moscatelli, M. C., DeAngelis, P., Cotrufo, M. F. and Godbold, D. L. (2009) Forest soil carbon cycle under elevated CO2 – a case of increased throughput? Forestry, 82 (1). pp. 75-86. ISSN 1464-3626 doi: 10.1093/forestry/cpn041

2008

• Pajtik, J., Konopka, B. and Lukac, M. (2008) Biomass functions and expansion factors in young Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst) trees. Forest Ecology and Management, 256 (5). pp. 1096-1103. ISSN 0378-1127 doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2008.06.013
• Khan, F. N., Lukac, M., Turner, G. and Godbold, D. L. (2008) Elevated atmospheric CO2 changes phosphorus fractions in soils under a short rotation poplar plantation (EuroFACE). Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 40 (7). pp. 1716-1723. ISSN 0038-0717 doi: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2008.02.008

This list was generated on Wed Sep 28 08:37:44 2016 BST.

Qualifications:

BSc; PhD