World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!

D-Index & Metrics

Ecology and Evolution

D-Index
43
Citations
7351
World Ranking
5309
National Ranking
56

Overview

Kevin P. Kirkman is affiliated with the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Their research primarily covers Environmental Science and Agricultural and Biological Sciences, with a particular focus on several interrelated subfields including Nature and Landscape Conservation, Ecology, Global and Planetary Change, Soil Science, and Plant Science.

The scientist's work spans a variety of topics, notably Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies, Rangeland and Wildlife Management, Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics, Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology, Pasture and Agricultural Systems, Legume Nitrogen Fixing Symbiosis, and Fire effects on ecosystems.

Kevin P. Kirkman has contributed to a number of recent papers published in recognized journals. Examples include:

  • Expert perspectives on global biodiversity loss and its drivers and impacts on people, 2022, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
  • Interactions of nitrogen and phosphorus cycling promote P acquisition and explain synergistic plant-growth responses, 2020, Ecology
  • Microbial carbon use efficiency in grassland soils subjected to nitrogen and phosphorus additions, 2020, Soil Biology and Biochemistry
  • Rapid recovery of ecosystem function following extreme drought in a South African savanna grassland, 2020, Ecology
  • A research agenda for the restoration of tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, 2020, Restoration Ecology

Their frequent collaborators include Eric W. Seabloom, Elizabeth T. Borer, Michelle Tedder, Carly J. Stevens, and Yann Hautier. These coauthors have worked with them on numerous publications, indicating ongoing collaborative networks in their research endeavors.

Kevin P. Kirkman's research has appeared repeatedly in several key publication venues such as African Journal of Range and Forage Science, Ecology, Plants, bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), and Soil Biology and Biochemistry. The African Journal of Range and Forage Science stands out as a frequent venue for their work.

Best Publications

  • Plant diversity predicts beta but not alpha diversity of soil microbes across grasslands worldwide

    Suzanne M. Prober;Jonathan W. Leff;Scott T. Bates;Elizabeth T. Borer

  • Productivity Is a Poor Predictor of Plant Species Richness

    Peter B. Adler;Eric W. Seabloom;Elizabeth T. Borer;Helmut Hillebrand

  • Grassland productivity limited by multiple nutrients

    Philip A. Fay;Suzanne M. Prober;W. Stanley Harpole;Johannes M. H. Knops

  • Addition of multiple limiting resources reduces grassland diversity

    W. Stanley Harpole;W. Stanley Harpole;Lauren L. Sullivan;Eric M. Lind;Jennifer Firn

  • Local loss and spatial homogenization of plant diversity reduce ecosystem multifunctionality

    Yann Hautier;Forest Isbell;Elizabeth T. Borer;Eric W. Seabloom

  • Expert perspectives on global biodiversity loss and its drivers and impacts on people

    Unknown

  • Plant species’ origin predicts dominance and response to nutrient enrichment and herbivores in global grasslands

    Eric W. Seabloom;Elizabeth T. Borer;Yvonne M. Buckley;Elsa E. Cleland

  • Plant species’ origin predicts dominance and response to nutrient enrichment and herbivores in global grasslands

    Eric W. Seabloom;Elizabeth T. Borer;Yvonne M. Buckley;Elsa E. Cleland

  • Plant strategies and trait trade‐offs influence trends in competitive ability along gradients of soil fertility and disturbance

    R.W.S. Fynn;C.D. Morris;K.P. Kirkman

  • Patch density determines movement patterns and foraging efficiency of large herbivores

    H.J. de Knegt;G.M. Hengeveld;F. van Langevelde;W.F. de Boer

  • Soil net nitrogen mineralisation across global grasslands

    A.C. Risch;S. Zimmermann;R. Ochoa-Hueso;M. Schütz

  • Interactions of nitrogen and phosphorus cycling promote P acquisition and explain synergistic plant-growth responses

    Per Marten Schleuss;Meike Widdig;Anna Heintz-Buschart;Kevin Kirkman

  • Stoichiometric controls of soil carbon and nitrogen cycling after long-term nitrogen and phosphorus addition in a mesic grassland in South Africa

    Per-Marten Schleuss;Meike Widdig;Anna Heintz-Buschart;Alexander Guhr

  • Abundance of introduced species at home predicts abundance away in herbaceous communities

    Jennifer Firn;Joslin L. Moore;Andrew S. MacDougall;Elizabeth T. Borer

  • Predicting invasion in grassland ecosystems: Is exotic dominance the real embarrassment of richness?

    Eric W. Seabloom;Elizabeth T. Borer;Yvonne M. Buckley;Elsa E. Cleland

  • Microbial carbon use efficiency in grassland soils subjected to nitrogen and phosphorus additions

    Meike Widdig;Per M. Schleuss;Lori A. Biederman;Elizabeth T. Borer

  • Nitrogen and Phosphorus Additions Alter the Abundance of Phosphorus-Solubilizing Bacteria and Phosphatase Activity in Grassland Soils

    Meike Widdig;Per M. Schleuss;Alfons R. Weig;Alexander Guhr

  • Convergence and contingency in production-precipitation relationships in North American and South African C4 grasslands.

    Alan K. Knapp;Catherine E. Burns;Richard W. S. Fynn;Kevin P. Kirkman

  • Seasonality of hydraulic redistribution by trees to grasses and changes in their water-source use that change tree–grass interactions

    K.V.R. Priyadarshini;H.H.T. Prins;S. de Bie;I.M.A. Heitkonig

  • Plant community response to loss of large herbivores differs between North American and South African savanna grasslands.

    Sally E. Koerner;Deron E. Burkepile;Richard W. S. Fynn;Catherine E. Burns

  • Which grazing management practices are most appropriate for maintaining biodiversity in South African grassland

    T G O'Connor;P Kuyler;K P Kirkman;B Corcoran

  • Rapid recovery of ecosystem function following extreme drought in a South African savanna grassland

    Kevin R. Wilcox;Sally E. Koerner;David L. Hoover;Andrea K. Borkenhagen

  • Response to Comments on “Productivity Is a Poor Predictor of Plant Species Richness”

    James B. Grace;Peter B. Adler;Eric W. Seabloom;Elizabeth T. Borer

  • A test of two mechanisms proposed to optimize grassland aboveground primary productivity in response to grazing

    A. K. Knapp;D. L. Hoover;J. M. Blair;G. Buis

Frequent Co-Authors

Nicole Hagenah
Nicole Hagenah University of Pretoria
Elizabeth T. Borer
Elizabeth T. Borer University of Minnesota
Eric W. Seabloom
Eric W. Seabloom University of Minnesota
Melinda D. Smith
Melinda D. Smith Colorado State University
Scott L. Collins
Scott L. Collins University of New Mexico
W. Stanley Harpole
W. Stanley Harpole Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research
Jennifer Firn
Jennifer Firn Queensland University of Technology
Johannes M. H. Knops
Johannes M. H. Knops Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
Carly J. Stevens
Carly J. Stevens Lancaster University
Andrew S. MacDougall
Andrew S. MacDougall University of Guelph

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