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Ecology and Evolution

D-Index
93
Citations
40104
World Ranking
387
National Ranking
14

Overview

Rien Aerts is affiliated with the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands and is an active researcher in environmental sciences and earth and planetary sciences. Their work primarily spans several subfields including ecology, atmospheric science, soil science, global and planetary change, and ecology, evolution, behavior, and systematics.

Their research covers a variety of topics, with a particular focus on polar research and ecology, climate change and permafrost, cryospheric studies and observations, soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics, geology and paleoclimatology research, peatlands and wetlands ecology, as well as ecology and vegetation dynamics studies.

Rien Aerts maintains frequent collaborations with several co-authors, including:

  • Stef Bokhorst
  • Richard S. P. van Logtestijn
  • Peter Convey
  • James T. Weedon
  • Juha M. Alatalo

Aerts has published multiple articles in a range of scientific journals. Some of the most common venues for their work are:

  • Global Change Biology
  • Journal of Ecology
  • Nature Communications
  • Nature
  • Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Among their recent papers are:

  • "Global maps of soil temperature," 2021, Global Change Biology
  • "Winters are changing: snow effects on Arctic and alpine tundra ecosystems," 2022, Arctic Science
  • "East Siberian Arctic inland waters emit mostly contemporary carbon," 2020, Nature Communications
  • "Decomposition of leaf litter mixtures across biomes: The role of litter identity, diversity and soil fauna," 2020, Journal of Ecology
  • "Environmental drivers of increased ecosystem respiration in a warming tundra," 2024, Nature

Their body of work typically addresses complex ecological and environmental processes in high-latitude and tundra ecosystems, including soil temperature dynamics and carbon emissions. This reflects interdisciplinary approaches bridging soil science, ecology, and atmospheric interactions under changing climate conditions.

Best Publications

  • The Mineral Nutrition of Wild Plants Revisited: A Re-evaluation of Processes and Patterns

    R. Aerts;F.S. Chapin

  • Plant species traits are the predominant control on litter decomposition rates within biomes worldwide

    William K. Cornwell;Johannes H. C. Cornelissen;Kathryn Amatangelo;Ellen Dorrepaal

  • Climate, leaf litter chemistry and leaf litter decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems : a triangular relationship

    Rien Aerts

  • Nutrient resorption from senescing leaves of perennials: are there general patterns?

    Rien Aerts

  • A global study of relationships between leaf traits, climate and soil measures of nutrient fertility

    Jenny C. Ordoñez;Peter M. Van Bodegom;Jan Philip M. Witte;Ian J. Wright

  • Consequences of biodiversity loss for litter decomposition across biomes

    I. Tanya Handa;Rien Aerts;Frank Berendse;Matty P. Berg

  • Carbon respiration from subsurface peat accelerated by climate warming in the subarctic

    Ellen Dorrepaal;Sylvia Toet;Sylvia Toet;Richard S. P. van Logtestijn;Elferra Swart

  • The advantages of being evergreen

    Rien Aerts

  • Evidence of the ‘plant economics spectrum’ in a subarctic flora

    Grégoire T. Freschet;Johannes H. C. Cornelissen;Richard S. P. Van Logtestijn;Rien Aerts

  • Interspecific competition in natural plant communities: mechanisms, trade-offs and plant-soil feedbacks

    Rien Aerts

  • The freezer defrosting: global warming and litter decomposition rates in cold biomes

    R. Aerts

  • Growth-limiting nutrients in Sphagnum-dominated bogs subject to low and high atmospheric nitrogen supply.

    Rien Aerts;Bo Wallen;Nils Malmer

  • Methane Feedbacks to the Global Climate System in a Warmer World

    Joshua F. Dean;Jack J. Middelburg;Thomas Röckmann;Rien Aerts

  • Global change and arctic ecosystems: is lichen decline a function of increases in vascular plant biomass?

    J. H.C. Cornelissen;J. H.C. Cornelissen;T. V. Callaghan;J. M. Alatalo;A. Michelsen

  • Nitrogen-use efficiency : a biologically meaningful definition?

    F. Berendse;R. Aerts

  • Highly consistent effects of plant litter identity and functional traits on decomposition across a latitudinal gradient

    Marika Makkonen;Matty P. Berg;I. Tanya Handa;I. Tanya Handa;Stephan Hättenschwiler

  • Global negative vegetation feedback to climate warming responses of leaf litter decomposition rates in cold biomes

    Johannes H. C. Cornelissen;Peter M. van Bodegom;Rien Aerts;Terry V. Callaghan

  • Ecosystem feedbacks and cascade processes: understanding their role in the responses of Arctic and alpine ecosystems to environmental change

    Philip A. Wookey;Rien Aerts;Richard D. Bardgett;Florence Baptist

  • The Effect of Increased Nutrient Availability on Vegetation Dynamics in Wet Heathlands

    Rien Aerts;Frank Berendse

  • A plant economics spectrum of litter decomposability

    Grégoire T. Freschet;Rien Aerts;Johannes H. C. Cornelissen

  • The relation between above- and belowground biomass allocation patterns and competitive ability.

    R. Aerts;R. G. A. Boot;P. J. M. van der Aart

Frequent Co-Authors

Johannes H. C. Cornelissen
Johannes H. C. Cornelissen Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Peter M. van Bodegom
Peter M. van Bodegom Leiden University
Richard S. P. van Logtestijn
Richard S. P. van Logtestijn Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Terry V. Callaghan
Terry V. Callaghan University of Sheffield
Ellen Dorrepaal
Ellen Dorrepaal Umeå University
P.M. van Bodegom
P.M. van Bodegom Leiden University
Matty P. Berg
Matty P. Berg Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Jelte Rozema
Jelte Rozema Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Stef Bokhorst
Stef Bokhorst Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
William K. Cornwell
William K. Cornwell University of New South Wales

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