Biography
Richard is a plant ecologist interested in how plants and ecosystems work, above and below-ground and when they are living and when they are dead. He likes both getting his hands dirty in real physical experiments and real ecosystems, and employing cutting edge tools such as robotics and neural network analyses so he doesn't have to do this ¬all¬ the time.
He completed his PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 2015 and between 2015 and 2022 worked at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena, Germany. He was involved in a large ecosystem experiment investigating the effects of nitrogen deposition induced nutrient imbalance on ecosystem function in a semi-arid Spanish 'dehesa' ecosystem. He also held a Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellowship, building instruments to automatically measure root phenology.
Publications and Further Research Outputs
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Gomarasca Ulisse, Migliavacca Mirco, Kattge Jens, Nelson Jacob A., Niinemets à lo, Wirth Christian, Cescatti Alessandro, Bahn Michael, Nair Richard, Acosta Alicia, Leaf-level coordination principles propagate to the ecosystem scale , Nature Communications, 14, 2023
Richard Nair, Rooting Vegetation Models in Realism, Global Change Biology, (29), 2023, p2868 - 2870
Caldararu, S. and Rolo, V. and Stocker, B. D. and Gimeno, T. E. and Nair, R., Ideas and perspectives: Beyond model evaluation -- combining experiments and models to advance terrestrial ecosystem science, Biogeosciences Discussions, 2023, 2023, p1--22
Caldararu Silvia, Thum Tea, Yu Lin, Kern Melanie, Nair Richard, Zaehle Sönke, Long-term ecosystem nitrogen limitation from foliar D15N data and a land surface model , Global Change Biology , 28 , (2 ), 2022, p493 - 508
Nair Richard, Strube Martin, Hertel Martin, Kolle Olaf, Rolo Victor, Migliavacca Mirco, High frequency root dynamics: sampling and interpretation using replicated robotic minirhizotrons , Journal of Experimental Botany , 2022, perac427 -
Luo Yunpeng, Pacheco-Labrador Javier, Richardson Andrew D., Seyednasrollah Bijan, Perez-Priego Oscar, Gonzalez-Cascon Rosario, MartÃn M. Pilar, Moreno Gerardo, Nair Richard, Wutzler Thomas, Bucher Solveig Franziska, Carrara Arnaud, Cremonese Edoardo, El-Madany Tarek S., Filippa Gianluca, Galvagno Marta, Hammer Tiana, Ma Xuanlong, Martini David, Zhang Qian, Reichstein Markus, Menzel Annette, Römermann Christine, Migliavacca Mirco, Evergreen broadleaf greenness and its relationship with leaf flushing, aging, and water fluxes , Agricultural and Forest Meteorology , 323 , 2022, p109060 -
Ferraretto Daniele, Nair Richard, Shah Nadeem W., Reay Dave, Mencuccini Maurizio, Spencer Michael, Heal Kate V., Forest canopy nitrogen uptake can supply entire foliar demand , Functional Ecology , 36 , (4 ), 2022, p933 - 949
Besnard Simon, Santoro Maurizio, Cartus Oliver, Fan Naixin, Linscheid Nora, Nair Richard, Weber Ulrich, Koirala Sujan, Carvalhais Nuno, Global sensitivities of forest carbon changes to environmental conditions , Global Change Biology , 2021, pgcb.15877 -
Durso Andrew M, Morris Kendalynn A, Nair Richard K F, Direct observation of subterranean refugium use by Epidalea calamita (Natterjack Toad) in a dehesa ecosystem in Extremadura, Spain , Herpetology Notes , 14 , 2021, p1203 - 1205
Nair Richard K. F., Morris Kendalynn A., Migliavacca Mirco, Moreno Gerado, Schrumpf Marion, Plant-available N:P alters root litter N recycling in a Mediterranean treeâ"grass ecosystem , Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science , 18 , (3 ), 2020, p517 - 529
Luo Yunpeng, El-Madany Tarek, Ma Xuanlong, Nair Richard, Jung Martin, Weber Ulrich, Filippa Gianluca, Bucher Solveig F., Moreno Gerardo, Cremonese Edoardo, Carrara Arnaud, Gonzalez-Cascon Rosario, Escudero Yonatan Cáceres, Galvagno Marta, Pacheco-Labrador Javier, MartÃn M. Pilar, Perez-Priego Oscar, Reichstein Markus, Richardson Andrew D., Menzel Annette, Römermann Christine, Migliavacca Mirco, Nutrients and water availability constrain the seasonality of vegetation activity in a Mediterranean ecosystem , Global Change Biology , 26 , (8 ), 2020, p4379 - 4400
Nair Richard K. F., Morris Kendalynn A., Hertel Martin, Luo Yunpeng, Moreno Gerardo, Reichstein Markus, Schrumpf Marion, Migliavacca Mirco, N:P stoichiometry and habitat effects on Mediterranean savanna seasonal root dynamics , Biogeosciences , 16 , (9 ), 2019, p1883 - 1901
Morris Kendalynn A., Nair Richard K. F., Moreno Gerardo, Schrumpf Marion, Migliavacca Mirco, Fate of N additions in a multiple resource-limited Mediterranean oak savanna , Ecosphere , 10 , (11 ), 2019, pe02921 -
Nair Richard K. F., Perks Michael P., Mencuccini Maurizio, Decomposition nitrogen is better retained than simulated deposition from mineral amendments in a temperate forest , Global Change Biology , 23 , (4 ), 2017, p1711 - 1724
Nair Richard K. F., Perks Micheal P., Weatherall Andrew, Baggs Elizabeth M., Mencuccini Maurizio, Does canopy nitrogen uptake enhance carbon sequestration by trees? , Global Change Biology , 22 , (2 ), 2016, p875 - 888
Nair Richard, Weatherall Andrew, Perks Mike, Mencuccini Maurizio, NÀsholm Torgny, Stem injection of 15Nâ"NH4NO3 into mature Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) , Tree Physiology , 34 , (10 ), 2014, p1130 - 1140