Dr Isla Myers-Smith
Chancellor's Fellow
Contact details
- Email: Isla.Myers-Smith@ed.ac.uk
Background
I study the influence of warming climate on tundra vegetation in northern ecosystems. In particular, I investigate the spread of willows and other shrub species into arctic and alpine tundra. Shrubs have the potential to restructure tundra ecosystems by changing ecosystem functions and creating feedbacks to climate warming that could further the increase of shrubs. I collaborate with researchers working at sites around the circumpolar Arctic to synthesize our combined data to better understand vegetation change in tundra ecosystems.
Research activities
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Rapid retreat of permafrost coastline observed with aerial drone photogrammetry
(16 pages)
In:
Cryosphere, vol. 13, no. 5, pp. 1513-1528
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1513-2019
Contribution to journal › Article (Published) -
Local snowmelt and temperature – but not regional sea‐ice – explain variation in spring phenology in coastal Arctic tundra
In:
Global Change Biology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14639
Contribution to journal › Article (Published) -
Species richness change across spatial scales
In:
Oikos
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.05968
Contribution to journal › Article (Published)