Thorunn Helgason
Chair in Ecology, Head of School
- School of Biological Sciences
Contact details
- Tel: +44 (0)131-650-5525
- Email: thorunn.helgason@ed.ac.uk
Address
- Street
-
School of Biological Sciences
Peter Wilson Building, Room G.123
The King’s Buildings
Nicholas Kemmer Road - City
- Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH9 3FH
Background
Microbes are key functional groups in ecosystems, acting as a drivers of major transitions in nutrient cycles. My research focuses on variation in biodiversity, distribution and function of key microbial groups in field based systems, especially in soils and in plants. Recent advances in next generation sequencing technologies allow the microbiome of field systems to be studied in detail, and my research has recently involved agricultural systems, tropical forests, and insect microbiomes
A major research area of mine focusses on the Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF). These symbionts are key conduits of mineral nutrients between plants and soils, and variation in AMF communities has the potential to affect large scale ecosystem function. My research focuses on determining what controls AM fungal biodiversity, including host plant effects, water and oxygen availability, and soil environment, and how these factors affect fungal fitness and evolution. We study this using manipulative field experiments, molecular and bioinformatic approaches
Responsibilities & affiliations
Trustee (Elected) British Ecological Society
Open to PhD supervision enquiries?
Yes
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Enhanced plant growth in the presence of earthworms correlates with changes in soil microbiota but not nutrient availability
In:
Geoderma, vol. 433
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2023.116426
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Soil macroaggregation drives sequestration of organic carbon and nitrogen with three-year grass-clover leys in arable rotations
(13 pages)
In:
Science of the Total Environment, vol. 852
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158358
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Microbiome structure and interconnection in soil aggregates across conservation and conventional agricultural practices allow to identify main prokaryotic and fungal taxa related to soil functioning
(19 pages)
In:
Soil Biology and Biochemistry, vol. 175
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2022.108833
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Land-use changes alter the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community composition and assembly in the ancient tea forest reserve
(33 pages)
In:
Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, vol. 339
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2022.108142
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Dissemination of metaldehyde catabolic pathways is driven by mobile genetic elements in Proteobacteria
(15 pages)
In:
Microbial Genomics, vol. 8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.000881
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print)