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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Bioaugmentation of pilot-scale slow sand filters can achieve compliant levels for the micropollutant metaldehyde in a real water matrix
(12 pages)
In:
Water Research, vol. 211
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2022.118071
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Long‐term fertilization and tillage regimes have limited effects on structuring bacterial and denitrifier communities in a sandy loam UK soil
(11 pages)
In:
Environmental Microbiology, vol. 24, pp. 298-308
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.15873
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Changes in sediment characteristics in the first year of a realigned saltmarsh
In:
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2021.107684
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Eukaryotes in soil aggregates across conservation managements: Major roles of protists, fungi and taxa linkages in soil structuring and C stock
In:
Soil Biology and Biochemistry, vol. 163
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108463
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Arable fields as potential reservoirs of biodiversity: Earthworm populations increase in new leys
In:
Science of the Total Environment
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147880
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)