Dr Adam Vanbergen

Invertebrate Ecologist

Current work

I manage an interdisciplinary CEH project examining the relationship between land-use extensification, above- and below-ground biodiversity, and linked ecosystem processes. We are quantifying across habitats those biodiversity processes that provide ecosystem services to inform on how to ameliorate the effects of intensive land management (CEH Biodiversity Programme Objectives BD-3.1 and BD-3.2).

PhD students

Sarah McCormack (co-supervisors: Prof Richard Bardgett, Lancaster University; Prof David Hopkins, SCRI; Dr Nick Ostle, CEH). Title: Biochar and bio-trophic carbon storage in temperate soils, NERC CASE PhD 2010-2013 (CEH Biodiversity Programme Objective BD3.2)

Scott McKenzie (co-supervisors: Dr Hefin Jones, Cardiff University; Dr Scott Johnson, SCRI; Prof Rosie Hails, CEH). Title: Effects of elevated CO2 on plant mediated interactions between aboveground and belowground herbivores, NERC Allocation PhD 2010-2013 (CEH Biodiversity Programme Objective BD2.1)

Will Hentley (co-supervisors: Dr Hefin Jones, Cardiff University; Dr Scott Johnson, SCRI; Prof Rosie Hails, CEH). Title: Trophic cascades in a changing climate - effects of elevated CO2 on breakdown of plant defences, NERC CASE PhD 2010-2013 (CEH Biodiversity Programme Objective BD2.4)

Lynne Robinson (co-supervisors Sue Hartley and Liz Hill, University of Sussex). Title: Plant-mediated impacts of soil food webs on foliar feeding insects and their parasitoids (CEH Biodiversity Programme Objective BD-2.1).  

Cathy Fiedler (co-supervisors Dan Chapman, Stephen Cavers CEH; Jacobus Biesmeijer, University of Leeds). Title: Pollinator-mediated interactions between native plants and the invasive Himalayan balsam (CEH Biodiversity Programme Objective BD-2.2).

Research interests

My research interests focus on trophic interactions, community structure, and the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem processes. I investigate the role of human activities in shaping diversity and performance at higher trophic levels directly (herbivores, pollinators) and indirectly (predators, parasites) connected to plants. I am interested in how anthropogenic disturbance at scales from habitats to landscapes impacts on invertebrate communities above and in the soil, and the consequences of biodiversity change for ecosystem function.

Brief CV

A fuller CV is available here.

Selected Publications

See also the NERC Open Research Archive.

Woodcock, B.A., Redhead, J., Vanbergen, A.J., Hulmes, L., Hulmes, S., Peyton, J., Nowakowski, M., Pywell, R.F., & Heard, M.S. (2010) Impact of habitat type and landscape structure on biomass, species richness and functional diversity of ground beetles. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 139, 181-186.

Adam J. Vanbergen Ben A. Woodcock, Matti Koivula., Jari Niemelä, D. Johan Kotze, Tom Bolger, Valerie Golden, Florence Dubs, Guillaume Boulanger, Jose Serrano, José Luís Lencina, Artur Serrano, Carlos Aguiar, Anne-Catherine Grandchamp, Silvia Stofer, Győző Szél, Eva Ivits, Petra Adler, Jochum Markus, and Allan D. Watt (2010) Trophic level modulates carabid beetle responses to habitat and landscape structure: a pan-European analysis Ecological Entomology 35 226-235

Marie Vandewalle, Francesco de Bello, Matty P. Berg, Thomas Bolger, Sylvain Dolédec, Florence Dubs, Christian K. Feld, Richard Harrington, Paula Harrison, Sandra Lavorel, Pedro Martins da Silva, Marco Moretti, Jari Niemelä, Paulo Santos, Thomas Sattler, J. Paulo Sousa, Martin T. Sykes, Adam J. Vanbergen, Ben A. Woodcock (2010) Functional traits as indicators of biodiversity response to land use changes across ecosystems and organisms. Biodiversity and Conservation 19:  2921-2947

Brook, A.J., Woodcock, B.A., Sinka, M., & Vanbergen, A.J. (2008) Experimental verification of suction sampler capture efficiency in grasslands of differing vegetation height and structure. Journal of Applied Ecology, 45, 1357-1363.

Vanbergen, A.J., Watt, A.D., Mitchell, R.J., Truscott, A.M., Palmer, S.C.F., Ivits, E., Eggleton, P., Jones, T.H., & Sousa, J.P. (2007) Scale-specific correlations between habitat heterogeneity and soil fauna diversity along a landscape structure gradient. Oecologia, 153, 713-725.

Mitchell, R.J., Campbell, C.D., Chapman, S.J., Osler, G.H.R., Vanbergen, A.J., Ross, L.C., Cameron, C.M., & Cole, L. (2007) The cascading effects of birch on heather moorland: a test for the top-down control of an ecosystem engineer. Journal of Ecology, 95, 540-554.

Vanbergen, A.J., Hails, R.S., Watt, A.D., & Jones, T.H. (2006) Consequences for host-parasitoid interactions of grazing-dependent habitat heterogeneity. Journal of Animal Ecology, 75, 789-801.

Sousa, J.P., Bolger, T., da Gama, M.M., Lukkari, T., Ponge, J.F., Simon, C., Traser, G., Vanbergen, A.J., Brennan, A., Dubs, F., Ivitis, E., Keating, A., Stofer, S., & Watt, A.D. (2006) Changes in Collembola richness and diversity along a gradient of land-use intensity: A pan-European study. Pedobiologia, 50, 147-156.

Vanbergen, A.J., Woodcock, B.A., Watt, A.D., & Niemela, J. (2005) Effect of land-use heterogeneity on carabid communities at the landscape scale. Ecography, 28, 3-16.

Eggleton, P., Vanbergen, A.J., Jones, D.T., Lambert, M.C., Rockett, C., Hammond, P.M., Beccaloni, J., Marriott, D., Ross, E., & Giusti, A. (2005) Assemblages of soil macrofauna across a Scottish land-use intensification gradient: influences of habitat quality, heterogeneity and area. Journal of Applied Ecology, 42, 1153-1164.

Vanbergen, A.J., Raymond, B., Pearce, I.S.K., Watt, A.D., Hails, R.S., & Hartley, S.E. (2003) Host shifting by Operophtera brumata into novel environments leads to population differentiation in life-history traits. Ecological Entomology, 28, 604-612.

Raymond, B., Vanbergen, A., Watt, A., Hartley, S.E., Cory, J.S., & Hails, R.S. (2002) Escape from pupal predation as a potential cause of outbreaks of the winter moth, Operophtera brumata. Oikos, 98, 219-228.

Hodgson, D.J., Vanbergen, A.J., Hartley, S.E., Hails, R.S., & Cory, J.S. (2002) Differential selection of baculovirus genotypes mediated by different species of host food plant. Ecology Letters, 5, 512-518

A fuller list of publications is available here.