BAKKER Mark

My research activities focus on the bioavailability of nutrients in mineral or organic form and the uptake of these nutrients by trees or understorey plant species. I do this essentially at the forest stand level, either using mono-specific or mixed forests, at times in comparison with other environments (grasslands) and or by evaluating the use of fertilizers, irrigation or lime amendments to these environments. My approaches include the study of stocks and fluxes of nutrients in soils, the root systems of trees and plants, their symbiotic partners as well as the role of microbes in the nutrient cycling in these soils.