Leland K Werden
NSF Postdoctoral Fellow
Lyon Arboretum
University of Hawai’i
Interests
Restoration ecology | Ecophysiology | Tropical and temperate forests | Ecosystem Ecology | Biogeochemistry | Ex situ conservation | UAS technology
Forests have been extensively degraded worldwide and intergovernmental initiatives have set ambitious targets to reforest millions of hectares over the next decade. To ensure these efforts succeed further effort must be made to integrate ecological theory with restoration practice. I focus on bridging this gap by using restoration experiments to advance ecological theory and improve restoration outcomes.
To develop climate-resilient conservation and sustainable management tools, my work integrates plant functional ecology, ecophysiology, and biogeochemistry with large field experiments and statistical modeling. I conduct my research in direct collaboration with restoration practitioners. This has led to the development of restoration best practices and helped to integrate ecological theory into restoration practice.
See more on my CV or Google scholar profile. Click here for an video of me discussing my work on ThinkTech Hawaii.
Research Areas
Developing tools to restore tropical dry forests
Costa Rica
In collaboration with Estación Experimental Forestal Horizontes, I have developed projects using native trees to restore degraded tropical dry forests. Results thus far have enabled us to determine which tree species are suitable for restoration plantings on degraded Vertisol soils, and that ecophysiological functional traits are the best predictors of seedling performance. With these results in hand we used a functional trait-driven approach to design species mixes for 6-hectares of restoration planting which we are using to test successional and restoration theory. Haga clic aquí para una descripción en español.
Determining the impacts of abiotic conditions on restoration outcomes
Costa Rica and Hawai’i
I am currently undertaking projects focused on uncovering how abiotic conditions at reintroduction and restoration sites contribute to outcomes of Costa Rican restorations and endangered Hawaiian plant reintroductions. The goal of these projects is not only to improve restoration practice, but also to further the understanding of how environmental filtering impacts plant establishment and persistence in degraded environments.
Using UAVs for ecosystem and wildlife monitoring
Costa Rica and Minnesota
As part of an interdisciplinary team I have helped to develop best-practice guidelines for observing wildlife with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Additionally, I am currently using UAVs to collect aerial imagery of secondary forests in Costa Rica to track forest regeneration and dynamics.
Recent Publications
For a complete list of my publications see my Google scholar profile or CV.
Leland K. Werden, Erick Calderón‐Morales, Pedro Alvarado J., Milena Gutiérrez L., Derek A. Nedveck, Jennifer S. Powers. 2020. Ecological Applications. In press.
Leland K. Werden, Nellie C. Sugii, Lauren Weisenberger, Matthew J. Keir, Gregory Koob, Rakan A. Zahawi. 2020. Current Biology 243.
Leland K. Werden, Justin M. Becknell, Jennifer S. Powers. 2018. Functional Ecology 32 (12): 2766-2776.
Leland K. Werden, Pedro Alvarado J., Sebastian Zarges, Erick Calderón M., Erik M. Schilling, Milena Gutiérrez L., Jennifer S. Powers. 2018. Journal of Applied Ecology 55 (2): 1019-1028.
Leland K. Werden, Bonnie G. Waring, Christina M. Smith-Martin, C.M., Jennifer S. Powers. 2018. Tree Physiology 38 (4): 517-530.
Timothy L. H. Treuer, Jonathan J. Choi, Daniel H. Janzen, Winnie Hallwachs, Daniel Peréz-Aviles, Andrew P. Dobson, Jennifer S. Powers, Laura C. Shanks, Leland K. Werden, David S. Wilcove. 2018. Restoration Ecology 26 (2): 275-283.
Mark A. Ditmer, John B. Vincent, Leland K. Werden, Jessie C. Tanner, Timothy G. Laske, Paul A. Iaizzo, David L. Garshelis, John R. Fieberg. 2015. Current Biology 25: 1-6.
Media Coverage
Mentorship and Collaboration ..........
I am excited to connect with students interested in tropical restoration! Feel free to send me an e-mail if you are looking for projects to work on, or if you have any questions about what it is like to do restoration research.
I also collaborate with restoration practitioners with the goal of integrating ecological theory into applied restoration practice. Please contact me if you are looking for collaborators on forest restoration projects.
Outreach
I develop and implement outreach activities that engage with a wide range of audiences. In collaboration with Estación Experimental Forestal Horizontes I lead interactive field trips to restoration sites in English and Spanish for university faculty, college and high school students, and restoration and forestry professionals.
To share my passion for forest restoration and ecophysiology with the general public, I co-designed and co-led sessions for Market Science, a volunteer organization that creates and teaches hands-on science curricula in Minnesota with the goal of making science exciting and accessible.
I have also edited the blog for the NSF-funded PARTNERS (People and Reforestation in the Tropics, a Network for Education, Research, and Synthesis) Research Coordination Network. Check it out!
Copyright 2019