Professor Yadvinder Malhi

Professor of Ecosystem Science
Tropical forests, biosphere, Earth System science, Anthropocene
As Professor of Ecosystems Science at the School of Geography and the Environment, and Programme Leader of the Ecosystems Group at the Environmental Change Institute, Yadvinder’s research interests focus on understanding the functioning of ecosystems and how it is altered by processes of local and global change. He has a particular interest in tropical forests.
The broad scope of Yadvinder’s research interests is the impact of global change processes such as atmospheric change and direct human modification on the ecology, structure and composition of terrestrial ecosystems, and in particular temperate and tropical forests. This research addresses fundamental questions about ecosystem function, diversity and dynamics, whilst at the same time providing outputs of direct relevance for conservation and adaptation to climate change. His group applies a range of techniques including field physiological studies, intensive and long-term ecological monitoring, quantitative and qualitative social science methodologies, satellite remote-sensing and GIS, ecosystem modelling, and micrometeorological techniques. He coordinates an extensive and expanding research programme in Asia, Africa and particularly across the Amazon and Andes region. He also runs an active research programme at Oxford University’s Wytham Woods research site. He was co-founder of the Amazon Forest Inventory Network (RAINFOR) which has resulted in over 50 publications. In recent years he has developed an international research network (GEM: gem.tropicalforests.ox.ac.uk) collecting data on ecosystem function in a number of research sites across the tropics.
Tropical forests, biosphere, Earth System science, Anthropocene
As Professor of Ecosystems Science at the School of Geography and the Environment, and Programme Leader of the Ecosystems Group at the Environmental Change Institute, Yadvinder’s research interests focus on understanding the functioning of ecosystems and how it is altered by processes of local and global change. He has a particular interest in tropical forests.
The broad scope of Yadvinder’s research interests is the impact of global change processes such as atmospheric change and direct human modification on the ecology, structure and composition of terrestrial ecosystems, and in particular temperate and tropical forests. This research addresses fundamental questions about ecosystem function, diversity and dynamics, whilst at the same time providing outputs of direct relevance for conservation and adaptation to climate change. His group applies a range of techniques including field physiological studies, intensive and long-term ecological monitoring, quantitative and qualitative social science methodologies, satellite remote-sensing and GIS, ecosystem modelling, and micrometeorological techniques. He coordinates an extensive and expanding research programme in Asia, Africa and particularly across the Amazon and Andes region. He also runs an active research programme at Oxford University’s Wytham Woods research site. He was co-founder of the Amazon Forest Inventory Network (RAINFOR) which has resulted in over 50 publications. In recent years he has developed an international research network (GEM: gem.tropicalforests.ox.ac.uk) collecting data on ecosystem function in a number of research sites across the tropics.