The Maasheggen area is a unique cultivated landscape in the Netherlands (near Boxmeer, province Noord-Brabant) and has been designated as a UNESCO biosphere reserve (https://www.maasheggenunesco.com/en/). Its mosaic of hedgerows, small arable fields and meadows make this a very interesting area to study the effects of land use and landscape elements on functional biodiversity and ecosystem services.

SPI-Birds Network and Database (www.spibirds.org) is a centralized and community-driven initiative that connects researchers working on wild bird populations in which individuals are uniquely marked and recognized. SPI-Birds makes research groups and their datasets visible, provides systematic data archiving, ensures data quality and integrity, and facilitates data sharing and comparative, cross-dataset analyses. For this purpose, we have developed a data standard and series of data quality checks agreed upon by the community, which adhere to the FAIR principles.

Understanding carbon cycling in soils is of vital importance, because it determines soil-climate feedbacks via balance of carbon between the soil and the atmosphere, as well as soil health. Soil communities play a key role in driving soil carbon cycling. Soil organisms degrade organic matter, which drives emissions to the atmosphere. At the same time they use carbon for their own growth and thereby determine the amount of carbon retained in soils and microbial biomass. Higher trophic levels of soil organisms may modify the activity and performance of soil microorganisms by feeding on them, as well as by changing abiotic conditions in the soil. As a result, they can strongly impact the role of microorganisms in driving carbon cycling and storage. How soil communities and trophic interactions between soil organisms drive carbon losses and gains in soils is still poorly understood. Therefore in my group, we focus on how soil communities drive soil carbon cycling. We pay specific attention to relationships between litter and decomposer communities in driving soil carbon cycling and to the role of higher trophic levels in modifying rates of carbon cycling. This is work is carried out in close collaboration with the Lejoly group.

Temperate food forests have gained attention over the last decade because of their potential to contribute to restoration of biodiversity and carbon storage. So far scientific research has been limited to case studies and identifying socio-economic values. In this project, we aim to understand how food forestry affects belowground biodiversity and functioning (including carbon storage) compared to other types of land use (e.g., arable farming, grassland). We collect field observations and use controlled experiments. This project is part of a larger TKI program, where also aboveground biodiversity and earning models of food forests are investigated. For information see: https://www.wur.nl/nl/Onderzoek-Resultaten/Onderzoeksinstituten/Environmental-Research/Projecten/Wetenschappelijke-bodemvorming-onder-de-voedselbosbouw-1.htm