I hold seminars for the biogeography module of the biogeosciences bachelor program and for the landscape ecology master program, where I supervise individual student projects.

I have also been teaching about soil and land use for the Natural resources and sustainable development course (sustainable development program).

I'm also involved as a teacher in the Tellus I (Physical Geography) and Tellus II (soil module) courses.

My research investigates the biotic and abiotic processes that regulate carbon storage and drought response in grasslands. One of the objectives of the experiment has been to test whether carbon amendments can be used to increase resilience to drought in swedish semi-natural grasslands. 
My main focus is soil ecology, ie. roots (biomass and ecological traits) and soil microbial communities. This has meant a lot of digging, root cleaning, and DNA metabarcoding to study fungal and bacterial communities. 

My hope is to be able to shed some light on belowground biodiversity and on the role of roots and soil-dwelling organisms in ecosystem functioning, while at the same time investigating the feasability of compost amendments to increase soil carbon storage.

A selection from Stockholm University publication database

• Spring and autumn phenology in an understory herb are uncorrelated and driven by different factors

  2022. Elsa Fogelström (et al.). American Journal of Botany 109 (2), 226-236

  Article

  Premise: Climate warming has altered the start and end of growing seasons in temperate regions. Ultimately, these changes occur at the individual level, but little is known about how previous seasonal life-history events, temperature, and plant-resource state simultaneously influence the spring and autumn phenology of plant individuals.

  Methods: We studied the relationships between the timing of leaf-out and shoot senescence over 3 years in a natural population of the long-lived understory herb Lathyrus vernus and investigated the effects of spring temperature, plant size, reproductive status, and grazing on spring and autumn phenology.

  Results: The timing of leaf-out and senescence were consistent within individuals among years. Leaf-out and senescence were not correlated with each other within years. Larger plants leafed out and senesced later, and size had no effect on growing season length. Reproductive plants leafed out earlier and had longer growing seasons than nonreproductive plants. Grazing had no detectable effects on phenology. Colder spring temperatures delayed senescence in two of three study years.

  Conclusions: The timing of seasonal events, such as leaf-out and senescence in plants can be expressed largely independently within and among seasons and are influenced by different factors. Growing season start and length can often be dependent on plant condition and reproductive status. Knowledge about the drivers of growing season length of individuals is essential to more accurately predict species and community responses to environmental variation.

  Read more about Spring and autumn phenology in an understory herb are uncorrelated and driven by different factors

• Floral resources in Swedish grasslands remain relatively stable under an experimental drought and are enhanced by soil amendments if regularly mown

  2023. Nina Roth (et al.). Ecological Solutions and Evidence 4 (2)

  Article

  1. One of the main reasons why insect pollinators are declining is a lack of floral resources. In agricultural landscapes, remaining seminatural grasslands play a key role for providing such resources. However, droughts pose an increasing threat to the abundance and continuity of flowers. Soil amendments are a novel management tool for Swedish grasslands aiming to increase carbon sequestration and soil water holding capacity. In this study, we examined how drought is affecting floral resources (i.e. floral units, nectar quantity and nectar continuity) in grasslands with different mowing regimes, and if soil amendments could mitigate potential negative drought effects.
  2. In summer 2019, we set up an experiment combining rain-out shelters (‘drought’), soil amendments (‘compost’) and different mowing regimes (‘mown’ vs. ‘abandoned’) in four extensively managed Swedish grasslands (48 plots, size 2 m²). Between May and August 2021, we counted the floral units nine times in each plot. We derived values for the nectar sugar production per floral unit from an existing database.
  3. We observed a decrease in floral units under drought in the mown, but not in the abandoned plots. Nectar quantity and continuity over the season were not significantly affected by drought across both mowing regimes—in the abandoned plots the nectar provision even extended slightly in duration (towards late summer). The compost treatment had positive effects on the floral units, nectar quantity and continuity (extending it towards early summer) in the mown, but not in the abandoned plots. The plant species in our study reacted differently to the treatments. Most of the nectar was provided by only few species (mainly Lathyrus pratensis, Vicia cracca and Anthriscus sylvestris).
  4. The results are species specific, thus other plant communities might respond differently. However, our experiment shows that nectar provision (based on database values) in grasslands with a native plant community and natural soil conditions remains relatively stable under drought. We also found that soil amendments increase floral resources in managed grasslands.

  Read more about Floral resources in Swedish grasslands remain relatively stable under an experimental drought and are enhanced by soil amendments if regularly mown

• Climate-dependent responses of root and shoot biomass to drought duration and intensity in grasslands–a meta-analysis

  2023. Daniela Guasconi, Stefano Manzoni, Gustaf Hugelius. Science of the Total Environment 903

  Article

  Understanding the effects of altered precipitation regimes on root biomass in grasslands is crucial for predicting grassland responses to climate change. Nonetheless, studies investigating the effects of drought on belowground vegetation have produced mixed results. In particular, root biomass under reduced precipitation may increase, decrease or show a delayed response compared to shoot biomass, highlighting a knowledge gap in the relationship between belowground net primary production and drought. To address this gap, we conducted a meta-analysis of nearly 100 field observations of grassland root and shoot biomass changes under experimental rainfall reduction to disentangle the main drivers behind grassland responses to drought. Using a response-ratio approach we tested the hypothesis that water scarcity would induce a decrease in total biomass, but an increase in belowground biomass allocation with increased drought length and intensity, and that climate (as defined by the aridity index of the study location) would be an additional predictor. As expected, meteorological drought decreased root and shoot biomass, but aboveground and belowground biomass exhibited contrasting responses to drought duration and intensity, and their interaction with climate. In particular, drought duration had negative effects on root biomass only in wet climates while more intense drought had negative effects on root biomass only in dry climates. Shoot biomass responded negatively to drought duration regardless of climate. These results show that long-term climate is an important modulator of belowground vegetation responses to drought, which might be a consequence of different drought tolerance and adaptation strategies. This variability in vegetation responses to drought suggests that physiological plasticity and community composition shifts may mediate how climate affects carbon allocation in grasslands, and thus ultimately carbon storage in soil.

  Read more about Climate-dependent responses of root and shoot biomass to drought duration and intensity in grasslands–a meta-analysis

Show all publications by Daniela Guasconi at Stockholm University