Dr. Arildo Dias

I am a guest researcher at the Biogeography and Biodiversity lab of the Department of Physical Geography at the Goethe-University Frankfurt. I am interested in understanding how mechanisms driving ecological processes in local scales (communities) give rise to patterns at larger scales (ecosystem), and how links between these scales shape plant diversity. I am using as a framework a trait-based approach, combining data (collected from field and database) with statistical and mechanistic models. I am particularly interested in the Amazon rainforest, as they represent the most species-rich biome in the world, play a vital role in stabilizing the global climate and are essential for the indigenous and native communities who depended on its natural resources for their survival. 

Currently, I am working with Prof. Dr. Severin Irl developing a research proposal that combines hydrological models of water movement through forests with the increasing available data from global monitoring of tree growth and mortality. We intend to use a mechanistic model to estimate the relative water uptake of plants and relate these data with demographic data (growth and mortality rates) from a Central Amazonian forest to understand how drought is experienced by different tree species.


Publications

Kattge, J,  Bönisch, G,  Díaz, S, Dias, A S, … and Wirth, C. 2020. TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access. Global Change Biology, 26: 119– 188. (https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14904)

Dias A.S., Oliveira R.S., Martins F.R., Bongers F., Anten N., Sterck F. 2019. How do trees and lianas adjust their vascular strategy in a seasonal versus rain forest? Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, 40, p124465 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2019.125465).

Dias A.S., Santos K., Santos F.M., Martins F.R. 2017. How liana loads alter tree allometry in tropical forests. Plant Ecology 218(2): 119–125.

Ferreira Junior W. G., Silva A. F., Schaefer C. E. G. R., Meira–Neto J. A. A., Dias A. S., Ignacio M., Medeiros M. C. M. P. 2007. Influence of soils and topographic gradients on tree species distribution in a Brazilian Atlantic Tropical Semideciduous Forest. Edinburgh Journal of Botany 64(2):1–22.

 

Book Chapters

Dias, A. S.; Sfair, J. C. Associação entre árvores e lianas. In: Berta Lúcia Pereira Villagra; Maria Margarida da Rocha Fiuza de Melo; Sergio Romaniuc Neto; Luiz Mauro Barbosa. (Org.). Diversidade e conservação de trepadeiras: contribuição para a restauração de ecossistemas brasileiros. 1ed. São Paulo, SP: Imprensa Oficial do Estado de São Paulo, 2014, v.1, p. 163–176. ISBN: 978–85–7523–047–3

Rezende, A. A.; Dias, A. S.; van Melis, J.; Santos, K. Métodos de amostragem e estudo de caso de lianas: em busca de uma padronização. In: Pedro Vasconcellos Eisenlohr; João Augusto Alves Meira Neto. (Org.). Fitossociologia no Brasil: Métodos e Estudos de Casos, Volume 2 (Editora UFV). ISBN: 978–85–7269–530–5.

Here the link to my Google Scholar profile!