Dr. Simon Scheiter

E2.1: VEGETATION DYNAMICS AND ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES

My primary areas of interest are climate-vegetation interactions in terrestrial ecosystems, grass-tree interactions in savannas as well as mathematical ecology and dynamical systems. I am using different modelling approaches to simulate ecosystem dynamics, particularly process-based, dynamic vegetation models.

CV

Publications

Higgins, S.I. & Scheiter, S. (2012) Atmospheric CO2 forces abrupt vegetation shifts locally, but not globally. NATURE, doi:10.1038/nature11238

Scheiter, S.; Higgins, S.I.; Osborne, C.P., Bradshaw, C.; Lunt, D.; Ripley, B.S.; Taylor, L.L.; Beerling, D.J. (2012) Fire and fire-adapted vegetation promote C4 expansion in the late Miocene. NEW PHYTOLOGIST, doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2012.04202.x

Scheiter, S.; Higgins, S.I. (2012) How many elephants can you fit into a conservation area. CONSERVATION LETTERS, 5, 176-185.

Higgins, S.I., Scheiter, S. & Sankaran, M. (2010). The stability of African savannas: Insights from the indirect estimation of the parameters of a dynamic model. ECOLOGY, 91, 1682-1692.

Scheiter, S. & Higgins, S.I. (2009). Impacts of climate change on the vegetation of Africa: an adaptive dynamic vegetation modelling approach (aDGVM). GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, 15, 2224-2246.

Börner, J.; Higgins, S.I.; Kantelhardt, J. & Scheiter, S. (2007). Rainfall or price variability: what determines rangeland management decisions? A simulation-optimization approach to South African savannas. AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, 37, 189–200.

Scheiter, S. & Higgins, S.I. (2007). Partitioning of root and shoot competition and the stability of savannas. AMERICAN NATURALIST, 170, 587-601.

Higgins, S.I.; Bond, W.J.; February, E.C.; Bronn, A.; Euston-Brown, D.I.W.; Enslin, B.; Govender, N.; Rademan, L.; O'Regan, S.; Potgieter, A.L.F.; Scheiter, S.; Sowry, R.; Trollope, L. & Trollope, W.S.W. (2007). Effects of four decades of fire manipulation on woody vegetation structure in savanna. ECOLOGY, 88, 1119-1125.

Higgins, S.I.; Kantelhardt, J.; Scheiter, S. & Boerner, J. (2007). Sustainable management of extensively managed savanna rangelands. ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS, 62, 102-114. 

Contact:
Phone: 069 798 40167
E-Mail