Neha is a postdoctoral researcher based at Utrecht University. She is primarily a community and ecosystem ecologist with a background global change biology and plant-herbivore interactions in grasslands and savannas. As a part of the RESILIENCE team, she is excited to lead and contribute to data-based projects exploring the causes of spatial patterning in savannas and their consequences for biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and resilience.

Research Project: Examining spatial patterns and associated diversity in African savannas

Neha is currently leading an analysis to examine the role of spatial patterning in trees of tree species diversity in savannas across a rainfall gradient. To do this, she is collaborating with the SEOSAW network and will leverage the available data to study trends across sub-Saharan Africa. Initial results from the analysis indicates that spatial clustering of trees has contrasting impacts for diversity along a rainfall gradient. These results have prompted her to develop a new framework for thinking about patterned landscapes based on principles of metacommunity ecology. She hopes to scale up this analysis by combining SEOSAW datasets and remote sensing products to better understand the types of vegetation patterning in sub-Saharan Africa and their potential consequences for ecosystem stability and resilience.