BSc, MSc, PhD
Director, Environmental Futures Centre
Professor of Plant and Soil Systems, School of Biomolecular and Physical Sciences
Contact Details for Professor Zhihong Xu
Research Interests
- Global climate change and forest management
- Biogeochemical cycles of carbon and nutrients
- Soil and environmental chemistry
- Tree nutrition and forest ecophysiology
- Wood quality and chemistry
- Forest soils and ecosystem management
- Stable isotope and nuclear magnetic resonance techniques
Currently Teaching
- Biogeochemical cycles of carbon and nutrients in terrestrial ecosystems
- Tree nutrition and forest ecophysiology
- Soil chemistry
Research Expertise
- Biogeochemical processes of carbon (C) and nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems in the context of improving ecosystem productivity and sustainability as well as global climate change (GCC) adaptation and mitigation
- Development and application of innovative stable isotope, biomolecular and physiological technologies for assessing both genetic and environmental controls of plant water and nutrient use efficiency
- Soil fertility and plant nutrition
- Development and application of advanced stable isotope, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and biomolecular technologies for studying important biogeochemical processes of C and nutrient cycling underpinning the ecosystem productivity, biodiversity and functions
- Innovative tree ring technologies with integrated approaches for unraveling long-term impacts of GCC and historical episodes on biogeochemical cycles, ecosystem productivity and biodiversity.
Professor Xu has published more than 200 refereed journal and conference papers (145 journal papers) and 2 books, with 94 refereed papers (including 75 journal papers) published in the last five years. Professor Xu has secured more than $18M of external funding support, with most coming from national competitive grants. Professor Xu is currently involved in editorial positions for the Journal of Soils and Sediments (2010 Impact Factor: 2.574 and rank 3 of 32 journals in Soil Science) (Editor-in-Chief: Soils), Environmental Science & Pollution Research (2010 Impact Factor: 2.870) (Editor) and Plant and Soil (2010 Impact Factor: 2.773); and regularly reviews manuscripts for 48 refereed internationals in the areas on environmental science, forestry and soil science. Professor Xu has secured numerous national competitive grants and frequently serves on the assessment board for national grant applications and university and research institute promotions.
Current Projects
- Synthetic natural gas and biochar from biomass for energy services in remote communities and soil carbon sequestration
- Wyaralong Dam Carbon Offset and Greenhouse Gas Investigation Program
- Environmental fingerprints of biogeochemical cycles embeded in tree rings: Linking global climate change to local long-term forest productivity
- Ecosystem Restoration of Bauxite- Processing Residue Disposal Areas in Western Australia: Important Biogeochemical Processes and Effective Fertilisation Strategies
- Improving silvicultural and
economic outcomes for community timber plantations in the Solomon Islands by interplanting
with Flueggea flexuosa and other Pacific agroforestry species
Research Team
Research Fellows and Staff
- A/Prof Chengrong Chen, ARC Future Fellow and Associate Professor
- Dr Tim Blumfield, Senior Research Fellow
- Dr Frederique Reverchon, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
- Ms Marijke Heenan, Research Assistant
- Mr Geoffrey Lambert, Research Assistan
- Prof. Gary Bacon, Adjunct Professor
- Prof. Russell Haines, Adjunct Professor
PhD Candidates
- Kadum Abdullah (Principal)
- Simon Eldridge (Principal)
- Johnvie Goloran (Principal)
- Shahla Hosseini-Bai (Principal)
- Paula Ibell (Principal)
- Putranto Nugroho (Principal)
- Yichao Rui (Principal)
- Vaeno Vigulu (Associate)
Memberships
- Australian Research Council College of Experts (2008-2010)
- Chair for the Forest Soils Working Group of International Union of Soil Science
Significant Publications
- Bastias BA, Xu ZH and Cairney JWG 2006 Influence of long-term repeated prescribed burning on mycelial communities of ectomycorrhizal fungi determined by DGGE profiling of DNA from hyphal ingrowth bags. New Phytol. 172, 149-158.
- Burton J, Chen CR, Xu ZH and Ghadiri H 2007 Gross nitrogen transformations in adjacent native and plantation forests of subtropical Australia. Soil Biol. Biochem. 39, 426-433.
- Chen CR, Xu ZH and Mathers NJ 2004 Soil carbon pools in adjacent natural and plantation forests of subtropical Australia. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 68, 282-291.
- He JZ, Xu ZH and Hughes J 2005 Soil fungal communities in adjacent natural forest and hoop pine plantation ecosystems as revealed by molecular approaches based on 18S rRNA genes. FEMS Microbiology Letters 247, 91-100.
- He JZ, Xu ZH and Hughes J 2006 Molecular bacterial diversity of a forest soil under residue management regimes in subtropical Australia. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 55, 38-47.
- Huang
ZQ, Xu ZH, Blumfield TJ and Bubb KA
2008 Foliar
- Huang ZQ, Xu ZH, Blumfield TJ and Bubb KA 2008 Variations in relative stomatal and biochemical limitations to photosynthesis in a young blackbutt (Eucalypt pilularis) plantation subjected to different levels of weed control. Tree Physiol. 28, 997-1005.
- Prasolova NV, Xu ZH, Farquhar GD, Saffigna PG and Dieters MJ 2000 Variation in canopy d13C of 8-year-old hoop pine families (Araucaria cunninghamii) in relation to canopy nitrogen concentration and tree growth in subtropical Australia. Tree Physiol. 20, 1049-1055.
- Xu ZH, Saffigna PG, Farquhar GD, Simpson JA, Haines RJ, Walker S, Osborne DO and Guinto D 2000 Carbon isotope discrimination and oxygen isotope composition in clones of the F1 hybrid between slash pine (Pinus elliottii) and Caribbean pine (P. caribaea) in relation to tree growth, water-use efficiency and foliar nutrient concentration in subtropical Australia. Tree Physiol. 20, 1049-1055.
- Xu ZH, Ward S, Chen CR, Blumfield T, Prasolova NV and Liu JX 2008 Soil carbon and nutrient pools, microbial properties and gross nitrogen transformations in adjacent natural forest and hoop pine plantations of subtropical Australia. J. Soils Sediments 8, 99-105.
View all publications by Professor Zhihong Xu