Research
My former research was part of the project IMPAC “Novel genotypes for mixed cropping allow for IMProved sustainable land use ACross arable land, grassland and woodland”.
Biodiversity holds the potential for increasing biomass and productivity in cropland, artificial grassland and forest. Diverse communities use a broader range of belowground and aboveground resources, such as nutrients, soil moisture and light. By using plant functional traits, we intend to reveal the role of belowground and aboveground drivers for productivity at different diversity levels. Trait analysis comprises belowground traits such as vertical root distribution, specific root biomass, and root morphology, and aboveground traits such as growth, height, traits representing leaf economics and reproduction. Field sites will be established in monocultures and mixed cultures (2 and 3 species) of sown grassland and forest. Controlled and fertilized treatments will be established on each field site. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy will be used to identify species specific root biomass and vertical root distribution in mixed cultures.

Projects
2018 - 2020: IMPAC³ “Novel genotypes for mixed cropping allow for IMProved sustainable land use ACross arable land, grassland and woodland”.
Link to website: https://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/528191.html
2014 - 2017: The Phosphorus nutrition of Palestine oak, (Quercus calliprinos) under drought and N deposition. Postdoctoral Studies at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Studies, Sde Boqer, Israel.
2006 - 2013: Land use, plant functional traits and carbon sequestration in the Judean Foothills. Doctoral Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, Rehovot, Israel.

Research interest
global change, biodiversity, land use, productivity, drought, nitrogen, phosphorus, N and P uptake, N and P use efficiency, functional traits, leaf economic spectrum, root economic spectrum, litter decomposition, carbon sequestration.

Publications
Dirks I, Dumbur R, Lienin P, Kleyer M, Grünzweig JM (2017). Size and Reproductive Traits Rather than Leaf Economic Traits Explain Plant-Community Composition in Species-Rich Annual Vegetation along a Gradient of Land Use Intensity. Frontiers in Plant Science.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2017.00891.

Dirks I, Raviv B, Shelef O, Hill A, Eppel A, Aidoo MK, Hoefgen B, Rapaport T, Gil H, Geta E, Kochavi A, Cohen I, Rachmilevitch S (2016): Green roofs: what can we learn from desert plants? Israel Journal of Ecology & Evolution. Vol. 62, Issue 1-2: Integrating Ecology into Green Roof Research, 58-67. https://doi.org/10.1080/15659801.2016.1140619

Dirks I (2011): Land use, plant functional traits and carbon sequestration in the Judean Foothills. PhD Thesis, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 137 pages.

Dirks I, Navon Y, Kanas D, Dumbur R, Grünzweig JM (2010): Atmospheric water vapor as driver of litter decomposition in Mediterranean shrubland and grassland during rainless seasons. Global Change Biology, Vol. 16, Issue 10, 2799-2812. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02172.x


Additional information
Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Inga_Dirks2