Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment

• Selected Publications
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Dr Remko Duursma's research focuses on modelling vegetation function, including photosynthesis, growth, water use and radiation absorption of trees and forests. Dr Duursma joined UWS in 2008 after a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Helsinki, Finland. He received his PhD in Natural Resources in 2004 at the University of Idaho, USA, and an MSc in Forestry from Wageningen University, the Netherlands, in 1999.

At the Institute, his research is currently on the development of models to predict the effects of elevated CO₂ and changes in precipitation on water use and carbon uptake by Australian forests as part of the Hawkesbury Forest Experiment.

Areas of Research / Teaching Expertise

Plant Ecophysiology; Forest Hydrology; Forest Growth and Production Models; Process-Based Models of Vegetation Function; Mathematical Modelling; Quantitative Methods; Computational Methods and Data Analysis

Selected Publications

Book Chapters

Duursma RA, Kolari P, Perämäki M, Hari P, (2008) Maximum transpiration rate and water tension during drought in Hari P and Kulmala L (Eds.) Boreal Forest and Climate Change. Springer. Dordrecht, Netherlands, pp: 382–387

Journal Articles

Duursma RA, Medlyn BE, (2013) 'MAESPA: A model to study interactions between water limitation, environmental drivers and vegetation function at tree and stand levels, with an example application to [CO2] × drought interactions', Geoscientific Model Development, vol.5, no.4, pp 919-940

Duursma RA, Payton P, Bange MP, Broughton KJ, Smith RA, Medlyn BE, Tissue DT, (2013) 'Near-optimal response of instantaneous transpiration efficiency to vapour pressure deficit, temperature and [CO2] in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)', Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, vol.168, pp 168-176

Sterck FJ, Duursma RA, Pearcy RW, Valladares F, Cieslak M, Weemstra M, (2013) 'Plasticity influencing the light compensation point offsets the specialization for light niches across shrub species in a tropical forest understorey', Journal of Ecology, vol.101, no.4, pp 971-980

Barton CVM, Duursma RA, Medlyn BE, Ellsworth DS, Eamus D, Tissue DT, Adams MA, Conroy J, Crous KY, Liberloo M, Löw M, Linder S, McMurtrie RE, (2012) 'Effects of elevated atmospheric [CO₂] on instantaneous transpiration efficiency at leaf and canopy scales in Eucalyptus saligna', Global Change Biology, vol.18, no.2, pp 585-295

Crous KY, Zaragoza-Castells J, Ellsworth DS, Duursma RA, Löw M, Tissue DT, Atkin OK, (2012) 'Light inhibition of leaf respiration in field-grown Eucalyptus saligna in whole-tree chambers under elevated atmospheric CO₂ and summer drought', Plant, Cell and Environment, vol.35, no.5,pp 966-981

Duursma RA, Falster DS, Valladares F, Sterck FJ, Pearcy RW, Lusk CH, Sendall KM, Nordenstahl M, Houter NC, Atwell BJ, Kelly N, Kelly JWG, Liberloo M, Tissue DT, Medlyn BE, Ellsworth DS, (2012) 'Light interception efficiency explained by two simple variables: A test using a diversity of small- to medium-sized woody plants', New Phytologist, vol.193, no.2, pp 397-408

Duursma RA, Medlyn BE, (2012) 'MAESPA: a model to study interactions between water limitation, environmental drivers and vegetation function at tree and stand levels, with an example application to [CO₂] x drought interactions', Geoscientific Model Development, vol.5, no.4, pp 919-940  

Medlyn BE, Duursma RA, Eamus D, Ellsworth DS, Colin Prentice I, Barton CVM, Crous KY, de Angelis P, Freeman M, Wingate L, (2012) 'Corrigendum: Reconciling the optimal and empirical approaches to modelling stomatal conductance', Global Change Biology, vol.18, no.11, p 3476

Peltoniemi MS, Duursma RA, Medlyn BE, (2012) 'Co-optimal distribution of leaf nitrogen and hydraulic conductance in plant canopies', Tree Physiology, vol.32, no.5, pp 510-519

Peltoniemi M, Pulkkinen M, Kolari P, Duursma RA, Montagnani L, Wharton S, Lagergren F, Takagi K, Verbeeck H, Christensen T, Vesala T, Falk M, Loustau D, Makela A, (2012) 'Does canopy mean nitrogen concentration explain variation in canopy light use efficiency across 14 contrasting forest sites?',Tree Physiology, vol.32, no.2, pp 200-218

Warton DI, Duursma RA, Falster DS, Taskinen S, (2012) 'smatr 3-an R package for estimation and inference about allometric lines', Methods in Ecology and Evolution, vol.3, no.2, pp 257-259 

Duursma RA, Barton CVM, Eamus D, Medlyn BE, Ellsworth DS, Forster MA, Tissue DT, Linder S, McMurtrie RE, (2011) 'Rooting depth explains [CO₂] x drought interaction in Eucalyptus saligna', Tree Physiology, vol.31, no.9, pp 922-931

Medlyn BE, Duursma RA, Eamus D, Ellsworth DS, Prentice IC, Barton CVM, Crous KY, De Angelis P, Freeman M, Wingate L, (2011) ‘Reconciling the optimal and empirical approaches to modelling stomatal conductance’, Global Change Biology, vol.17, no.6, pp 2134-2144

Medlyn BE, Duursma RA, Zeppel MJB, (2011) 'Forest productivity under climate change: A checklist for evaluating model studies', WIREs Climate Change, vol.2, no.3, pp 332-355  

Zeppel MJB, Lewis JD, Medlyn B, Barton CVM, Duursma RA, Eamus D, Adams MA, Phillips N, Ellsworth DS, Forster MA, Tissue DT, (2011) 'Interactive effects of elevated CO₂ and drought on nocturnal water fluxes in Eucalyptus saligna', Tree Physiology, vol.31, no.9, pp 932-944

Barton CVM, Ellsworth DS, Medlyn BE, Duursma RA, Tissue DT, Adams MA, Eamus D, Conroy JP, McMurtrie RE, Parsby J, Linder S, (2010) ‘Whole-tree chambers for elevated atmospheric CO₂ experimentation and tree scale flux measurements in south-eastern Australia: The Hawkesbury Forest Experiment’, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, vol.150, no.7-8, pp 941-951

Duursma RA, Mäkelä A, Reid DEB, Jokela EJ, Porté AJ, Roberts SD, (2010) ‘Self-shading affects allometric scaling in trees’ Functional Ecology, vol.24, no.4. pp 723-730

Härkönen S, Pulkkinen M, Duursma RA, Mäkelä A, (2010) ’Estimating annual GPP, NPP and stem growth in Finland using summary models’, Forest Ecology and Management, vol.259, pp 524-533

Ilvesniemi H, Pumpanen J, Duursma R, Hari P, Keronen P, Kolari P, Kulmala M, Mammarella I, Nikinmaa E, Rannie U, Pohja T, Siivola E, Vesala T, (2010) ‘Water balance of a boreal Scots pine forest’, Boreal Environment Research, vol.15, no.4, pp 375-396

Duursma RA, Kolari P, Perämäki M, Pulkkinen M, Mäkelä A, Nikinmaa E, Hari P, Aurela M, Berbigier P, Bernhofer Ch, Grünwald T, Loustau D, Mölder M, Verbeeck H,Vesala T, (2009) ‘Contributions of climate, canopy structure, and leaf physiology to the variation in GPP of coniferous forests across Europe: a model-based analysis’, Tree Physiology, vol.29, pp 621-639

Duursma RA, Kolari P, Perämäki M, Nikinmaa E, Hari P, Delzon S, Loustau D, Ilvesniemi H, Pumpanen J, Mäkelä A, (2008) ’Predicting the decline in daily maximum transpiration rate of two pine stands during drought based on constant minimum leaf water potential and plant hydraulic conductance’, Tree Physiology, vol.28, pp 265-276

Duursma RA, Mäkelä A, (2007) ‘Summary models for light interception and light-use efficiency for non-homogenous canopies’, Tree Physiology, vol.27, pp 859-870

Duursma RA, Marshall JD, Robinson AP, Pangle RE, (2007) ‘Description and test of a simple process-based model of forest growth for mixed-species stands’, Ecological Modelling, vol.203, pp 297-311

Duursma RA, Marshall JD, (2006) ‘Vertical canopy gradients in δ¹³C correspond with leaf nitrogen content in a mixed-species conifer forest’,  Trees: Structure and Function, vol.20, pp 496-506

Duursma RA, Marshall JD, Nippert JB, Chambers CC, Robinson AP, (2005) ‘Estimating leaf-level parameters for ecosystem process models: a study in mixed conifer canopies on complex terrain’, Tree Physiology, vol.25, pp 1347-1359

Robinson AP, Duursma RA, Marshall JD, (2005) ‘A quantitative tool for model validation: shifting the burden of proof’, Tree Physiology, vol.25, pp 903-913

Harlow BA, Duursma RA, Marshall JD, (2005) ‘Leaf longevity of western redcedar (Thuja plicata J. Donn ex D. Don) increases with depth in the canopy’, Tree Physiology, vol.25, pp 635-640

Nippert JB, Duursma RA, Marshall JD, (2004) ‘Seasonal variation in photosynthetic capacity of montane conifers’, Functional Ecology, vol.18, pp 876-886