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ForestGEO welcomes postdoctoral fellow, Daniel Zuleta, to the team

ForestGEO is pleased to welcome Daniel Zuleta as a postdoctoral fellow focusing on tropical tree mortality. This fellowship is a partnership between ForestGEO and Next Generation Ecosystem Experiments – Tropics (NGEE-Tropics) and focuses on reducing uncertainty regarding the causes and impacts of tree mortality in ecosystem modeling. Daniel will use long-term census data from ForestGEO in combination with newer mortality census data to inform his analysis.

Daniel stands within the trunk of dead, hallowed-out tree.
Tropical tree mortality postdoc, Daniel Zuleta, stands in the bole of a dead tree at the Zofin Forest Dynamics
Plot during the 2018 ForestGEO Annual Analytical Workshop. Photo Credit: J. Needham.

Daniel completed his PhD in ecology at the National University of Colombia and began his study of plant mortality by examining epiphyte dynamics in the Andean forests.  Later work took him to the Amacayacu Forest Dynamics Plot in the northwestern Amazon, where he investigated the impact that microhabitat characteristics have on tree species distributions, functioning, and dynamics.  Daniel continued his research in Amacayacu when he collaborated with staff scientist Helene Muller-Landau to examine the impact of a 2010 drought on mortality in the Amazon. Between 2014 and 2018 Daniel oversaw the recensus at Amacayacu, as well as the collection of seed, wood, and leaf functional traits. In 2016 Daniel assumed leadership of the newly established mortality survey at the Amacayacu site. He coordinated the subsequent two years of mortality surveys there, encompassing both administrative and field responsibilities.

Daniel (towards right, with blue backpack) leading the field crew at Amacayacu Photo credit: A.F. Jimenez.

We are glad to have Daniel at the ForestGEO headquarters in DC, and we look forward to his research of tropical tree mortality contributing to stronger predictive-ecosystem models.

For more information about Daniel, check out his staff bio