RENSKE JONGEN

In January 2018, Renske graduated as a biologist at Utrecht University, The Netherlands. During her master studies she focussed on climate change issues and species interactions in both terrestrial and marine ecosystems.

After her graduation, she joined the department of Terrestrial Ecology at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), working as a field and laboratory assistant within the VICI project of Martijn Bezemer. Here, she studied how plants influence the soil biota in the rhizosphere, how these so-called soil legacy effects influence 1) the growth and chemical composition of other plants that later grow in that soil and 2) the above-ground insects that in turn depend on these plants. 

Later, she worked as a general research assistant with the department of Terrestrial Ecology, where she was involved in setting up and performing field- and greenhouse experiments, molecular analyses and the supervision of students.

Currently, she is a PhD student at The University of Sydney and The University of New South Wales (UNSW) where she will still be working on plant-soil feedbacks, but this time underwater! In this PhD project she aims to understand how belowground processes (i.e. plant-sediment feedbacks (PSFs)) influence the health and functioning of seagrasses and whether and how these PSFs change under environmental stress. She ultimately hopes to give advice on how and where PSFs can be best utilised to improve the success of seagrass restoration efforts both now and in the future.

For more information, visit her personal website: renskejongen.com

Twitter | @Renske_Jongen

Email | renske.jongen@sydney.edu.au

Publications:

Jongen, R., Hannula, S. E., Jonathan, R., Heinen, R., Huberty, M., Steinauer, K., Bezemer, T. M. (2021). Plant community legacy effects on nutrient cycling, fungal decomposer communities and decomposition in a temperate grassland. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 108450

Hannula, S.E., Heinen, R., Huberty, M., Steinauer, K., De Long, J.R., Jongen, R., Bezemer, T.M. (2021) Persistence of plant-mediated microbial soil legacy effects in soil and inside roots. Nature Communications 12, 5686. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25971-z

Gomes, S.I.F., Kielak, A.M., Hannula, S.E., Heinen, R., Jongen, R., Keesmaat, I., De Long, J.R., Bezemer, T.M. (2020). Microbiomes of a specialist caterpillar are consistent across different habitats but also resemble the local soil microbial communities. Animal Microbiome 2, 37. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42523-020-00055-3

Steinauer, K., Heinen, R., Hannula, S.E., De Long, J.R., Huberty, M., Jongen, R., Wang, M. & Bezemer, T.M. (2020). Above-belowground linkages of functionally dissimilar plant communities and soil properties in a grassland experiment. Ecosphere, 11 (9). https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3246

De Long, J.R., Heinen, R., Jongen, R., Hannula, S.E., Huberty, M., Kielak, A.M., Steinauer, K. Bezemer, T.M. (2020). How plant-soil feedback maternal effects influence the next generation. Ecological Research, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1111/1440-1703.12165

Heinen, R., Steinauer, K., De Long, J.R., Jongen, R., Biere, A., Harvey, J.A., Bezemer, T.M. (2020). Exogenous application of plant hormones in the field alters aboveground plant-insect responses and belowground nutrient availability, but does not lead to differences in plant-soil feedbacks. Arthropod-Plant Interactions, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-020-09775-4

Heinen, R., Hannula, S.E., De Long, J.R., Huberty, M., Jongen, R., Kielak, A.M., Steinauer, K., Zhu, F. & Bezemer, T.M. (2020). Plant community composition steers grassland vegetation via soil legacy effects. Ecology Letters, 23(6), 973-982. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13497

De Long, J.R., Heinen, R., Steinauer, K., Hannula, S. E., Huberty, M., Jongen, R., Vandenbrande, S., Wang, M., Zhu, F. & Bezemer, T.M. (2019). Taking plant-soil feedbacks to the field in a temperate grassland. Basic and Applied Ecology, 40, 30-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2019.08.001

Hannula, S.E., Kielak, A.M., Steinauer, K., Huberty, M., Jongen, R., De Long, J.R., Heinen, R. & Bezemer, T.M. (2019). Time after time: Temporal variation in the effects of plant species and plant functional groups on soil bacterial and fungal communities. mBio 10(6). https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.02635-19