Olga Vindušková

I am a postdoctoral researcher at Charles University. I love to study nature and soils with all my senses. My research interests usually live in the ecotone between soil science and ecosystem ecology. My research is often about what shapes soils and/or what shape are they in, I'm particularly interested in soil carbon dynamics, soil development and how are these affected by humans and climate. In my free time, I like to climb, meet other monkeys, read and look for ways to make the world a (even) better place.

Short CV

  • 2021- Postdoctoral Researcher, Charles University, Prague
  • 2019-2021 MSCA-IF funded Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Antwerp
  • 2018-2019 Fulbright Visiting Scholar, Stanford University
  • 2017-2018 Research Associate, Charles University, Prague
  • 2017 PhD in Environmental Science, Charles University
  • 2013 M.Sc. in Ecology and Environmental Protection, Charles University
  • 2011 B.Sc. in Ecology and Environmental Protection, Charles University

Soil biota and soil structure interactions in response to climate change

My most recent MSCA-IF funded project at University of Antwerp was motivated by the development of a soil model that dynamically simulates fluxes of carbon, nitrogen and water in soil of an ecosystem such as forest or grassland. Only recently have such models began to include also soil fauna and its effects on soil structure, hydrology and organic matter dynamics. My aim was to test some assumptions of one such model and gather datasets that could be used to validate such a model. I also investigated the response of soil properties including soil fauna to increased precipitation regime persistence in a temperate grassland using a field experiment.

Soil carbon dynamics during pedogenesis

Various processes such as landsliding, volcanic activity, glacial retreat, alluviation or mining can lead to emergence of new land surfaces. In such situations, we can observe how quickly is soil formed and how is this controlled by different factors such as climate or parent material. Soil carbon increases in the initial stage of soil formation after which it levels out or even decreases. Inspired by a chronosequence study we carried out in a set of landslides in eastern Czechia, I decided to synthesize similar studies from all over the world to look at the controls of soil carbon dynamics during soil formation.

Post-mining ecosystems

During open-cast mining (of coal, oil shale, etc.), large amounts of waste overburden rock are spread onto heaps and covered with topsoil or left without cover. How quickly does landscape and its ecosystem services recover from such a large-scale disturbance? My research in post-mining ecosystems has been focused on the factors affecting soil carbon accumulation, evaluation of the different reclamation strategies (such as tree planting vs. natural revegetation by succession) and methodological challenges connected to the study of soil carbon in these sites. My experimental work has been focused on LTER Sokolov post-mining ecosystems (NW Czechia).

Publications

  • Reynaert, S., Zi, L., AbdElgawad, H., De Boeck, H.J., Vindušková, O., Nijs, I., Beemster, G., Asard, H. 2022. Does previous exposure to extreme precipitation regimes result in acclimated grassland communities? Science of The Total Environment 838: 156368. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156368. Full-text
  • Georgiou, K., Jackson, R.B., Vindušková, O., Abramoff, R.Z., Ahlström, A., Feng, W., Harden, J.W., Pellegrini, A.F.A., Polley, H.W., Soong, J.L., Riley, W.J., Torn, M.S. 2022. Global stocks and capacity of mineral-associated soil organic carbon. Nature Communications 13: 3797. doi:10.1038/s41467-022-31540-9 Full-text
  • Ebissa, T.M., Yang, B., Vindušková, O., Gao, Y., Gong, Q., Zheng, X. 2022. The influence of rice-duck farm soil on the nitrogen content of different varieties of japonica rice. European Journal of Environmental Sciences 12(1). doi:10.14712/23361964.2022.5
  • Vachova, P., Vach, M., Skalicky, M., Walmsley, A., Berka, M., Kraus, K., Hnilickova, H., Vinduskova, O., Mudrak, O. 2022. Reclaimed Mine Sites: Forests and Plant Diversity. Diversity. 14(1):13. doi:10.3390/d14010013 Full-text
  • Flores, O., Deckmyn, G., Yuste, J.C., Javaux, M., Uvarov, A., van der Linde, S., de Vos, B., Vereecken, H., Jiménez, J., Vinduskova, O., Schnepf, A., 2021. KEYLINK: Towards a more integrative soil representation for inclusion in ecosystem scale models - II: Model description, implementation and testing. PeerJ 9. doi:10.7717/peerj.10707 Full-text
  • Horemans, J., Vindušková, O., Deckmyn, G., 2020. How random are predictions of forest growth? The importance of weather variability. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. doi:10.1139/cjfr-2019-0366 Full-text
  • Deckmyn, G., Flores O., Mayer, M., Domene, X., Schnepf, A., Kuka, K., Van Looy, K., Rasse, D.P., Briones, M.J.I., Barot, S., Berg, M., Vanguelova, E., Ostonen, I., Vereecken, H., Suz, L.M., Frey, B., Frossard, A., Tiunov, A., Frouz, J., Grebenc, T., Öpik, M., Javaux, M., Uvarov, A., Vindušková, O., Henning, Krogh, P., Franklin, O., Jiménez, J., Curiel Yuste, J. 2020. KEYLINK: towards a more integrative soil representation for inclusion in ecosystem scale models. I. review and model concept. PeerJ 8:e9750 doi:10.7717/peerj.9750 Full-text
  • Lawrence, C.R., Beem-Miller, J., Hoyt, A.M., Monroe, G., Sierra, C.A., Stoner, S., Heckman, K., Blankinship, J.C., Crow, S.E., McNicol G., Trumbore S., Levine, P.A., Vindušková, O., Todd-Brown, K., Rasmussen, C., Hicks Pries, C.E., Schädel, C., McFarlane, K., Doetterl, S., Hatté, C., He, Y., Treat, C., Harden, J.W., Torn, M.S., Estop-Aragonés, C., Asefaw Berhe, A., Keiluweit, M., Della Rosa Kuhnen, Á., Marin-Spiotta, E., Plante, A.F., Thompson, A., Shi, Z., Schimel, J.P., Vaughn, L.J.S., von Fromm, S.F., Wagai, R. 2020. An open-source database for the synthesis of soil radiocarbon data: International Soil Radiocarbon Database (ISRaD) version 1.0. Earth System Science Data 12: 61–76 Full-text
  • Malhotra, A., Todd-Brown, K., Nave, L.E., Batjes, N.H., Holmquist, J.R., Hoyt, A.M., Iversen, C.M., Jackson, R.B., Lajtha, K., Lawrence, C., Vindušková, O., Wieder, W., Williams, M., Hugelius, G., Harden, J. 2019. The landscape of soil carbon data: emerging questions, synergies and databases. Prog. Phys. Geogr. Earth Environ. 030913331987330. doi:10.1177/0309133319873309 Full-text
  • Vindušková, O., Pánek, T., Frouz, J. 2019. Soil C, N and P dynamics along a 13 ka chronosequence of landslides under semi-natural temperate forest. Quat. Sci. Rev. 213, 18–29. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.04.001 Full-text
  • Vindušková, O., Jandová, K., Frouz, J. 2019. Improved method for removing siderite by in situ acidification before elemental and isotope analysis of soil organic carbon. J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci. 182, 82–91. doi:10.1002/jpln.201800164 Full-text
  • Cejpek, J., Kuráž, V., Vindušková, O., Frouz, J. 2018. Water regime of reclaimed and unreclaimed post-mining sites. Ecohydrology 11, e1911. doi:10.1002/eco.1911 Full-text
  • Heděnec, P., Vindušková, O., Kukla, J., šnajdr, J., Baldrian, P., Frouz, J. 2017. Enzyme activity of topsoil layer on reclaimed and unreclaimed post-mining sites. Biological Communications, 62: 19–25. Full-text
  • Frouz, J., Vindušková, O. 2017. Soil Organic Matter Accumulation in Postmining Sites: Potential Drivers and Mechanisms. In: M. Munoz, Zornoza, R. [eds.] Soil Management and Climate Change: Effects on Organic Carbon, Nitrogen Dynamics, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Academic Press. Full-text
  • Vindušková, O., Sebag, D., Cailleau, G., Frouz, J. 2015. Methodological comparison for quantitative analysis of fossil and recently derived carbon in mine soils with high content of aliphatic kerogen. Organic Geochemistry, 89-90: 14–22. Full-text
  • Vindušková, O., Dvořáček, V., Prohasková, A., Frouz, J. 2014. Distinguishing recent and fossil organic matter - A critical step in evaluation of post-mining soil development - using near infrared spectroscopy. Ecological Engineering, 73: 643–648. Full-text
  • Frouz, J., Dvorščík, P., Vindušková, O., Cienciala, E. 2014. Plant Production, Carbon Accumulation and Soil Chemistry at Post-Mining Sites. In: Frouz, J. (ed.) Soil Biota and Ecosystem Development in Post Mining Sites. CRC press, Boca Raton.
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  • Frouz, J., Pikl, M., Vindušková, O., Zemek, F. 2014. Mapping of overburden substrates for mine site re-cultivation. In: Zemek, F. (ed.) Airborne remote sensing: theory and practice in assessment of terrestrial ecosystems. Global Change Research Centre AS CR, Brno. Full-text
  • Vindušková, O., Frouz, J. 2013. Soil carbon accumulation after open-cast coal and oil shale mining in Northern Hemisphere: a quantitative review. Environmental Earth Sciences, 69: 1685–1698. Full-text

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