Olga Vindušková

I am an assistant professor 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 move, meet other monkeys, read and look for ways to make the world a (even) better place.

Short CV

  • 2022- Assistant Professor, Charles University, Prague
  • 2021-2022 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 carbon dynamics under climate change

Understanding how climate change alters soil carbon (SOC) storage requires integrating changes in precipitation regimes, drought frequency, temperature, and plant-derived carbon inputs with belowground biotic processes. My research combines field, mesocosm and laboratory experiments to examine how climate change affects soil carbon dynamics. Building on my work at University of Antwerp and within the current DrySoilCarbon project (Czech Science Foundation, 2026–2028), I investigate how future drought, elevated CO₂, and shifts in carbon inputs influence long-term carbon persistence in temperate ecosystems.

Modelling soil carbon dynamics

To mechanistically predict soil carbon responses to environmental change, I develop and refine process-based models that explicitly represent measurable carbon pools and biotic interactions. Within the SOMForClim project, I co-developed a model based on KEYLINK, incorporating particulate and mineral-associated organic matter fractions (POC, MAOC) and priming effects to improve predictions of SOC dynamics under varying carbon inputs and warming scenarios. This modelling work bridges experimental data with theory, enabling quantitative forecasts of soil carbon turnover under future climate conditions.

Soil carbon dynamics during ecosystem development

I investigate how soil carbon accumulates and stabilizes during ecosystem development following natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Using chronosequences of landslides and post-mining landscapes, including long-term research sites in northwest Czechia, I examine how parent material, vegetation, and reclamation strategies regulate SOC formation and persistence. By combining field studies with global syntheses, this work reveals general controls on carbon dynamics during pedogenesis and ecosystem recovery, providing a long-term perspective on soil carbon vulnerability and resilience.

Publications

  • Hamzah, L., Ong, N.-G., Nayak, A., Luby, S., & Vindušková, O. 2026. Characterization of Biochar Produced from Cacao Pod Husk with Smallholder Farmers in Farm-Scale Reactors. International Journal of Recycling of Organic Waste in Agriculture. DOI: 10.57647/ijrowa.2026.7968
  • Tarmizi, U. H., Alias, A., Ismail, S. N., Chee, P. S., Peng, Y., Yue, K., Aqmal-Naser, M., Ahmad, A., Manaf, N. A., Vindušková, Frouz, J., Seidenglanz, M., & Heděnec, P. 2026. Effects of soil fauna on early-stage litter decomposition across diverse tropical ecosystems in east Malaysia. European Journal of Environmental Sciences, 16(1), 1–19. DOI: 10.14712/23361964.2025.13
  • Vindušková, O., Šimáňová, D., Reitschmiedová, E., Černý, J., Frouz, J. 2026. Natural regeneration of Norway spruce under pioneer trees outperforms conventional reclamation on post-mining sites. Ecological Engineering 222: 107812. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107812
  • Vindušková, O., Deckmyn, G., Reynaert, S., Vancampenhout, K., Schluetter, S., Frouz, J., De Boeck, H., Portillo-Estrada, M., Verbruggen, E., Asard, H., Beemster, G.T.S., Nijs, I. 2025. More persistent precipitation regimes induce soil degradation. Geoderma 455: 117230. doi: 10.1016/j.geoderma.2025.117230 Full-text
  • Vienne, A., Frings, P., Poblador, S., Steinwidder, L., Rijnders, J., Schoelynck, J., Vindušková, O., Vicca, S. 2024. Earthworms in an enhanced weathering mesocosm experiment: Effects on soil carbon sequestration, base cation exchange and soil CO2 efflux. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 199: 109596. doi: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2024.109596
  • Vindušková, O., Deckmyn, G., Bortier, M., De Boeck, H.J., Liu, Y, Nijs, I. 2023. Combined effects of soil 3D spatial heterogeneity and biotic spatial heterogeneity (plant clumping) on ecosystem processes in grasslands. Ecology and Evolution 13(10): e10604. doi: 10.1002/ece3.10604 Full-text
  • Li, L.J., Nijs, I., De Boeck, H., Vindušková, O., Reynaert, S., Donnelly, Ch., Zi, L., Verbruggen, E. 2023. Longer dry and wet spells alter the stochasticity of microbial community assembly in grassland soils. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 178: 108969. doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2023.108969 Full-text
  • 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.
    • Full-text
  • 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

Teaching & Mentoring

Teaching

  • Seminar for Institute for Environmental Studies – since 2021
  • Co-teaching: Plant Ecology II (including practical laboratory course) – since 2021
  • Co-teaching: Seminar on Scientific Literature – since 2021
    • Co-authored textbook: Frouz, J., Vindušková, O. (2017). Čtení a psaní odborného textu v environmentálních vědách. [in Czech] Reading and writing a scientific text in environmental science. Karolinum, Praha. Second edition published in 2025
  • Co-teaching: Winter Ecology (including practical field course) – since 2022
  • Co-teaching: Journal Club in Ecosystem Ecology and Biogeochemistry – since 2023

Mentoring

Ongoing supervision

  • Eva Tichá, Bc. (2024, Master) – Interaction of different ecological groups of macrofauna and their influence on mesofauna and nematodes
  • Sara Skotnicka, Bc. (2024, Master) – The role of pioneer trees, soil properties and mycorrhiza in the establishment of late successional trees
  • Michaela Štecová, Bc. (2024, Master) – Effect of persistence of precipitation regimes on soil organic carbon stability
  • Lucie Nevolová (2025, Bachelor) – Drought effects on soil organic carbon dynamics

Ongoing co-supervision

  • Lucie Hüblová (2023, PhD) – Mechanisms of organic matter sequestration in soil in relation to stage of pedogenesis and other factors
  • Kateřina Čápová (2023, PhD) – Unravelling geogenic organic carbon and nitrogen input to modern biogeochemical cycles
  • Věra Roblíková (2023, Master) – Effect of forest tree species composition change on the content, chemical composition, and stability of soil organic matter fractions

Completed supervision

  • Anežka Klárová (2025, Bachelor) – Impact of Snow Reduction on Decomposition and Soil Respiration
  • Jaroslava Haurová (2025, Master) – Dynamics and Stability of Soil Carbon under Tree Species with Different Litter Quality: Comparison of Lime and Spruce
  • Sára Skotnicka (2024, Bachelor) – Effect of Tree Species on Belowground Carbon Inputs in Soil: Comparison of Beech and Spruce
  • Eva Tichá (2024, Bachelor) – Effect of Changes in Precipitation Regime on Soil Fauna
  • Michaela Štecová (2024, Bachelor) – Effects of Warming on Soil Organic Carbon
  • Mariana Valentová (2023, Bachelor) – Carbon Sequestration in Soil: Methods and Potential

Completed co-supervision

  • Dávid Matej (2025, Master) – Influence of tree species and soil age on accumulation of soil organic matter: comparison between alder and pine
  • Eliška Kumpoštová (2025, Bachelor) – Biological indicators of soil health with focus on nematodes
  • Věra Roblíková (2023, Bachelor) – Effect of forest species composition change on litter quality and derived soil organic matter

Internship supervision

  • Rania Laalaouna (Abbes Laghrour University Khenchela, 2024, 1 month)
  • Amaury Thepaut (Université de Mulhouse, 2023, 3 months)
  • Evan Fawer (Université de Mulhouse, 2023, 3 months)
  • Geoffroy Huguet (Université de Mulhouse, 2023, 3 months)

Short CV

  • 2022- Assistant Professor, Charles University, Prague
  • 2021-2022 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

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