Mario Bretfield

Postdoctoral Research Associate
Department of Botany
University of Wyoming

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Panama

Email: BretfeldM@si.edu
Website: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mario_Bretfeld2

Research

I consider myself an applied ecologist with emphasis on forested ecosystems. My overarching research question is how natural and anthropogenic disturbances affect vegetation dynamics and ecosystem functions of forests, with the goal to provide land managers with information that aid in the development, optimization, and implementation of management strategies to maintain or enhance ecosystem functions and services as well as facilitate conservation efforts.

My current research efforts focus on the effects of land-use and biology on hydrological processes in the seasonal tropics of Panama. Specifically, I am interested in the “sponge effect” hypothesis and how ecohydrological characteristics of secondary forests compare to silvopastoral systems, timber and coffee plantations. Data are collected using plant physiological (sap flow, gas exchange) and micrometeorological (eddy flux, scintillometry) techniques. Besides tropical research, I am especially interested forest community dynamics following selective disturbances (for example due to partial overstory mortality caused by bark beetles) and the sharing of water and resources in interconnect root systems of clonal trees (i.e. clonal integration).