Anouk Verheyden Laboratory of General Botany and Nature Management Ph.D. in Science, Free University of Brussels (VUB), 2004 Licenciaat (M.Sc.) in Biology, Free University of Brussels (VUB), 1997

Research Interests

Anouk has been working on mangroves since 1996. During her M.Sc. thesis she studied the applicability of aerial photographs in studying mangrove dynamics, conducting field research in Sri Lanka. Later on she participated in the EU-financed 'GROFLO' project (Antropogenically induced changes in groundwater outflow and quality, and the functioning of Eastern African nearshore ecosystems), during which she conducted field research in Kenya. During this project she constructed groundwater flow maps for the Kenyan coast using the MODFLOW model and the 'Visual Modflow' interface. During her Ph.D. (completed in 2004) Anouk has focused on exploring the environmental information archived in mangrove wood. Despite earlier reports on the absence of annual growth rings in Rhizophora mucronata, she discovered the presence of annual indistinct growth rings in this mangrove tree species (Annals of Botany 94: 59-66). With this discovery in mind, she further investigated the potential of the mangrove wood for dendrochronology by using a multidisciplinary approach, studying the wood anatomy, stable carbon and oxygen isotopic composition and inorganic composition (using ICP-MS) of the wood. Her Ph.D. study has been conducted in collaboration with the Africa Museum, Tervuren, Belgium and for the oxygen isotope study, with Prof. Schleser and Dr. Helle from the ICG-V of the Research Centre in Jülich, Germany. Currently, Anouk pursues her research on mangrove wood, however also extending her interests to the field of tropical dendrochronology.

For an updated publication list and links to pdf file of these papers, please see: http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~dagillik/mangrove/our_pubs.htm or http://www.kenyanmangroves.com/

Verheyden, A., G. Helle, G. H. Schleser, F. Dehairs, H. Beeckman & N. Koedam, 2004. Annual cyclicity in high-resolution stable carbon and oxygen isotope ratios in the wood of the mangrove tree Rhizophora mucronata. Plant, Cell and Environment 27, 1525–1536.

Verheyden, A., J.G. Kairo, H. Beeckman and N. Koedam, 2004. Growth rings, growth ring formation and age determination in the mangrove Rhizophora mucronata Lam. Annals of Botany 94: 59-66.

Verheyden, A., F. Dahdouh-Guebas, K. Thomaes, W. De Genst, S. Hettiarachchi and N. Koedam, 2002. High Resolution Vegetation Data for Mangrove Research as Obtained from Aerial Photography. Environment, Development and Sustainability 4(2): 113-133

Pauline Kamermans, Marten A. Hemminga, Jurgen F. Tack, Miguel A. Mateo, Núria Marbà, Matern Mtolera, Johan Stapel, Anouk Verheyden & Toon Van Daele, 2002 Groundwater effects on diversity and abundance of lagoonal seagrasses in Kenya and on Zanzibar Island (East Africa). Marine ecology progress series, 231: 75-83

Dahdouh-Guebas, F., A. Verheyden, W. De Genst, S. Hettiarachchi & N. Koedam, 2000. Four decade vegetation dynamics in Sri Lankan mangroves as detected from sequential aerial photography : a case study in Galle. Bulletin of Marine Science 67(2), 741-759.
 

all text copyright© 2000 Mangrove Management Group
created 01 February 1999
by: David P. Gillikin
Updated 23 Nov. 2004
by: Anouk Verheyden
URL: http://vub.ac.be/mangrove/averheyd.html