Research area: Wetland Ecology, Restoration Ecology
Teaching: Ecology, Wetland Ecology, Ecology and Society
B.Sc; University of Windsor (1968)
M.Sc. University of Alberta (1970)
Ph.D. North Carolina State University (1973).
Assistant. Professor., Botany (1973-1978)
Associate Profressor., Botany (1978-1982)
Professor, Botany (1982-2003)
Director Iowa Lakeside Laboratory (1994-2004)
Professor, EEOB (2003-present)
Central University of Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela
University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
Florida Center for Environmentall Studies, Palm Beach Gardens, FL
University of Melbourne, Australia.
Elected Fellow of the Society of Wetland Scientists, 2008
Merit Award in recognition of outstanding contribution to wetland science, 2008
Distinguished Iowa Scientist 2004, Iowa Academy of Science
Editor-in-Chief (1993-present), Plant Ecology (formerly Vegetatio)
Ecology, Evolution & Organismal Biology
141 Bessey Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa 50011-1020
Current Research Program:
My primary research interests are in wetland and restoration ecology, especially the impact of water level changes on wetland vegetation, the role of tree islands in The Everglades, natural re-vegetation of restored wetlands as a model system for the investigation of the early stages of wetland succession, and the effectiveness of restored wetlands as sinks for nutrients in agricultural runoff. Most recently my research has focused on the role of tree islands as nutrient sinks in The Everglades. Tree islands are now known to sequester large amounts of phosphorus (Fig. 1) in a wetland that is otherwise characterized by its low phosphorus levels. Documenting the relative importance of mechanisms responsible for phosphorus accumulating on tree islands (Fig. 2) will be the major focus of future research projects.
Figure. 1. Soil phophorus in various parts of tree islands (head, near tail, and far tail)and in adjacent marshes in the Everglades.
Figure. 2. Hypothesized mechanisms responsible for the accumulation of phosphrous on tree islands in the Evergaldes and other large wetlands around the world.
van der Valk, A. G. (Ed.) 1989. Northern Prairie Wetlands. Iowa State University Press, Ames, IA. 400pp.
Galatowitsch, S. M. and A. G. van der Valk. 1994. Restoring Prairie Wetlands: an Ecological Approach. Iowa State University Press, Ames, IA. 246pp.
Wetzel, R. G., A. G. van der Valk, R. E. Turner, W. J. Mitsch and B. Gopal. (Eds.) 1994. Recent Studies on Ecology and Management of Wetlands. International Scientific Publishers, New Delhi, India. 246pp.
Finlayson, C. M. and A. G. van der Valk. (Eds.) 1995. Classification and inventory of the world’s wetlands. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. 192pp.
Murkin, H. R., A. G. van der Valk and W. R. Clark (Eds.) 2000. Prairie Wetland Ecology: the Contribution of the Marsh Ecology Research Program. Iowa State University Press, Ames, IA. 484pp. (Winner of The Wildlife Society’s outstanding edited book award).
Sklar, F. H. and A. G. van der Valk. (Eds) 2002. Tree Islands of the Everglades. Kluwer Academic Press, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. 541pp.
van der Valk, A. G. 2006. The Biology of Freshwater Wetlands. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. 173pp.
Selected Papers and Book Chapters (since 2001):
Wetzel, P. R, A. G. van der Valk, and L. A. Toth. 2001. Restoration of wetland vegetation on the Kissimmee River floodplain: potential role of seed banks. Wetlands 21:189-198.
van der Valk, A. G. and H. R. Murkin. 2001. Changes in nutrient pools during an experimentally simulated wet-dry cycle in the Delta Marsh, Manitoba, Canada. Verh. Internat. Verein. Limnol. 27:3444-3451.
Seabloom, E. W., K. A. Moloney and A. G. van der Valk. 2001. Constraints on the establishment of plants along a fluctuating water-depth gradient. Ecology 82:2216-2232.
Mueller, M. H. and A. G. van der Valk. 2002. The potential role of ducks in wetland seed dispersal. Wetlands 22:170-178.
Seabloom, E. W. and A. G. van der Valk. 2003. The development of vegetation zonation in restored prairie potholes wetlands. Journal of Applied Ecology 40:92-100.
Seabloom, E. W. and A. G. van der Valk. 2003. Plant diversity, composition, and invasion of restored and natural prairie pothole wetlands: implications for restoration. Wetlands 23:1-12.
Gordon, E. and A. G. van der Valk. 2003. Secondary seed dispersal in Montrichardia arborescens (L.) Scott dominated wetlands in Laguna Grande, Venezuela. Plant Ecology 168:177-190.
van der Valk, A. G. and R. L. Pederson. 2003. The SWANCC decision and its implications for prairie potholes. Wetlands 23:590-596.
Wetzel, P. R. and A. G. van der Valk. 2005. The biomass and nutrient levels of Calamagrostis canadensis and Carex stricta under different hydrologic and fungicide regimes. Canadian Journal of Botany 83:124-130.
van der Valk, A. G. 2005. Prairie potholes of North America. Pp. 415-445. In P. A. Keddy and L. H. Fraser (eds.) The World’s Largest Wetlands: Their ecology and conservation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
van der Valk, A. G. 2005. Water-level fluctuations in North American prairie wetlands. Hydrobiologia 539:171-188.
Wetzel,P. R., A. G. van der Valk, S. Newman, D. E. Gawlik, T. Troxler Gann, C. A. Coronado-Molina, D. L. Childers, and F. H. Sklar. 2005. Maintaining tree islands in the Florida Everglades: nutrient redistribution is the key. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 3:370-376.
Grenfell, M. C., W. N. Ellery, S. E. Garden, J Dini and A. G. van der Valk. 2007. The language of intervention: A review of concepts and terminology in wetland ecosystem repair. Water SA 33:43-50.
van der Valk, A. G. 2007. Development of post-disturbance vegetation in prairie wetlands. pp. 341-370. In E. A. Johnson and K. Miyanishi (eds.) Plant Disturbance Ecology. Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
van der Valk, A. G., P. R., Wetzel, E. Cline, and F. H. Sklar. 2007/2008. Restoring tree islands in the Everglades: Experimental studies of tree seedling survival. Restoration Ecology (Currently available as an EarlyOn Line article).
van der Valk, A. G., P. R., Wetzel, E. Cline, and F. H. Sklar. 2008. Restoring tree islands in the Everglades: Experimental studies of tree seedling survival. Restoration Ecology 16:281-289.
van der Valk, A. G. and B. G. Warner. 2009. The development of patterned mosaic landscapes: an overview. Plant Ecology 200:1-7.
Wetzel, P. R., A. G. van der Valk, S. Newman, C. A. Coronado, T. G. Troxler-Gann, D. L. Childers, and W. H. Orem. 2009. Heterogeneity of phosphorus distribution in a patterned landscape, the Florida Everglades. Plant Ecology 200:83-90.
Christensen, J. R., W. G. Crumpton and A. G. van der Valk. 2009. Estimating the breakdown and accumulation of emergent macrophyte litter: A mass balance approach. Wetlands 29:204-214.
van der Valk, A. G. 2009. Restoration of wetland environments: lessons and successes. pp. 729-754. In E. Maltby and T. Barker (Eds.) The Wetlands Handbook. Blackwell Science, Oxford, UK.
van der Valk, A. G., L. A. Toth, E. B. Gibney, D. Mason, and P. R. Wetzel. 2009. Potential sources of propagules for reestablishing vegetation on the floodplain of the Kissimmee River, Florida, USA. Wetlands 29:976-987.
Yurkonis, K. A., B. J. Wilsey, Kirk A. Moloney, and A. G. van der Valk. 2009. The impact of seeding method on diversity and plant distribution in two restored grasslands. Restoration Ecology (currently available on line).
Miller, B. A., W. G. Crumpton and A. G. van der Valk. 2009. Spatial distribution of historical wetland classes on the Des Moines Lobe, Iowa. Wetlands (in press).
van der Valk, A. G. 2009. Origins and development of ecology. pp. 37-59. In B. Brown, K. de Laplante and K. Peacock (Eds.) Philosophy of Ecology, Vol. 11 of the Handbook of the Philosophy of Science, Elsevier, The Netherlands. (in press)