Dr. M.P. (Matty) Berg

Research Associate Entomology Department

Dr. M.P. (Matty) Berg
E-mail
Phone
+31 (0)20-5987077 (work) or +31 (0)75-6142620 (home)
Fax
+31 (0)20-5987123
 

Like many biologist my ‘career’ started when I was introduced to the Nederlandse Jeugdbond voor Natuurstudie (NJN). In this youth society I have learned a lot about the identification of plants, birds, mammals, and especially insects in the field. At the University of Amsterdam, were I studied Biology, my interest shifted more to terrestrial ecology. In particular carabid beetles and wolf spiders had my attention, and I could be found a lot on the most northern island of the Netherlands, Schiermonnikoog, collecting beetles and spiders on the salt marsh. I did an internship at the VU University, Amsterdam were I studied the temperature dependence of energy reserves of carabid beetles living in coniferous forests at Schiermonnikoog. During this internship at the VU I came in contact with researchers that studied the ecophysiology of woodlice and springtails. Almost nothing was known about these fascinating animal groups compared to relative well-known groups, such as carabid beetles and wolf spiders. My interest was raised, especially in the importance of these groups for soil functions. At the VU, as University Lecturer, I am still involved in many studies with a focus on soil fauna, especially on the role of species-specific attributes for community stability. As coordinator of the Soil Fauna survey group of the European Invertebrate Survey (EIS-Nederland) and as Research Associate of Naturalis my activities focus on the distribution of soil fauna. Together with other inspired persons, I try to map the distribution of soil fauna in the Netherlands and study their ecology.


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Born: 17 April 1964, Sassenheim, The Netherlands
Sex: male

Education

  • 1976-1980: Secondary school: MAVO, Don Bosco Mavo, Sassenheim
  • 1980-1981: Study Technical Assistant HBO-A, Laboratorium School Rijnland, Leiderdorp
  • 1981-1983: Study Technical Assistant HBO-A, Van der Broeke Instituut, Amsterdam Specializations: Ecology, Zoology
  • 1983-1988: Study Biology, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Amsterdam Specializations: Soil Ecology, Zoology, Taxonomy, Entomology, Geography
  • 1992-present: University Lecturer of Animal Ecology, Vrije Universiteit

Appointments

  • 1985:               Technical Assistant, Hoogheemraadschap Uitwaterende sluizen, Edam
  • 1988-1992:     Researcher, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
  • 1992-1997:     PhD student, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
  • 1997-1998:     Post-Doc, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
  • 1998-1999:     Researcher, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
  • 1999-2004:     KNAW Academy-fellow, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
  • 2004-present   Associated professor of Animal Ecology, Vrije Universiteit
  • 2005-present   Research Associate National Natural History Museum, Leiden
  • 2006                Associated lecturer University of Rennes

Teaching

  • assisted in BsC course on Field Ecology for Technical Assistants (1983-1986)
  • assisted in BsC courses on Soil Ecology
  • assisted in BsC course on General Ecology (1989)
  • assisted in BsC course on Biogeochemistry for Environmental Science (1998-1999)
  • developed a BsC course on Biodiversity, including zoology and botany practical (1998-2000)
  • developed a BsC course on Biodiversity and Ecological Fieldwork, including zoology, botany and landscape practical (1999-present)
  • developed a PhD course on Dynamics of nutrient cycling and Food webs (1996)
  • assisted in BsC course on Community Ecology (2002-present)
  • developed a MsC course on Soil-Plant interactions (2004-present)
  • developed a MsC course on Spatial Ecology and Global Change (2005-2007)
  • assisted in PhD course on Community Ecology (2005)
  • developed a BsC course in Island Biogeography (2006-present)
  • personally supervised over 50 BsC and MsC students (1988-2008) in research projects or literature theses on Animal Ecology, Soil Ecology and Community Ecology

Research

  • carried out a PhD on decomposition of soil organic matter, nutrient flow and food web dynamics in a pine forest soil (promotor: N.M. van Straalen, thesis defence 29 April 1997)
  • carried out a Post.Doc study on how competition between Basidiomycetes influences ecosystem performance, i.e. decomposition of wood
  • carries out studies on the relationship between species diversity and community stability of soil fauna, including the influence of species-specific attributes on this relationship
  • caries out a study on the impact of soil food web structure on the rate of soil processes, particularly decomposition of organic matter
  • carries out a study on the biogeography and ecology of Collembola, Chilopoda, Diplopoda, and Isopoda in the Netherlands (Research associate Nauralis / European Invertebrate Survey, division The Netherlands)
  • caries out studies on the importance of species-specific traits in description of functional diversity of soil fauna communities and prediction of species co-existence and extinction of soil fauna
  • co-promotor for: D. Heemsbergen / V. Vos / P. Martin / M. Makkonen / M. Schrama / E. Krab
  • applied and obtained research funds from various national and international organisations (EU, NWO, KNAW)

Administration and professional societies

  • member of the British Ecological Society
  • member of the Ecological Society of America
  • member of the Netherlands Society of Entomology
  • member and correspondent of the Netherlands Institute of Biology
  • secretary of the Board of the European Invertebrate Survey, division the Netherlands (EIS)
  • co-ordinator of three EIS-working groups: Terrestrial Isopoda, Myriapoda (centipedes and millipedes), and Apterygota (including Collembola)
  • member of several working groups of the Royal Natural History Society (Entomology, Bryology, Marine environment)

Congresses, lectures, reviewing

  • attended various international scientific congresses and was invited for a key-note lecture on several occasions
  • editor of the journal "Nederlandse Faunistische Mededelingen"
  • Occasionally reviewer for Ecology, Global Change Biology, Oikos, Oecologia, Pedobiologia, Acta zoologica Fennica, European Journal of Soil Biology, Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Netherlands Journal of Zoology, Biogeochemistry, Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment, Ecological Research, Journal of Applied Ecology, Journal of Ecology, Peckiana, Canadian Journal of Forest Research, Biological Reviews, Ecology Letters, Applied Soil Ecology, Ecography, Entomologist, Ecological Research, Abhandlungen und Berichte Naturkundemuseums Gorlitz, and PhD-theses.

Languages

  • English: good
  • German: reasonable

Five key publications

  • Berg, M.P., De Ruiter, P.C., Didden, W.A.M., Janssen, M.P.N., Schouten, A.T., Verhoef, H.A., 2001. Community food web, decomposition and nitrogen mineralisation in a stratified Scots pine forest soil. Oikos 94: 130-142.
  • De Deyn, G.B., Raaijmakers, C.E., Zoomer, H.R., Berg, M.P., de Ruiter, P.C., Verhoef, H.A., Bezemer, T.M and W.H. van der Putten, 2003. Soil invertebrate fauna enhances grassland succession and diversity. Nature 422: 711-713.
  • Heemsbergen, D.A., Berg, M.P., Loreau, M., van Hal, J.R., Faber, J.H. and H.A. Verhoef, 2004. Biodiversity effects on soil processes explained by interspecific functional dissimilarity. Science 306: 1019-1020.
  • Kuijper, L.D.J., Berg, M.P., Morrien, E., Kooi, B.W. and H.A. Verhoef, H., 2005. Global change effects on a mechanistic decomposer food web model. Global Change Biology 11: 249-265.
  • Berg, M.P., Bengtsson, J., 2007. Temporal and spatial dynamics in soil food web structure. Oikos 116: 1789-1804

Research interests

Taxonomic expertise: Soil fauna

  • Terrestrial Isopoda (woodlice / landpissebedden)
  • Chilopoda (centipedes / duizendpoten)
  • Diplopoda (millipedes / miljoenpoten)
  • Collembola (springtails / springstaarten)
  • Microcoryphia (jumptails / rotsspringers)
  • Pseudoscorpionida (pseudoscorpions / bastaardschorpioenen)


Research projects: Faunistics

  • Ecology and distribution of Dutch soil fauna
  • Taxonomy and checklist of Dutch Collembola
  • Key of the Dutch terrestrial Isopoda
  • Key of the Dutch Collembola genera and species within genera
  • Distribution atlas Dutch terrestrial woodlice, centipedes, and millipedes
  • Relationship between soil fauna commensals and ant hosts

For additional research projects on Community Ecology see: http://www.bio.vu.nl/do/staff/MPBerg.htm

Publications

Faunistic articles

  • M.P. Berg (2007) De springstaarten van Nederland: het Genus Orchesella (Hexapoda: Entognatha: Collembola). Nederlandse Faunistische Mededelingen, 26: 77-93.PDF file
  • E. Iorio and M.P. Berg (2007) Première contribution à létude des chilopedes (Chilopoda) de Provence et description d’une nouvelle sous-espèce. Bull. Soc. linn. Provence 58: 21-36. PDF file
  • A. Aptroot and M.P. Berg (2004) Collembola help lichens in competition with algae. Lichenologist, 36(2), 167-169. <!--[endif]-->
  • U. Scheller, M.P. Berg and M.G.M. Jansen (2004) Pauropoda (Myriapoda), a class new to the Dutch fauna, with the description of a new species. Entomologische Berichten 64(1): 3-9. PDF file
  • M.P. Berg and A. Aptroot (2003) Springstaarten op korstmossen (Hexapoda: Collembola). Nederlandse Faunistische Mededelingen18: 103-121.
  • M.P. Berg and M. Faasse (2003) De springstaart Axelsonia littoralis nieuw voor de fauna van Nederland. Nederlandse Faunistische Mededelingen 19: 101-104.
  • P.J.A. Shaw, M.P. Berg and J. Higgins (2003) Orchesella quinquefasciata (Bourlet, 1843) (Collembola: Entomobryidae) from chalk grassland in the South downs. Entomological Record 115: 45-48.
  • M.P. Berg (2002) Handleiding voor het determineren en karteren van springstaarten. Report 2002-6, Vrije Universiteit, Institute for Ecological Sciences, Amsterdam.
  • M.P. Berg (2002) De miljoenpoten Mycogona germanica en Leptoiulus proximus, nieuw voor de fauna van Nederland (Myriapoda: Diplopoda). Nederlandse Faunistische Mededelingen 16: 63-68.
  • M.P. Berg and T. Heijerman (2002) De springstaart Lepidocyrtus paradoxus nieuw voor de Nederlandse fauna (Hexapoda: Collembola). Nederlandse Faunistische Mededelingen 16: 69-75.
  • J. Noordijk and M.P. Berg (2002) De corticole fauna van platanen: II. Springstaarten, stofluizen, loopkevers (Collembola, Psocoptera, Carabidae). Nederlandse Faunistische Mededelingen 17: 41-55.
  • M.P. Berg and C. Evenhuis (2001) Determinatietabel voor de Nederlandse duizendpoten (Myriapoda: Chilopoda). Nederlandse Faunistische Mededelingen 15: 41-78.
  • M.P. Berg, J. Noordijk, A. Schakel and M. Bongers (2001) De springstaart Isotomurus maculatus nieuw voor de fauna van Nederland (Insecta: Collembola). Nederlandse Faunistische Mededelingen 15: 79-85.
  • J. Noordijk and M.P. Berg (2001) De corticole fauna van platanen: I. Arachniden (Arachnida: Araneae, Pseudoscorpiones, Acari). Nederlandse Faunistische Mededelingen 15: 13-32.
  • A.S. Zaitsev and M.P. Berg (2001) Oribatid mites in different forest types in the Netherlands (Acari: Oribatida). Nederlandse Faunistische Mededelingen 14: 79-101.
  • A.S. Zaitsev and M.P. Berg (2000) Geography of oribatid mite diversity in Dutch forests. Report D00021, Institute of Ecological Science, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam.
  • M.P. Berg, H. Wijnhoven and D. Tempelman (1999) Cylisticus convexus, een in Nederland zeldzame synantrope landpissebed (Crustacea: Isopoda: Oniscoidea). Nederlandse Faunistische Mededelingen 8: 77–83.
  • M.P. Berg (1999) Naamlijst van de Nederlandse duizendpoten (Myriapoda: Chilopoda). Nederlandse Faunistische Mededelingen 8: 67–76.
  • M.P. Berg and A. Kroon (1999) De invloed van recente overstromingen op het verspreidingspatroon van de pissebed Eluma purpurascens in Zeeland (Crustacea: Isopoda: Oniscoidea). Nederlandse Faunistische Mededelingen 9: 135-140. >
  • M.P. Berg, A. Kroon, M. Soesbergen and D. Tempelman (1999) De miljoenpoot Archiboreoiulus pallidus nieuw voor de fauna van Nederland (Myriapoda: Diplopoda). Nederlandse Faunistische Mededelingen 9: 103-108.
  • H. Wijnhoven and M.P. Berg (1999) Some notes on the distribution and ecology of Iridovirus (Iridovirus, Iridoviridae) in terrestrial isopods (Isopoda, Oniscidae). Crustaceana 72: 145–156.
  • M.P. Berg and H. Wijnhoven (1997) Landpissebedden. Een tabel voor de landpissebedden (Crustacea; Oniscidae) van Nederland en België. Stichting Uitgeverij van de Koninklijke Nederlandse Natuurhistorische Vereniging, Utrecht.
  • M.P. Berg (1996) Preliminary atlas of the terrestrial isopods of the Netherlands. Report D95006, Department of Ecology and Ecotoxicology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, 56p.
  • M.P. Berg (1995). Preliminary atlas of the centipedes of the Netherlands. Report D95008, Department of Ecology and Ecotoxicology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, 59 p.
  • M.P. Berg (1995). Preliminary atlas of the millipedes of the Netherlands. Report D95007, Department of Ecology and Ecotoxicology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, 65 p.
  • M.P. Berg (1995). De Mierenpissebed, Platyarthrus hoffmannseggi, een mysterieuze gast in mierennesten. Natura 1995-3: 62-65.
  • M.P. Berg (1993). De oecologie en verspreiding van de Havenpissebed. Natura 1993(8): 178-182.
  • M.P. Berg (1991). Dagaktieve loopkevers. Natura 88(5): 112-113.
  • M.P. Berg (1991). Loopkevers in het Drouwener rand. Veelpoot 2(1): 15-17.
  • M.P. Berg (1989). Onderzoek naar het voortplantingsbiotoop van het Oranjetipje Anthocharis cardamines in de Achterhoek. Natura 7: 166-167.
For additional publications on non-faunistic topic see: http://www.bio.vu.nl/do/staff/MPBerg.htm

Tuesday, March 25, 2008 author: Dr. M.P. (Matty) Berg