Fellow Emeritus, Botany
My researches commenced in the area of phytosociology, with papers spanning the spectrum of Irish native woodland communities. My floristic expertise extends to bryophytes and lichens as well as vascular plants. My year in France and four years in Jamaica expanded my horizons in both teaching and research. I have produced substantial studies on native forest vegetation in Jamaica and Venezuela. My interests in tree regeneration and forest dynamics have led me to establish detailed study plots in Irish and neotropical forests, with long-term monitoring planned or in progress. My interest in the biology of oak has led to a long-term experimental study of sessile oak (Quercus petraea) regeneration, and to collaboration with molecular systematists in elucidating the phylogeography of Irish oak. I have a special interest in epiphytic plant communities, both in Ireland and the New World Tropics. I spent a sabbatical term at Universidad de Los Andes, Merida, Venezuela, and shorter periods working at the Albrecht-von-Haller-Institut fuer Pflanzenwissenschaften, University of Goettingen, Germany; the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, U.K. and the Natural History Museum, London, U.K. I have co-supervised a major project on biodiversity in Irish plantation forestry (BIOFOREST), and have just obtained funding approval for a major follow-up project. My research has sought to promote the conservation of native vegetation and flora, focusing on the problems of invasive alien species, grazing management and deforestation. My interest in conservation extends to the broader landscape, and I am also involved in studies on the biodiversity of hedges and of semi-natural grasslands.
Dr Daniel Kelly's research area lies in woodland and forest ecology. Current work with colleagues and students in Ireland includes biodiversity in Irish plantation forestry (ground flora and epiphytes), tree regeneration and the effects of large herbivores on native woodland vegetation. He also has a particular interest in bryophytes (mosses and liverworts). He is an Editor of Watsonia (journal of the Botanical Society of the British Isles). His other field of research is in the New World Tropics, and he has organised and led expeditions in Jamaica, Venezuela, Guyana and Honduras. The focus of his tropical interests is on forest biodiversity, structure and dynamics and epiphytic plant communities.