Welcome

Welcome to my institutional website. My name is Kenneth F. Rijsdijk (1968) and I am currently assistant professor at the BIOMAC Research Group of IBED, University of Amsterdam. My research is focused on the dynamics of abiotic processes that shape the earth's surface and affect biota. I am especially interested in how environmental processes affect landscapes and ecosystems. These environmental processes may be natural, such as climate change or volcanism, but also induced by humans, such as effects of mining, over-exploitation and deforestation. Central to my studies is contrasting natural dynamics with human induced dynamics.

In 2005 I was part of a team that discovered an exceptionally rich 4000 year old fossil mass grave in Mauritius, a volcanic island in the Indian Ocean (Nature news). This mass grave contained bones of the dodo and more than 20 other extinct vertebrates. Together with Mauritian partners, I set up an international network, the Dodo Research Programme (2006-2016), that included scientific, museum, corporate and NGO stakeholders across a rich array of disciplines, from history and socio-economy to archaeology, geology and ecology. This discovery made me realise that life and resources on our planet are limited, just as they are limited on islands. Since then, my research in biogeography has focused on identifying ways to harmonise human activities with a healthy and vital biosphere.

Today my work increasingly centres on the landscape itself: how hedgerows, woodlands, ponds and other landscape elements act as stepping stones and corridors that allow species to persist and move through fragmented countryside, and how nature reserves and protected areas can be designed and connected to maximise their value for biodiversity. By understanding which landscape conditions favour species, both on islands and in rural landscapes, we can protect and restore nature more effectively.

I am particularly interested in:

• island biogeography, especially the role of deep time, the dynamics of geodiversity and their interaction with island biodiversity

• quantifying the impacts of humans on island ecosystems

• the role of hedgerows and other landscape elements as corridors and stepping stones for biodiversity

• how nature reserves and protected areas can be designed and connected to sustain biodiversity in cultural landscapes

• seeking ways of realising sustainable futures for mankind to live in harmony with geo- and ecosystems

Present Affiliations

• Member of the International Biogeographical Sociey (IBS)
• Associative editor for  Frontiers of Biogeography journal
• Member of the Dutch Royal Society of Mining and Geology (KNGMG)
• Member of the Netherlands Institute for Biology (NIBI)
• Dutch Royal Society of Geography (KNAG)
• Quaternary Research Association (QRA)
• Member of the Society for Professionals in Physical Geography (VVFG)
• Board member of the DINAMO fund

Old affiliations

• Board Member of the Dutch Earth Foundation
• Advisory editor of the Netherlands Journal of GeoSciences (NJG)
• Board member of the Society for Professionals in Physical Geography (VVFG)
• Board member of the Sedimentological Circle part of the Dutch Royal Society of Geography (KNAG)
• Chair person of the charitable society Dodo Alive!  
• Ambassador for the advancement of beta- science in the Netherlands

Discovery of a Dodo Mass Grave

The dodo, an icon of human induced extinction, is also one of the most famous examples of island evolution leading to gigantism. First described by Dutch sailors who landed on Mauritius in 1598, it was last seen alive around 1670. Then it disappeared. It was the first species for which modern humans realised that it had become extinct due to human interference (Strickland and Melville 1848). The discovery of a dodo mass grave in Mauritius in 1864 by the railway engineer Higginson and the local natural history expert Clark aroused a lot of renewed interest in this mysteriously vanished species. The site was excavated for nearly a century, but around the 1940s rocks were dumped on it and its precise location was forgotten.

In 2005 we discovered, in a marsh at the Mare aux Songes, a several-thousands-year-old fossil layer containing fauna, flora and microfossils, including bones of the dodo (Raphus cucullatus), representing the remains of a nearly complete fossil natural ecosystem. It took us a while to realise that we had in fact re-discovered the famous dodo bone site that Clark and Higginson had found in 1864. Given the high sub-fossil concentration and the richness of its composition, including vertebrate bones, invertebrate remains (insects, snails) and floral remains (seeds, tree stems, branches, rootlets, leaves), the sub-fossil layer, up to 0.5 m thick and extending over 0.3 km², can be considered a Concentration-Lagerstätte. It contains 50% of the known (extinct) vertebrate species of Mauritius and several dozens of endemic, threatened or nearly extinct arboreal species. The dodo Lagerstätte is situated within sediments that are rich in microfossils providing contextual data, and hence provides a high-resolution snapshot insight into a pristine ecosystem that was active several thousands of years ago.

Dodo Research Programme

After the discovery of the dodo mass grave in Mauritius in 2005, comprising substantial parts of a fossil ecosystem of the dodo, the Dodo Research Programme was established. In collaboration with the Mauritian partners Omnicane and the Mauritius Museums Council, and the Dutch partners Naturalis, IBED-UvA and TNO, an international network of researchers was founded: the Dodo Research Programme (DRP), which aimed to reconstruct the pre-human ecosystem and investigate the reasons for its degradation. At one stage the DRP network comprised more than 50 researchers and more than 15 research institutes. The Dodo Research Programme was an international research initiative that aimed to utilise the iconic status of the dodo (Raphus cucullatus) to generate research and public awareness on the vulnerability of island biodiversity.

The DRP had three main aims:

1. Research: to reconstruct the world of the dodo and determine the factors of its demise
2. Raise public awareness of the importance and vulnerability of island biodiversity
3. Contribute towards the realisation of a Dodo Museum and a UNESCO World Heritage Park including the dodo mass grave

The research led to a large number of publications and important insights into the ecosystem of the dodo and into how the mass grave was formed. The main conclusion was that the dodo as a species was able to survive millions of years of climatic disasters, but was not able to withstand the manifold changes introduced by humans, who frequented the island from the 16th century onwards. A lesson for the world is that islands hold rare and vulnerable species that become threatened as soon as humans interact with their ecosystems.

A key publication summarising all our findings was published in the third monograph on the osteology of the dodo: L. P. A. M. Claessens, H. J. M. Meijer, J. P. Hume, and K. F. Rijsdijk (eds.), 2016. Anatomy of the Dodo (Raphus cucullatus L., 1758): An Osteological Study of the Thirioux Specimens. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Memoir 15. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 35 (6, Supplement).

Dodo Research

Because of the richness of the massgrave many scientific disciplines are involved to resolve the research questions. We hopeby understanding the ecosystem of Mauritius to contributetowards conservation and protection of threatened biota against extinction in island settings elsewhere. Our main research questions include:

• How did the dodo massgrave (Concentration-Lagerstätten) form?
• What conditions led to preservation of the subfossils (bones, wood, snails, insects), bone collagen and aDNA?
• How did the ecosystem respond to human impact?
• How will the remaining ecosystem respond to future scenarios of climate change and human impact?

The dodo-Lagerstätten and identification of natural archives elsewhere, in Mauritius provide unique conditions to reconstruct the prehuman ecosystem that may serve as a baseline for ecological restoration projects. Moreover, the late date of human colonisation of the island in 1638, and the Mauritian historical and archaeological archives, which contain a wealth of data on human activities since colonization, allow for quantitative assessment of human impact in a pristine natural volcanic island ecosystem. It provides a great opportunity for fundamental research on human impact on island ecosystem development, biodiversity changes and the extinction of species.

Dodo graveyard part of UNESCO World Heritage Park?

The dodo massgrave is unique in its kind. It belongs to one of the most bone rich natural graves in the world, it is so far the youngest of its kind (max. 4000 years old) and it is the only one found on a volcanic island so far. Being unique in the world it merits therefore a World Heritage status. As a UNESCO region it could be combined with other culturally important heritage sites within the Mahebourg region (SE Mauritius), including; Fort Frederik Hendrik (the location of first human settlement of Mauritius), Isles aux Aigrettes (where the original ecosystem is being restored by Mauritian Wildlife), and also it is the bay where Napoleon Bonaparte's fleet was defeated in 1810 and therefore includes a rich and unique marine archaeology.

Discovery in the World Press

The 2005 discovery of the dodo mass grave was world news, the news was heralded just before Xmas 2005.

• Holden C. 2006. World of the Dodo. Science 311: 155.
• Nicolls H. 2006. Digging for dodo. Nature 443, 138-140.
• Parker I. 2006. Letter fromMauritius: digging for dodos-hunting an extinct bird. New Yorker Magazine .
• Roth S. 2006. Graveyard of the dodos. National Geographic Magazine , August.
• Kleeman E. 2006. No# 85. Paleontology. Dodos lost world resurrected. Special issue Top 100 science stories of 2006. Discover Magazine .
• Zimmer C. 2006. Newfound Island graveyard may yield clues to dodo life long ago. New York Times .
• The best drawing of dodos I know! Drawing by Dr Julian P Hume (copyright owned by Hume)

Teaching Courses Involved

I am certified lecturer in University Teaching and Higher Education (BKO see url below).
Since 2008 I am part of the examiners board of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies (IIS).

I am coordinator/ Sr lecturer for:
1st yr Msc Earth Sciences Research Workshop (3 ECTS) (2012-present)
3rd yr Bsc Earth Sciences Bsc Thesis (30 ECTS) (2011 - present)
1st yr Bsc Future Planet Studies Natural Disasters and Future Threats (6 ECTS) (2011 - present)

I am lecturer in:
1st yr Msc Earth Science Vulnerability Assessment of Geo-ecosystems - Master School of Life and Earthsciences (12 ECTS) (2012 - present)
1st yr Bsc Biology Organisms in the environment (6ECTS) (2011 - present)
3rd yr Bsc Future Planet Studies Interdisciplinary Project: Sustainability (6 ECTS) (2011 - present)
3rd yr Bsc Beta Gamma Theme 3 part 2: Practice - Interdiciplinary Research Practical: Sustainability (4 ECTS) (2012 - present)
2nd yr Bsc Beta Gamma Theme 3 part 1: Theory - Interdisciplinary Research Practical: Sustainability (2 ECTS) (2011 - present)
1st yr Bsc Beta Gamma Theme 1: Humans in action : Sustainability (6 ECTS) (2011 - present)

I was principal lecturer in:
1st yr Bsc Earth Science Introduction in Physical Geography (3 ECTS) (2010)
1st yr Bsc Earth Science Geology Module (3 ECTZ) (2006-2010)
2nd yr Bsc Earth Sciences Geomorphological Processes (6/3 ECTS) (2006-2011)
2nd yr Bsc Earth Science Field practical Luxemburg: Geomorphology (12 ECTS) (2009-2013)
2nd yr Bsc Earth Sciences Geological Excursion Luxemburg (2 ECTS) (2006-present)I co-developed the curriculum for the first yr Bsc study Future Planet Studies (2006, 2007)