Oxford Long-Term Ecology Lab

Long-Term Ecology, Biodiversity Conservation, and Environmental Stewardship Technologies

 

Hsiao-Hang’s research interest lies in the fields of soil ecology, tropical agroecology and rural development. Her PhD project focuses on the effects of crop residue management on soil ecosystem functioning and services in oil palm plantations, which is under Biodiversity and ecosystem function in tropical agriculture project (BEFTA) and in collaboration with Smart Research Institute (SMARTRI) in Sumatra, Indonesia. She is supervised by Prof. Kathy Willis (University of Oxford, Kew) and Jake Snaddon (University of Southampton). She also collaborates with Southeast Asia International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI).

Before her doctoral training, she worked as a research assistant for Wetland Ecology Laboratory in Biodiversity Research Centre of Academia Sinica (Taipei) and Observer Ecological Consultant Co., Ltd (Taipei). Between 2009-10 she volunteered in New Zealand (Department of Conservation) and Australia (Conservation volunteer in Australia, CVA). Her background is in Botany (BSc, National Taiwan University, 2002-2006), and Molecular and Cellular Biology (MSc, National Taiwan University, 2006-2008).

 

Sustainable soDSCF3210il management is seen as one of the important strategies for increasing and maintaining ecosystem services in oil palm plantations. It is a method that is proposed to enhance palm oil production, improve soil health, and mitigate soil erosion. Application of the recycled oil palm residues, such as empty fruit bunches (EFB), is therefore a widely-used soil management practice in commercial oil palm plantations. Previous studies have shown that applying EFB in the field enhanced soil fertility and production. However, the influence of this practice on soil sustainability, such as soil biodiversity and physical properties, is largely unknown. This knowledge gap restrains our understanding and implementation of EFB, which has a great potential for improving ecosystem services within oil palm plantings. In her DPhil Hsiao-Hang developed an empirical approach to measure the soil biodiversity and physical properties at Indonesian long-term oil palm trials under different dosage and frequency of EFB application.

 

 

 


Selected Publications


Hsiao-Hang Tao, Eleanor M. Slade, Kathy J. Willis, Jean-Pierre Caliman , Jake L. Snaddon (2016Effects of soil management practices on soil fauna feeding activity in an Indonesian oil palm plantation. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 218 (2016):133-140. DOI 10.1016/j.agee.2015.11.012.

Hsiao-Hang Tao, Jake L. Snaddon, Eleanor M. Slade, Resti Wahyu, Jean-Pierre Caliman , Kathy J. Willis (2015) Effects of empty fruit bunch (EFB) application on soil fauna feeding activity in oil palm plantations. Conference proceedings for Workshop on sustainable management of soil in oil palm, Medan. http://aciar.gov.au/files/pr144-web.pdf

Chorng-Bin Hsu, Gwo-Wen Hwang, Jane-Fuh Lu, Chang-Po Chen, Hsiao-Hang Tao, Hwey-Lian Hsieh (2014). Habitat Characteristics of the Wintering Common Teal in the Huajiang Wetland, Taiwan. Wetlands 34 (6):1207-1218. DOI 10.1007/s13157-014-0581-7.

Conference presentations

Hsiao-Hang Tao, Snaddon, J.L., Caliman, J.P., Wilis, K.J. (2015) Oil palm empty fruit bunch application enhance soil biological functions. Annual meeting of British Society of Soil Science,  London, UK (Best Student Oral Presentation Award)

Hsiao-Hang Tao, Snaddon, J.L., Slade, E.M., Caliman, J.P., Wilis, K.J. (2015) Long-term effects of crop residue application on soil biota activities and functions in oil palm agroecosystems. British Ecological Society Early Career Researcher Meeting, Stirling, UK (Oral & Poster, with Best Poster Award)

Hsiao-Hang Tao, Snaddon, J.L., Slade, E.M., Caliman, J.P., Willis, K.J. (2015) Effects of long-term crop residue application on soil biota, aggregation and organic matter allocation in oil palm agroecosystems. Wageningen Soil Conference, Wageningen, Netherland (Oral presentation).

Hsiao-Hang Tao, Jake L. Snaddon, Eleanor M. Slade, Jean-Pierre Caliman, Kathy J. Willis (2015) Effects of soil management practices on soil fauna feeding activity in an Indonesian oil palm plantation. Early Careers Researcher Conference of British Society of Soil Science, York, UK (Oral presentation).

Hsiao-Hang Tao, Jake L. Snaddon, Eleanor M. Slade, Jean-Pierre Caliman, Kathy J. Willis (2015) Soil management practices effect on soil fauna feeding activity- a case study in an Indonesian oil palm plantation. Biosymposium 2015, Oxford, UK (Poster presentation)

Hsiao-Hang Tao, Jake L. Snaddon, Kathy J. Willis (2014) Effects of Management Practices on Soil Ecosystems in Indonesian Oil Palm Plantings. Southeast Asian Studies Symposium, Oxford (Oral presentation)

Hsiao-Hang Tao, Jake L. Snaddon, Resti Wahyu, Jean-Pierre Caliman, Kathy J. Willis (2014) Effects of Soil Management on Ecosystem Processes and Ecosystem Services in Oil Palm Pantingsin Indonesia. The 4th Conference on Oil Palm and Environment (ICOPE), Bali (Poster presentation)

Chorng-Bin Hsu, Hsiao-Hang Tao, Gou-Wen Huang, Chan-Po Chen, Hwey-Lian Hsieh (2012) The wintering habitat characteristics of the common teals in Huajiang Wetland, Taiwan. The 4th International EcoSummit, USA (Poster presentation)

Hsiao-Hang Tao, G.W. Hwang, J-F Lu, H.L. Hsieh, C.P. Chen, S.C. Huang (2011) Study on the habitat requirements of the common teals wintering in a wetland in northern Taiwan. Joint conference of SWS, WETPOL and Wetland Biogeochemistry conference, Czech of Republic (Poster presentation)

G.W.Huang, Hsiao-Hang Tao, J.F. Lu,S. S. Shih, H.H. Hsieh, C.P. Chen6, H. Y. Lee (2011) A pilot study on the vegetation cover of habitat suitability index for Ana crecca (common teal). Proceedings of 2011 Taiwan wetlands ecosystem conference, Taiwan Wetlands Society. 342-329.

L.F. Fan T.Y. Yang, C.H. Huang, C.M. Chiu, Hsiao-Hang. Tao, C.P. Chen, H.L. Hsieh (2011) A plan to reduce greenhouse gas emission in rice fields in Taiwan. Proceedings of 2011 Taiwan wetlands ecosystem conference, Taiwan Wetlands Society. 508-517.

Hsiao-Hang Tao, C.P. Chen, H.L. Hsieh (2010) Preliminary study on monitoring indicator system of Taiwan wetlands. Proceedings of 2010 Taiwan wetlands ecosystem conference, Taiwan Wetlands Society. 382-393