Royal Agricultural Society of England Research Medal for 2003 for research on diffuse pollution.
IPCC certificate for contribution towards the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize to the IPCC.
Research Management
I am a member of the Institute Executive Committee, Scientific Director for the Centre for Soils and Ecosystem Function and Head of the Department of Sustainable Soils and Grassland Systems at Rothamsted Research; the Department has a total complement of staff, students and visiting scientists of c 110 and a current FEC budget of c £5M per annum. I alsomanage the Cross-Institute Programme for Sustainable Soil Function (SoilCIP), which integrates research into soil science across Rothamsted Research, North Wyke Research, Edinburgh University (The UK Biochar Research Centre) the Macaulay Institute and the Scottish Crops Research Institute, with a current staff complement of c 50 and FEC budget of £4M per annum. My research interests cover four main areas: nutrient cycling, especially of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, nutrient losses from agriculture, farm system studies, and acid rain and soil acidification.
Recent Research Activities
I am Principal Investigator on 4 BBSRC-funded Institute Strategic Programme Grant projects: 'Maintaining soil resilience and function', 'Soil organic matter turnover', 'Soil carbon management' and 'Linking biogeochemical processes to soil functions'; on the Institute Integrative Award project: 'Environmental Change Network'; and on the Lawes Trust-funded project to manage the Rothamsted Classical and other long term experiments.
I am the Rothamsted PI on an HGCA-funded grant with NIAB-TAG on the variation of critical soil phosphorus indices.
Recent Policy and Knowledge Transfer Activities
I coordinated the recently completed review of Defra's Fertiliser Recommendations for Agricultural and Horticultural Crops (RB209) to create the 'Fertiliser Manual (RB209)'.
I am a regular presenter of workshops to farmers and advisers as part of the Fertiliser Advisers Certification and Training Scheme, FACTS, and to farmers and advisers at breakfast meetings, workshops, etc .
I am a member of the LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) Policy and Scientific Development Committee.
I am a member of Unilever s Sustainable Agriculture Advisory Board.
Honorary Positions
Visiting Professor at the University of Exeter, 2012-2015.
Visiting Professor at the University of Nottingham from 2003.
Visiting Professor at China Agricultural University, Beijing, from 2004.
Visiting Lecturer, University of Reading, from 1995.
Editing, Review Panels, Advisory Boards and Committees
Member of editorial board of the Journal of Science of Food and Agriculture, 1989-1994.
External examiner for the MSc Soil Chemistry (later Soil Science) course at the University of Reading from 1991-94.
Member of the UK Department of the Environment s panel Impacts of Nitrogen Deposition in Terrestrial Ecosystems , 1993-4.
Member of the Council of the British Society of Soil Science, 1995-7 and 2007-2012.
Member of the Council of the Institute of Professional Soil Scientists, 1996-2002 and 2009-10.
Member of the UK s Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions expert group on Indicators of Sustainability , 1997-8.
Member of the Soil Science Advisory Committee, 1998-2001.
Specialist Advisor for HEFC's Research Assessment Exercise - RAE2001, Earth and Environmental Sciences (E&ES) Panel.
Block Assessor for the Earth Block of a new Environmental Sciences Course (S216) at the Open University, 2001.
Invited international assessor of the Danish Institute for Agricultural Science, Foulum, 11-13 November 2003.
BBSRC representative on NERC's Committee on Air Pollution Effects Research (CAPER), from 2001.
External Assessor on Promotion Board for the Institute for Grassland and Environmental Research, from 2002.
Chair of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Group (STAG) of the Environmental Change Network , from 2003.
External assessor of the programme of research on long-term experiments at the Swedish Agricultural University, March 2006.
External assessor on the promotion board of Forest Research, October 2006.
Invited External Assessor for RERAD's Mid-Term Review of its research programme No 3, December 2008.
Invited External Assessor for Scottish Crop Research Institute's review of its Environment Plant Interactions Programme, December 2009.
External assessor of the Environment-Plant Interactions research programme at the Scottish Crops Research Institute, 2009.
Invited member of the International Science Advisory Group of the New Zealand Greenhouse Gas Research Centre, 2010-
Specialist Advisor for Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Scottish Funding Council, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, and the Department for Employment and Learning, Northern Ireland Research Excellence Framework – REF2014, Sub-panel 6: Agriculture, Veterinary and Food Science, 2011-2014.
International Experience Conference Presentations
1984 Fourth International Conference on Ion Exchange 'IEX'84', Churchill College, Cambridge.
1985 The American Chemical Society Symposium, 'Geochemical Processes at Mineral Surfaces', Chicago.
1986 XIII Congress of the International Soil Science Society, Hamburg.
1987 20th Colloquium of the International Potash Institute, 'Methodology in Soil Potassium Research', Vienna.
1988 Invited speaker, International Clay Conference, Warsaw.
1988 Invited speaker, 7th Colloquium International Association for the Optimisation of Plant Nutrition, Nyborg, Denmark.
1990 Proceedings VI Congreso Nacional de las Ciencias del Suelo, Temuco, Chile.
1992 Meeting of the Association of Applied Biology, 'Nitrate and Farming Systems', Churchill College, Cambridge.
1992 Invited speaker, 10th Colloquium International Association for the Optimisation of Plant Nutrition, Lisbon, Portugal.
1993 IGBP IGAC-TRAGEX Workshop, 'Building a trace gas network', Munich.
1994 Royal Society Discussion Meeting, 'Trace Gas Fluxes Between Land and the Atmosphere', Royal Society, London.
1994 IGBP IGAC-TRAGEX Workshop, 'Building a trace gas network', Czech Republic.
1994 Meeting of the European Geophysical Society, Grenoble, France.
1994 Meeting of the European Geochemical Society, Krakow, Poland.
1995 EC Workshop, 'Long-term effects of land use change', Arona, Italy.
1997 Organiser and invited speaker at the New Phytologist Third Symposium 'Major biological issues resulting from anthropogenic disturbance of the nitrogen cycle', University of Lancaster.
1997 Soil Acidification and metal mobilisation meeting, Lublin, Poland.
1997 American Society of Agronomy meeting on Best Management Practice for Water Quality Control, Anaheim, California.
1997 Meeting on Sustainability of Semi-Arid soils, ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria.
1998 Mixed farming Systems in Europe, Dronten, The Netherlands, 25-28 May 1998.
1998 Nutrient Budgeting Workshop, Niort, France, 8-10 July, 1998.
1999 Keynote speaker and conference organiser, Tackling Nitrate from Agriculture. Strategy from Science , MAFF, London, 24 June 1999.
1998 Invited speaker at XIV Latin American Congress of Soil Science, Pucon, Chile.
1999 Keynote speaker at British Society of Soil Science Conference Sustainable Use of Soil Organic Matter , Edinburgh, September 1999.
2000 Keynote speaker at British Society of Soil Science conference Soils, Environment and Health , Birmingham, April 2000.
2001 Invited speaker on research within MAFF's Nitrate Research Programme at the British Ecological Society meeting, Birmingham, 3-5 January 2001.
2001 Elected representative on British Council LINK-funded visit to New Zealand, 17 February - 4 March 2001. Presented four seminars on the UK Nitrous Oxide Inventory.
2001 'Distinguished Visitors Fund' visitor to the University of Western Australia, Perth, 19 October - 4 November 2001.
2002 Invited speaker at 'Forum: Qualite des sols', Ministere de l'Environnement, Paris, 15 May 2002.
2002 Invited speaker at the Soil Science Society of Ireland symposium 'Nitrogen, phosphorus, farming and water quality. An international perspective', University College Dublin.
2002 Invited speaker, OECD meeting 'Innovative soil-plant systems for sustainable agricultural practices', Izmir, Turkey, 3-7 June 2002.
2002 Invited visitor to China Agricultural University, Beijing. Delivered 6 seminars on improving fertiliser use efficiency.
2004 Plenary speaker, Food2004 conference, Uppsala, Sweden, 26-28 April 2004.
2004 Plenary speaker, 3rd International Nitrogen Conference, Nanjing, China, 12-16 October 2004.
2005 Member of Scientific Committee and Invited Speaker, International Workshop Where do fertilisers go? , Belgirate, Italy, 28-29 June 2005. (Organised by Institute for Environment and Sustainability, EU Joint Research Centre).
2005 Leo M. Walsh Soil Fertility Distinguished Lecturer at 69th ASA, CSSA, SSSA Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, 6-10 November 2005.
2006 Invited speaker: Long-term studies in ecology. A celebration of 150 years of the Park Grass Experiment , 22-24 May 2006, Rothamsted Research, UK.
2006 Invited speaker, Rank Prize Funds meeting: Can we improve the utilization of nitrogen in cereals , 15-18 May 2005, Grasmere, UK.
2006 Keynote speaker, Plant nutrients in organic farming, in Session 4.1A, Organic farming advantages and disadvantages for soils, water quality and sustainability, 18th World Congress of Soil Science, 9-15 July 2006, Philadelphia, USA
2007. Invited Keynote Speaker Impacts of the anthropogenically-enhanced nitrogen cycle on human health and air and water pollution , 11th COST 856 meeting, Denitrification: a challenge for pure and applied research, University of Aberdeen, 25-28 March 2007.
2007. Invited speaker, Long term soil research in the UK, 50th Anniversary Conference Success Stories of Agricultural Long-term Experiments , Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry (KSLA), 28-29 May 2007.
2008. Invited speaker, Inputs of N and S from fertilizers and the atmosphere and their impacts on soil process and function, 11th Chinese national Soils Congress, Beijing, 24-27 September 2008.
2008. Invited speaker, Bioresources to land: managing nutrients to complete the cycle , Sustainable Organic Resources partnership, Royal Academy of Engineering, London, 15 October 2008.
2009. Invited speaker, 'The potential for soil carbon sequestration, but with a full greenhouse gas budget', 22nd Annual Workshop of the Fertilizer and Lime Research Centre: Nutrient Management in a Rapidly Changing World , Massey University, Palmerston North Campus, New Zealand, 11-12 February 2009.
2010. Invited participant: UK-Brazil Soil Quality Workshop, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 21-24 March 2010.
2010. Speaker: 19th World Soil Science Congress, Brisbane, Australia.
2011 Invited speaker: Royal Society Discussion Meeting ‘Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture’, London, 28 February – 1 March 2011.
2011 Invited speaker: Royal Society Theo Murphy Scientific Meeting ‘Nitrous oxide, the forgotten greenhouse gas’, Kavli Centre, 23-24 May 2011.
2011 Invited speaker: BBSRC/NERC/Defra/DECC/Scottish Gov’t/LWEC meeting ‘Biological strategies for enhanced carbon storage in agricultural soils’, Wellcome Collection, London, 27 May 2011.
2012 Co-convenor: ‘Earth Under Pressure – Maximising the Value of Soils, ‘Planet Under Pressure’, London, 26-29 March 2012.
Advanced terrestrial ecosystem analysis and modelling (ATEAM)
The ATEAM project is a multi-partner project, which aims to assess the vulnerability of European Ecosystems to the broad-scale
environmental changes that are likely to occur in the 21st century. Rothamsted Research’s contribution to the project is as follows:
- Agroecosystems: Deliver new MAGEC submodels for inclusion in the coupled ATEAM structure to assess agroecosystem
biogeochemistry and vulnerability
- to determine the potential distribution of existing and new biofuel crops across Europe, and to determine how climate change would effect these distributions
- Upscaling: Contribute to the upscaling methodology for agroecosystem models
- Assessing ecosystem vulnerability: Asses the potential vulnerability of European agroecosystems. Assess the potential of particular
agroecosystems in particular regions of Europe
- Analysis and synthesis: Contribution to stakeholder workshops on matters related to agroecosystem. Contribution to press releases /
reports on matters related to agroecosystesm
BBSRC Quota Studentship: Assessment of the impact of biofuel crops on the physical distribution of soil organic matter (SOM)
The soil contains a heterogeneous maze of aqueous and gaseous filled pores formed between the complexes of organic and mineral materials that make the soil structure. Inside these pores the diverse bacterial component of the soil biota survives, driving the biological nutrient cycles derived from the organic matter input by plants. However the specificity of the bacterial location and substrates at these locations is still theoretical. This project is testing a novel approach to assess the contribution of pore-size to bacterial diversity in soil, initially using soil aggregates obtained at increasing depths from an observation trench under the perennial bioenergy grass Miscanthus x giganteus. The nucleotide analogue, bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), is added to soil aggregates using a pore-size model based on the soil’s water retention curve. The BrdU labels the actively dividing cells within contrasting pore-size ranges which can then be extracted and isolated through an optimised experimental procedure. A second experiment will assay for soil and plant derived enzymes that are being used as an indicator of the root/rhizosphere activity across the season and of substrates present. Thirdly, physical fractionation of the soil carbon on a seasonal and annual scale will aid understanding of soil organic matter dynamics that can be related to changes in the bacterial community. The objectives are to investigate the hypotheses that:
1. Different soil pores contain different bacterial communities that are reflected in the chemical composition of the SOM soil fractions
2. Miscanthus x giganteus fields accumulate higher SOM compared to other arable crops, which will increase pore-size and hence the number of available microhabitats for bacteria
3. There will be seasonal, annual and depth related trends in SOM quantity in Miscanthus that can be correlated to changes in bacterial populations
Better estimation of the efficiency of use of soil nitrogen
The objectives of this project are:
1. To investigate, using published and unpublished data, the efficiency of use of soil mineral nitrogen (SMN) by winter wheat, barley and oilseed rape, where inorganic nitrogen fertilisers are also being applied.
2. To use model simulations to identify and prioritise the factors that influence SMN use efficiency
3. To identify management practices that will help to optimise the efficiency of use of SMN
4. To identify future research that will improve our understanding of the factors affecting the availability and uptake of SMN, and our ability to predict and maximise its contribution to crop requirement.
Dynamics of organic carbon in soil
The organic carbon content of a soil influences virtually all of its physical, chemical and biological properties. These greatly influence
agricultural productivity and sustainability and the wide range of environmental services provided by soil including regulation of water
quality and atmospheric composition and its role as a reservoir of biodiversity. By linking the Rothamsted Carbon Model (RothC) with spatial data on soil type, land cover and climate we are quantifying the extent to which soils can sequester carbon through changes in land management. By linking RothC with the Hadley Centre models of climate and vegetation we are estimating the extent to which climate change will cause a release of CO2 into the atmosphere, thus worsening climate change.
Objectives
1. Assess the potential for sequestration or release of carbon in soils as influenced by changes in land management, land use or climate.
2. Test and, where necessary, improve the Rothamsted Carbon Model (RothC) using datasets from long-term experiments worldwide.
3. Identify and understand the range of mechanisms leading to stabilisation of organic C in soils.
4. Assess the extent to which organic C is subsoil is stabilised compared with that in topsoil.
5. Increase understanding of soil C dynamics using physical fractionation and spectroscopic methods.
Environmental Change Network
The UK Environmental Change Network (ECN), established in 1992, monitors key components of environmental change and seeks to relate them to controlling factors such as land management. Rothamsted is a founding site of the ECN, and its ECN activities continue and extend the long-term monitoring that has always been part of its Classical and other long-term experiments. ECN measurements provide comprehensive data essential for quantifying environmental change and underpinning research at Rothamsted and elsewhere relevant to 'Living With Environmental Change'. ECN measurements contribute to and are augmented by SoilCIP ISPG research projects on carbon and greenhouse gas budgets and losses of nitrogen and phosphorus to waters. The ECN is connected to international environmental change monitoring projects, particularly the EU FP7 ALTERNET project.
Objectives:
1. To quantify environmental change and determine the factors controlling change within the UK Environmental Change Network.
2. To underpin environmental change projects studying the impacts of land management on carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions and losses of nitrogen and phosphorus to waters, and develop sustainable land management strategies.
How far will medium term weather forecasts improve assessment of risks?
There is potential for medium term weather forecasts to be made available to the farming community. It seems likely that such information will greatly improve the accuracy with which farmers can obtain site and season specific fertiliser recommendations using models such as SUNDIAL. The extent of potential benefits must be quantified to allow MAFF to assess the emphasis that should be given to medium term forecasts in future funding. The purpose of the proposed project is to quantify the potential of medium term forecasts to improve the accuracy of fertiliser recommendation and assessment of the risks of loss to the environment and reduced crop nitrogen uptake. This 12 month project will compare results obtained assuming (1) no access to weather forecasts (weather obtained as is currently practised in SUNDIAL-FRS using the sectioning method) (2) access to weather forecasts with 100% accuracy (hypothetical weather forecasts obtained using the weather generator ETCETERA), and (3) access to weather forecasts with reduced accuracy (for example, introduced as a variation about the mean over a range of timescales). Simulations will be run using the SUNDIAL model on sandy, loam and clay soils with a winter cereal (winter wheat), a spring cereal (spring wheat), a leaky crop (potatoes) and a high residue input crop (winter oilseed rape). Weather conditions will be selected that typify wet/warm, wet/cool, dry/warm, dry/cool and average weather conditions at different times of the year. The fertiliser recommendations obtained using no forecast, forecast with 100% accuracy and reduced accuracy forecast will be compared. The forecasts will project over a range of durations (e.g. 3 weeks, 2 months to harvest). The comparison will investigate the confidence intervals for predicted crop nitrogen uptake, leaching and gaseous emissions, so quantifying the assessment of risks associated with each type of weather data. The results will be expressed in terms of potential economic saving in nitrogen attributable to the use of medium term forecasts in nitrogen fertiliser recommendation systems, and the risk of reduced crop yield. The accuracy in forecasts needed to produce a given improvement in fertiliser recommendations will be quantified.
InterSard-Asia: Developing a learning network for sharing information on good practices for sustainable agriculture, natural resources management and community based development
The InterSard-Asia project goal was to develop IT tools and skills to enhance accessibility and use of existing knowledge and information to support Sustainable Agriculture (SA), natural resources management (NRM) and Community Based Development (CBD) in South and Southeast Asia. The information supports local communities in solving local problems.
Specific objectives for the InterSard-Asia project were to:
1. Provide an institutional framework for European and Asian organisations involved in Information Management (IM), Information Technology (IT) and organisations involved in research or development projects (content providers) to share information on good practices of institutional development and agricultural technologies.
2. Increase the knowledge and skills of European and Asian partners for Information Management and web-based collaborative IT systems in order to increase the effectiveness of data management in a common platform for knowledge sharing.
3. Develop mechanisms and procedures to share information on good practices in a commonly agreed format, handled in similar procedures, and with a common understanding on the definition of "Good practices" and on the Intellectual Property Rights related to these practices and the information system
4. Implement a pilot for the integrated web-based tools to share and manage information on good practices in a decentralised manner, based on the agreed formats and procedures and on importing data from existing web-pages and off-line databases
5. Make available existing key documents and start sharing detailed descriptions of experiences and good practices
LIFE - The effect of ploughing after non-inversion tillage
IFS for combinable arable crops through non-inversion tillage has proved to be a sustainable and profitable approach to crop production with many advantages for the environment. Less agrochemicals and Nitrogen are applied, reduced fuel and machinery is used, particularly in crop establishment; there is improvement in the % Organic matter in the soil, less likelihood of soil erosion occuring, substantial reductions in diffuse polution and an increase in earthworms and other beneficial invertebrates.These positive parameters increase and consolidate with time, but a single operation of inverting the soil by ploughing is thought to rapidly negate many of these accumulated benefits. The IFS field units (of c.1ha) were split longditudinally in two in the Autumn of 2001, one half of each plot was then ploughed and then both halves similarily cropped according to the phase of the LIFE rotation, the SFP plots (ploughed annually for the last 12 years) continue as before.
Changes in % Organic matter will be measured and compared with historical records, light fraction determination of the organic matter will be done together with the C: N ratio.
Soil N to depth will be determined at critical times to evaluate N leaching potential. P in the top soil layers will also be measured. Drainage water from existing drainage outlets will be analysed for N and P content.
Crop yields will be taken at the end of the season (summer 2002) – this could possibly be repeated in 2003 should significant differences be found in the first harvest.
Prior to and post cultivation for sowing crops, shallow soil samples will be taken and weeds “germinated” to quantify species and numbers, which may affect herbicide choice and usage.
Earthworm, invertebrate and aphid populations will be monitored at appropriate times and compared with previous field histories.
Soil cores will be taken before the initial ploughing to provide, if needed, a benchmark for weed seedbank levels. Although each half of a split plot will receive the same levels of fertilser and agrochemicals, any major differences in crop growth/development, disease, pest or weed incidence will be recorded.
The overall objectives are to identify the changes that take place to the soil structure /aggregation when ploughing takes place, to measure the effect on different crops in the rotation and on key indicator species of soil fauna and flora. To identify best practices to minimise the negative effects when ploughing is a necessity.
Livelihoods improved in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh
This project addresses the need to improve the livelihoods of the rural poor, both landless and landed, men and women, in areas of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The livelihoods of these people are grounded in agriculture and it is expected that some of these gains will be derived from adoption, improvement, and development of new, crop, soil and land management technologies. At the same time it is evident that conventional approaches to the delivery of research findings to extension and extension to farmers have not led to the expected livelihood gains. Therefore this project addresses how research can contribute to the improvement of the support services upon which people draw.
The project aims to demonstrate to influential stakeholders and actors a process and methodology for researchers to work effectively with rural communities. It tests an institutional approach to enhance social and financial capital at a community level and build human capital, leading to expression of demand for research products, pro-active participation and equity in exchange of knowledge. The methods are monitored assessed and documented by project stakeholders enabling new lessons learnt and messages for target institutions to developed and promoted.
Long-term experiments in nutrient cycling research
There are many factors which impact upon the complex biological, chemical and physical processes which govern nutrient cycling in soils. Relatively stable properties such as mineral content interact with slowly changing properties such as organic matter content and pH and dynamic properties such as soil microbial biomass and moisture content to control nutrient pool sizes and transformations. These properties are impacted upon by land management, climate and atmospheric pollution; global change will impact on all of these. Long-term experiments are invaluable for obtaining reliable data on inputs, outputs and changes in soil properties. In this project the long-term experiments at Rothamsted and Woburn are used to investigate how nutrient cycling is controlled by external factors through their effects on soil properties in two ways. First, the measurement of crop yields and the regular sampling and analysis of crops and soils from the long-term experiments forms a unique and invaluable database and archive for determining and modelling long-term trends and the factors that control them. Second, the well-characterised long-term experiments provide a perfect test bed and source of samples for basic research into nutrient cycling.
Objectives
1. To construct nutrient budgets and more detailed measurements of key nutrient pools for several long-term experiments.
2. To relate the budgets to controlling factors such as soil type and management, and to global change.
3. To determine the sustainability and environmental impact of agricultural systems.
Maintaining soil resilience and function for sustainable land management
Sustainable land management practices are required that maintain soil quality and biodiversity and minimise diffuse pollution to air and water, i.e. maintain a range of ecosystem functions and services. The basic hypothesis of this project is that a better understanding and quantification of the biodiversity and the biotic and abiotic processes that occur in soils, through the exploitation of novel and conventional methods on long-term experiments, will identify important controls of nutrient cycling, greenhouse gas emissions and pollutant removal and facilitate the development of such practices. Research within this project focuses on achieving a better understanding of the resilience to change of the key soil properties and processes involved in biogeochemical cycling, particularly of carbon and nitrogen. The long-term experiments and platform sites at Rothamsted, Woburn and North Wyke, present unique and invaluable resources for conducting research into biogeochemical cycling in stable ecosystems, the management of which is precisely defined and documented. The major focus of the project will be the initiation of a new and unique multidisciplinary experiment that will study the microbial diversity and function, carbon chemistry, soil architecture and nitrogen fluxes of 40 to 50-year old bare fallow, grass and arable soils on the Highfield Ley-Arable Experiment at Rothamsted, before and after changes of land use.
Objectives:
1. To observe the transitions that accompany land use changes between fallow, arable and grassland using new techniques from the molecular level upward.
2. To study the impacts of land use and global change on carbon and nitrogen cycling, greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient losses to waters, and above- and below-ground biodiversity and develop improved land management practices.
Microbial function in nitrogen and carbon transformations
To meet the requirements for economically and environmentally sustainable agriculture, soils have to fulfil multiple functions simultaneously. These include the physical requirements for crop production, supply of nutrients, maintenance of biodiversity and biological processes, regulation of water quality and atmospheric composition. Organic matter content and the activity of the soil microbial population influences virtually all soil properties and functions.
A key objective of Programme 444 Carbon Cycling is to identify the mechanisms by which organic carbon influences soil functions and to provide the fundamental understanding required for manipulation. Research ranges from detailed studies on the ecology of methane oxidising bacteria to regional scale scenario studies on the potential for sequestration of carbon in soil through land use change.
This project uses of state-of-the-art physical, chemical and spectroscopic methods to identify specific forms of organic matter in soil that can be related at a fundamental level to microbial function and diversity and tests possible strategies to manipulate soil-plant-microbe interactions.
Modelling nitrogen fluxes in tundra ecosystems on Svalbard
The high Arctic is a relatively pristine ecosystem which is increasingly subject to exported aerial pollution and higher than average climatic temperature change. These factors combine to impose considerable potential change to important biogeochemical processes (eg carbon and nitrogen cycling) and ecosystem dynamics. Any pollutants (eg various forms of N) which accumulate in the snow pack are deposited, when the snow melts, as a "pulse" into the ecosystem. We propose to address the following questions: a) how important is this event in transferring enhanced N deposition to tundra ecosystems, and how much is lost as run-off into lacustrine or marine environments, b) how does enhanced N affect the carbon cycle ( ie plant growth, decomposition processes) and c) what is the impact on soil N mineralization/immobilization dynamics. We plan to address these issues via a multi-disciplinary approach using a team of soil scientists, geochemists, microbial ecologists and an environmental modeller over two seasons at a high arctic site at Ny Alesund in Svalbard.
The specific experimental aims of the proposal are to:
1. determine the relative importance of snow meltwater-N and soil-N sources for plant growth and the importance of selected plants (eg mosses and lichens) as major scavengers of nitrate- and ammonium-N
2. determine the extent of nitrification of meltwater-derived ammonium and leaching of nitrate prior to biological assimilation.
3. elucidate the impact and transfer rates of enhanced N deposition on the dynamics of the decomposer community and N remineralization in the soil.
4. determine (changes in) the long term transfer rate of deposited N to stable forms of humus-N.
5. quantify gross mineralization ,immobilization and nitrification rates in the summer period.
6. use the data on N-fluxes derived in the project to develop and parameterize a predictive model of environmental response to enhanced N inputs in the high maritime Arctic.
The experimental aims will be addressed using a combination of 15N labelling and natural abundance isotopic techniques.
Soils within the catchment sensitive farming programme: a project to deliver improvements in soil organic matter management
Based on an analysis of our findings to date (e.g. Defra project SP0310) we will establish the generalised relationships between environmental factors, soil type and current and past management practice to determine current SOM (soil organic matter) status and the potential for improving it through new changes in organic matter management.
Using these relationships we will develop a simple set of questions, the answers to which will reliably identify fields where management change should lead to an increase in total SOM (measured as soil organic carbon) over time.
We will then test the sensitivity of the "active carbon" (Active-C) indicator, developed in Defra project SP0310, to confirm these management changes impact of the trajectory of soil organic matter, and establish a benchmark against which future levels can be compared (to confirm the predictive abilities of the Active-C measure).
The sites used in the evaluation of Active-C will be identified within eight catchments designated as high risk (with respect to carbon loss) and encompassed within the Defra Catchment Sensitive Farming initiative.
STAMINA - Stability assessment for arable land use on sloped terrain under increased climatic variation
Sustainable development needs meaningful indicators for the stability of arable production systems. Arable land located on slopes may suffer yield losses from 30 to 90 % due to drought, frost and heat stress. Future climatic variation could enhance such impact. Predictive tools are needed to assess the adaptation capacity of arable systems (e.g. variety selection).
This project develops an integrated assessment tool with improved models for the impact of the physical environment on soil processes and crop performance. The aim of this work is to provide an indicator-based assessment and crop management scheme, which can be used for Gen-Environment evaluation.
Overall objective is to link process models for interaction of soil, crop and atmosphere to geographic information (soil, terrain). The key objectives are:
1) to quantify local water and energy balance related to slope, aspect and altitude and to model the micro-meteorological process(MM);
2) to improve simulation abiotic stress in soil-crop models (SCM) to account for spatial effects and extreme events at the field scale;
3) to up-scale MM process using a digital terrain model (DTM) and to integrate all models (MM, DTM, SCMs) via GIS, and
4) to derive agro-ecological indicators (AEI) for cropping systems to evaluate management and climate scenarios at the regional scale.
In support of sustainable land use evaluation and strategic decision making, thematic maps and probabilistic indicators will be generated for current and future climate. A risk communication platform will be established to interact with the potential end-users and the policy network.
Strengthening rural services for improved livelihoods in Bangladesh
The project purpose is to enable organisations in Bangladesh that provide agricultural extension and related services to poor rural people, to better target their own services and also to facilitate their clients’ access to services of other providers. This would be achieved by facilitating organisations’ understanding of processes by which information is exchanged, evaluated and used by their clients, and then by monitoring a series of interventions aimed at strengthening clients’ access to information relating to their access, use and management of natural capital.
Database component
This project component aims to pilot test in Bangladesh the Integrated Crop Management (ICM) database, which was an output of project R7600. The ICM technology database is seen as one of the key elements in a strengthened decision-support system that would enable information on potentially farmer-useable technologies to be accessed near farm level. It is envisaged that adoption, use and adaptation of the database by organisations engaged in farmer extension will contribute to promoting efficient provision of rural services to the poor.
Information strategy component
The information strategy component will explore how to improve access to and usability of ICM-related information, thus enabling poor people in Bangladesh to make choices that give them better access to rural services that concern, in a wide sense, their strategies for management of natural capital.
The information strategy aims to alter current access to rural services by helping institutions and their poorer clients to communicate more effectively. This will provide a way of obtaining information that is not pre-packaged and which does not respond to the demands of the different livelihoods of target groups of men and women operating under highly variable agro-ecological and market conditions.
Structuring infrastructures for the analysis and experimentation on ecosystems (ANAEE): RRES grant
This EU design study aims to develop a new concept for the integration of European research infrastructures for scientific research on agro-ecosystems, natural ecosystems and the environment.
The main objectives of this project are:
1.To make an inventory of Ecotrons (controlled environment facilities ) and long-term experiments (LTEPs) in Europe suitable for inclusion in a research network, and identify research teams that could joint the network.
2.To develop a shared vision of the ANAEE infrastructures and identify common research topics through the organization of meetings and workshops. During these meetings the main questions to be tackled by environmental researchers in future will be identified and discussed. Three working groups will be organised for each of the three components of the ANAEE project: Ecotrons, LTEP and Modelling and Computing facilities.
3. To develop plans for an integrated research network by:
(i) Obtaining estimates of the investment and the recurrent costs for each type of infrastructure and identify national institutions, or others funding sources, that could support the network.
(ii) Identifying a consortium of volunteer research teams that could actively support the emergence of an integrated European research infrastructure.
(iii) Determininge the best governance system for such an integrated and shared infrastructure.
4 To lobby national research institutions and funding bodies to convince them of the importance of supporting the proposed research network and infrastructures as a prerequisite for improving the excellence of national research teams through increased scientific exchange and improved co-ordination of research programmes across Europe. A lobbying action will be undertaken in order to create a trans-national consortium.
The ′Classical′ experiments: Broadbalk and Park Grass
The 'Classical' and other long-term experiments at Rothamsted, and the associated soil and plant archive, comprise a unique resource extending back over 160 years. This resource is used to study the long-term sustainability of various cropping systems, particularly the impacts of intensive agriculture and environmental pollution, on sustainable agricultural systems, especially nutrient cycling, soil quality and plant diseases. The experiments also provide the platform for Rothamsted’s Environmental Change Network site.
Recent areas of research interest include:
1) lant species diversity in semi-natural grassland
2) Crop pathogen diversity and atmospheric S deposition
3) Selenium deficiency in wheat grain and S fertiliser applications.
4) Wheat gene expression in relation to different manuring regimes on Broadbalk
5) Development of the Roth C soil organic matter model to include the turnover of sub-soil organic matter.
The effect of black carbon on the stabilisation of soil organic matter
This project will advance our understanding of the factors that control turnover of organic matter in soils by establishing the role of black carbon, the ubiquitous and highly reclacitrant products of biomass and industrial bruning. The knowledge gained will be important in optimizing strategies to mitigate climate change through active management of agricultural soils. Amazonian Black Earths (terra preta) have accumulated atypically high levels of organic matter due to anthropogenic amendment with charcoal (black carbon) in distant history (up to 6000 years ago). We will use these soils as a model to: i) Establish the effect of black carbon on the dynamics of organic matter in soil; and ii) Investigate the properties and processes associated with black carbon which lead to stabilization of labile carbon. To meet these objectives we will a) Apply conventional and new process-based simulation models to measure the effects on short- and long-term soil organic matter dynamics of black carbon, using measurements from a chronosequence of terra preta and adjacent (otherwise identical) soils, and incubation-fractionation experiments using the same soils amended with labile substrates; b) Use new nanoscale techniques to measure and characterize labile carbon stabilized onto the surfaces of black carbon particles in terra preta soils of contrasting age; c) Use latest stable isotope probing and other molecular techniques to confirm that the microhabitat of black carbon particles is inhabited by a distinct microbial population; and d) Apply spectroscopic characterizations to black particles from terra preta chronosequences in order to establish the period (centuries to millennia) over which the surfaces of black carbon particles produced in biomass burning remain highly aromatic.
Using long-term experiments to study the sustainability of agroecological systems
The project will regularly sample and analyse the crops and soils from the long-term experiments and examine these in relation to the controlling factors of weather, pollution and management.
Project Leader
Application and development of a UK nitrous oxide emission model
Estimates of annual N2O emission from agricultural land in the UK have tended to be simple in approach, using generalised annual emission factors, applicable to all circumstances and conditions, to calculate emissions. Because of the complex nature of nitrous oxide evolution, and its sensitivity to environmental and management conditions, a more mechanistically based approach is preferable. Research during MAFF contract OC9601 adapted the mechanistic model DNDC for UK agriculture. Project CC0243 takes this work forward, calculating the effects of a range of land use change scenarios on N2O emissions but including all aspects of the N cycle to be quantified. This provides a powerful tool for investigating the effect of strategies for the mitigation of one environmentally undesirable loss pathway on another. Estimates of N2O from other components of the landscape, for example from woodlands, will also be included since they are not directly due to agricultural management, but may be affected by agriculture in the vicinity.
Objectives
1. Establish the likely outcomes of a range of farm management practices and mitigation strategies for nitrous oxide emissions.
2. Update the existing N2O inventory spreadsheet using EFs calculated.
3. Assess the effects of strategies of abatement for other losses of environmental concern on losses of nitrous oxide.
4. Investigate the possible effects of climate change on (i) emission from key land-use types and from the UK as a whole (ii) the efficacy of the proposed abatement strategies under the new climatic conditions.
5. Collect, collate and analyse data on N2O emission from ‘control’ areas of grassland to validate our estimate of baseline emission from this main crop.
6. Provide data on N2O emission from crops where model output indicates that emission may be high.
7. Produce annual updates of nitrous oxide emission from agriculture, initially using MAFF’s IPCC-based methodology.
Assessing soil based solutions to carbon management
Globally, 50% of the carbon fixed by photosynthesis cycles back into the atmosphere via the soil. However, mean residence times for non-living organic matter in soil are long (decades) compared to that of atmospheric CO2 (years). The world’s soils consequently contain two to three times as much carbon and good soil management is vital for both greenhouse gas balance and, potentially, climate change mitigation. Theoretically soil-stored carbon can be increased by: putting more carbon in (increasing NPP), putting it deeper in the soil, or possibly managing soil disturbance or ‘quality’ of plant inputs in a way that retards breakdown. Cropping perennial biomass crops on land formerly used for grain production is likely to affect each of these parameters. Further, producing bioenergy from biomass pyrolysis offers an opportunity to genuinely sequester a portion of carbon in agricultural by-products into the soil as the recalcitrant char by-product (biochar), whose natural analogues have a residence time of 1000 to 10000 yrs. Since biochar also appears to moderate water dynamics and both gaseous and leaching losses of N, it has the potential to very significantly alter the greenhouse gas balance of arable agriculture, at the same time as maintaining physical benefits usually associated with more labile organic matter fractions.
Objectives:
1. Evaluate the trajectory of carbon in soils planted from arable to perennial biomass crops, and the contrasting physical distribution of this carbon within the soil and with respect to depth.
2. Gain a mechanistic description of the processes involved in the above by integrating soil physical fractionation techniques with allied models, focusing particularly on root-soil interactions.
3. Conduct a systematic evaluation of biochar research needs relevant to various ‘models’ of implementation.
4. Evaluate the dynamics of root carbon in biochar-enriched soil using integrated measurement-modelling approaches.
Assessing the role of dissolved and particulate organic matter (DON/PON) in N cycling within natural, semi-natural and agro eco-systems in the UK
Dissolved organic N, DON, and particulate organic N, PON, have been identified as key N pools in forest, tundra and heathland and are present in soil solution and upland stream waters, in concentrations greater than either NH4+ or NO3-. MAFF funded research concluded that leached DON could also be an important route of N loss from agricultural soils. In this project we shall undertake a detailed study of DON/PON characterisation in a range of soil and land use types across the UK. We shall investigate the role that DON/PON play in soil N cycling, particularly within mineralisation-immobilisation turnover, direct microbial assimilation and plant uptake. We shall obtain a greater understanding of the mechanisms controlling the quantity and behaviour of DON/PON within soil and the factors controlling DON/PON pool sizes, their transformation within the soil/plant N cycle, and their subsequent contribution to leaching losses.
Objectives
1. Measure mineral N and DON/PON pool sizes in soils from contrasting natural, semi-natural and agro-ecosystems throughout the UK.
2. Incorporate data on mineral N, DON/PON, plant analysis, soil type and climate into existing databases.
3. Determine if a relationship based on a plant quality index and soil parameters (pH, clay content, OM content) can be used to predict the ratio of mineral N: DON in soil.
4. Develop novel methods of 15N-DON characterisation.
5. Determine the components of DON that are mineralised, and those which are directly used by micro-organisms and plants, or lost by leaching under key vegetation types.
6. Compare the soil solution DON along an organic matter gradient to establish the influence of soil organic matter content.
7. Determine the impact of N additions (fertiliser, N deposition) and management practices (tillage, liming and grazing) on the form and function of DON.
8. Develop management strategies to reduce losses of DON.
Atmospheric deposition and its impact on ecosystems
Atmospheric deposition and its impact on soil and soil processes is a major agricultural and environmental problem. Acid rain has been the chief concern for many years, with sulphur from power stations and industry causing the acidification of soil and waters, reducing crop yields in the most severe cases, and always impacting on biodiversity. Now nitrogen is the main atmospheric pollutant, eutrophying as well as acidifying soils and waters. It has been calculated that more than twice as much reactive nitrogen is emitted as in pre-industrial times. Whilst some forms have only localised effects, other forms, especially oxidised species are transported around the globe, disturbing ecosystems. This project measures atmospheric nitrogen deposition and the impacts of deposited nitrogen, especially on nitrogen cycling processes in soil. Its objectives are:
1. To continue to measure all forms of nitrogen deposited to land and the variations with time and space.
2. To use stable isotope techniques with 15N to measure the impacts of atmospheric N on soil processes specifically and ecosystems generally.
Brimstone - NPS: Developing Integrated Land Use and Manure Management Systems to Control Diffuse Nutrient Losses from Drained Soils
ADAS is compiling all the data on nitrate leaching from the Brimstone Experiment. Rothamsted is contracted to supply data that ADAS does not already have. This comprises:
1) Nitrate - N concentrations in drainage water by plot, for harvest years from 1993 to 2000 (ADAS already hold data for 1985 – 1988 and 1989 – 1992). For each sample, where analysis is available, the sample date/time and nitrate – N concentration will be provided. The data will be provided as a single Excel worksheet for each year containing for each monitored plot paired values of date+time and concentration.
2) N balance, i.e. a summary of N inputs/outputs for each year where records available (harvest years 1980 – 2000) by plot and means by treatment, including crop type, sowing date, harvest date, fertiliser applied (N, P, K), grain N offtakes, plus details of whether straw was incorporated. The data will also include soil mineral nitrogen measurements, in depth increments of 0-90 cm (kg/ha). The data will be supplied in Excel spreadsheets.
The timetable for supplying the data is:
31/08/03 – Initial meeting to discuss data requirements
31/01/04 - Provide draft Excel spreadsheets
30/06/04 - Complete data collation and supply to ADAS.
Carbon and nitrogen transformations in soils
The cycling of carbon and nitrogen in soils controls both the availability of nitrogen to crop plants and semi-natural vegetation and the losses of nitrogen to the environment. Recent developments in techniques have opened up new opportunities for research in these areas. This project applies new techniques in soil organic matter analysis and stable isotope tracers to measuring and modelling the pools of nitrogen and carbon in soils. It aims to obtain a better understanding of the transformation processes that cycle N and C around soil systems and the intricate links between N and C.
Objectives
1. To develop and use physical fractionation techniques to separate soil organic matter into measurable, meaningful and modellable pools in soil.
2. To use the stable isotopes 13C and 15N at both natural abundance and enriched levels (by labelling) to study measure the key pools and transfer processes of C and N, especially mineralisation, nitrification and immobilisation.
3. To construct new, mechanistic models to describe these processes.
Defra research in agriculture and environmental protection 1990-2005: Summary and analysis
There is a need within Defra to catalogue and summarise the results of scientific research projects commissioned by MAFF/Defra over the last 14 years to inform future Defra research policy. The research of interest is the programme of Environment Protection (Agriculture) research, including water and air pollution with nutrients and soil issues, but not biodiversity/ Farmland conservation or pesticides. Some programmes such as those for Ammonia Emissions, Climate Change Impacts and Nitrate Leaching have already been comprehensively reviewed, and these reviews will be integral to this review process. The work will be reviewed, and summarised into a single document that crystallises the current knowledge in each field.
Objectives:
1. To produce an authoritative review of the research conducted into soil, water and air pollution and degradation, carried out under the Environment Protection (Agriculture) Programme administered by the Chief Scientist’s group in MAFF and Natural Resources and Rural Affairs Directorate General of Defra, between 1990 and 2004.
2. To report on the policy implications of the reviewed science. This will involve linking the summarised research to Defra’s policy objectives, so that its relevance and implications for current and future policy is clearly described.
Determining the environmental burdens and resource use in the production of agricultural and horticultural commodities
Different methods of producing agricultural commodities are likely to consume different amounts of primary energy and emit different quantities of pollutants. A comparison of production systems requires a method that provides an objective calculation of the primary energy consumption and environmental burdens associated with the production of that commodity. This project will determine the environmental burdens and resource use involved in producing ten, specified agricultural and horticultural commodities using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The implementation of the LCA model in Excel will follow the disciplined approach of the Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM). The model will be designed so that policy makers can use it to inform policy decisions, e.g. identification of high risk areas (hot spots) in production systems and direction of research to overcome them. The model developed will help policy makers as well as livestock and arable producers distinguish between the burdens of alternative systems and hence to make more informed choices about future options.
Objectives:
1) To develop a conceptual model to quantify the environmental burdens and resource use associated with the production of agricultural and horticultural commodities using the principles of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).
2) To identify and classify the major typical production systems in England and Wales for the commodities specified and define a production process flow chart for each system.
3) To establish the mass and energy flows for each commodity and ensure that the sources and derivation are clearly identified and the uncertainties quantified.
4) To code the LCA model in a package with all the main data readily accessible
5) To use the LCA model to analyse these production systems and demonstrate that the model can compare production systems and can identify high risk parts the systems.
6) To publish and publicise the working LCA model.
Development of a prototype soil nitrogen supply calculator
Although there are many nitrogen (N) supply calculators in existence they are either very simple (e.g. RB209) or very complex and generally embedded in larger models. The simple systems do not estimate soil N supply effectively; the more complex systems are either research tools or, even if advisory tools, often require more parameters to run than are easily available to most agricultural decision makers. We propose to develop a prototype of a practical system for calculating N supply from all sources - soil, manure, crop residues: SNSCAL - a soil nitrogen supply calculator. The underlying model will be based on either existing or newly developed (by us) algorithms, also taking account of recent experimental data. Once the model underlying the SNS calculator has been developed we shall be consulting with Defra regarding an add-on project for further independent validation and improvement of the model, with the development of a ‘toolbox’ of approaches most appropriate to end-users.
Objective:
To produce a prototype soil nitrogen supply calculator (SNSCAL) for advisory purposes, to take account of N release from soil organic matter, crop residues and the organic component of manures/composts.
Environmental benchmarks of arable farming
Agriculture is under considerable pressure to change from what is seen as an essentially intensive and often polluting industry towards systems that produce 'safe' food and deliver an improved environment. Whilst this view is based on perception as much as fact there is no doubt that modern agriculture contributes to air and water pollution and has changed the environment. Agriculture must respond to public and policy pressure and change its practices. However, it must still maintain economic sustainability, i.e. profitability. This aim of overall sustainability, including profit, is summed up in the UK Government's Strategy for Sustainable Development's four objectives: (i) social progress which recognises the needs of everyone; (ii) effective protection of the environment; (iii) prudent use of natural resources; (iv) maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment.
But before progress in achieving sustainability can be assessed we need to quantify the present state, set achievable objectives as targets, and have the means of measuring progress towards these targets. Benchmarking arable agriculture was the highest rated research priority in the Defra Scoping study to identify new research opportunities in the area of arable crops and environmental interactions (IS0103).
The MEASURES model can both quantify the current state of UK farms with respect to multiple environmental objectives, economics and labour and predict the impact on farms of setting new targets. The main purpose of this project is to quantify the baseline environmental emissions associated with arable production per unit of functional output as it is now and with improved techniques. Defra and other stakeholders will thus be informed about the current levels of emissions and the likely impact of different agricultural practices on the environment and on overall sustainability.
Farm nutrient auditing: Support to PLANET (Benchmarking)
The overall objective of the project is to develop a standard nutrient audit methodology for calculating whole-farm nitrogen and phosphorus budgets, and to use the methodology to compile desk-study nutrient budget ‘benchmarks’ for typical farm enterprises. We will review the different approaches used in the UK and other European Countries (e.g. Netherlands, Poland) in the development of a recommended standard methodology. Where robust data are available, we will recommend ‘benchmarks’ for assessing nutrient use efficiency on farms expressed on a farm level or land area basis (e.g. nutrient balance per farm or per hectare), or on a livestock unit or per unit of output basis (e.g. litres milk per kg nutrient applied, kg nutrient per 1000 litres milk/unit of meat production etc.). At present, there is no standard methodology for calculating nutrient budgets and there are no accepted ‘benchmarks’ figures against which to assess farm nutrient use efficiency. The recommendations from this project will be an essential component of version 2 of PLANET (version 1, Defra project KT0113), a major electronic nutrient management decision support system. The scientific objectives are:
1. To agree a standard nutrient audit methodology for calculating whole-farm nitrogen and phosphorus budgets.
2. To compile desk-study nutrient budgets for typical farm enterprises and to compare these with available commercial farm data.
3. To recommend ‘benchmarks’ for assessing nutrient use efficiency on farms.
Identification and development of a set of national indicators for soil quality
The purpose of this project is to begin the development of a national set of indicators of physical, chemical and biological soil quality. The indicators will allow for the heterogeneity of soil type and land use, to aid in both the reporting of soil health and promotion of management practices for UK soils that do not result in their degradation. Different indicators will be needed for different uses of soil and even different soil types.
The specific objectives for the project are:
a) To identify, from first principles, a list of potential indicators for soil quality for the main UK soil types and land uses.
b) To assess those that are currently available.
c) To assess the feasibility of those not currently available, in particular the work required to develop them into useful indicators.
d) To recommend a strategy for using the indicators as part of long term monitoring of soil.
Improving livelihoods on Shaanxi Farms by reducing non-point nitrogen pollution through improved nutrient management
Nitrogen (N) fertilizer is an essential input for secure food production. China has 22% of the current world population, but only 7% of the world’s arable land, so the use of N fertilizer is inevitably vital for food security. However, there is abundant evidence that the rates of N fertilizer currently used in many cropping situations in China are far in excess of that required to achieve maximum yield. Over-use of N fertilizer has numerous negative consequences including: 1) reduced farmer profit leading to reduced spending power in the rural economy; 2) pollution of lakes, rivers and regional seas with consequences for algal blooms, fisheries and drinking water quality; 3) unnecessarily large emissions of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture due to CO2 from fertilizer manufacture and nitrous oxide emissions (direct and indirect) when N is applied to soil.
The overall objective of this project is to provide access for poor farmers to information that will enable them to use N fertilizer in a rational way in order to increase crop yields and economic returns whilst avoiding environmental pollution and wastage of resources. We will make farmers aware of N available from all sources (including soil, manure, irrigation water, and atmospheric deposition) and take these into account when deciding on the amount of N fertilizer required. This approach is complemented with a simple in-field technique for measuring nitrate available in the soil. We are also estimating the increased profit farmers can obtain by spending less on unnecessary fertilizer. Key elements are:
1. Assessment of farmer and community perceptions to understand reasons for current N overuse
2. Collation and analysis of relevant technical data on rates and timing of N fertilizer relevant to the environment (climate, soils, cropping systems) of Shaanxi Province
3. Farm based experiments
4. Information delivery systems
5. Assessment of in-field measurement devices
6. Analysis of delivery systems
Linking function to process: developing methods to explore the link between microbial function and biogeochemical cycling in soils
Many important biogeochemical cycling processes in soils are mediated by soil microorganisms. The role and significance of the soil microbial biomass, the total of these organisms, has long been known but only recently have techniques become available to identify some of the key organisms in this ‘black box’. In particular, molecular methods are now sufficiently developed to enable their use in the DNA- and organic chemical-rich environment of soils. We will test existing, and develop new, molecular and other methods to identify key soil microorganisms and their function and link these to the biogeochemical cycling processes that they mediate. We will begin with nitrogen cycling because (1) nitrogen is the main yield-determining nutrient in crop-based systems and the loss of nitrogen from cropping systems represents an economic loss to the farmer and pollutes air and water; (2) we have made excellent process in developing molecular techniques to study nitrifying organisms and want to extend this to denitrifying organisms.
The main objectives of this project are:
1) To validate DNA/RNA based methods for profiling microorganisms involved in key biogeochemical cycling processes, beginning with microbial species involved in nitrogen cycling processes, specifically denitrification.
2) To investigate the relationship between process and function, beginning with the link between N2O fluxes and functional gene expression.
Linking function to process: developing methods to explore the link between microbial function and biogeochemical cycling in soils
Many important biogeochemical cycling processes in soils are mediated by soil microorganisms, but only recently have techniques become available to identify some of the key organisms in the soil microbial community. In particular, molecular methods are now sufficiently developed to enable their use in the DNA- and organic chemical-rich environment of soils. We will test existing, and develop new, molecular and other methods to identify key soil microorganisms and their function and link these to the biogeochemical cycling processes that they mediate. We will begin with nitrogen cycling because (1) nitrogen is the main yield-determining nutrient in crop-based systems and the loss of nitrogen from cropping systems represents an economic loss to the farmer and pollutes air and water; (2) we have made excellent process in developing molecular techniques to study nitrifying organisms and want to extend this to denitrifying organisms.
The main objectives of this project are:
1) To validate DNA/RNA based methods for profiling microorganisms involved in key biogeochemical cycling processes, beginning with microbial species involved in nitrogen cycling processes, specifically denitrification.
2) To investigate the relationship between process and function, beginning with the link between N2O fluxes and functional gene expression.
Mechanistic descriptions for organic matter turnover in planted soils
The quantity and quality of organic matter entering the soil is driven by plant root growth and turnover. The movement, recycling and fate of these inputs beyond the rhizosphere affects the structural arrangement of mineral particles in the soil, and thus key properties relevant to agricultural land use. We have a unique modelling framework that describes the bulk turnover of carbon and nitrogen according to the abundance (and established dynamic) of discrete soil organic matter fractions, which can be measured and monitored using a validated and widely cited and applied separation procedure that we also developed. Managed land, including research experiments, is at best in a state of “dynamic equilibrium” due to seasonal root activity. We propose that the long-term Highfield bare fallow is closest to genuine equilibrium, having had almost no plant input for 60 years, and become highly depleted in organic matter. Monitoring, analysis and characterisation of organic matter fractions from this soil, replanted both with grass and wheat will, in the absence of ‘noise’ from other fresh organic matter, enable the dynamics of the new root-derived material to be evaluated by modelling the process of transition.
Objectives:
1. We will explicitly distinguish the dynamics of material derived from roots, and material added as physically incorporated manure, plant litter, and crop residues.
2. We will qualitatively, and later quantitatively, compare, using the same tools, the turnover of carbon in ‘stratified’ (grassland) and ‘mixed’ (arable) soil systems, and link the differences to simultaneous measurement (from another project) of meso-faunal activity.
Scoping study to identify new research opportunities in the area of arable crops and environmental interactions
Strong opinions have been voiced recently that agriculture needs to change. These have arisen through widespread changes in the support systems, causing economic pressures, and also because of the environmental impact of agriculture, problems such as BSE and Foot and Mouth Disease and occasional overproduction. There is also increasing public pressure for 'quality' food. Defra are therefore creating a new Assessment Unit (AU) on Integrated Agricultural Systems that will fund research to develop an agriculture that is integrated with all aspects of biomass (for food, forage, fibre and energy) supply and the environment, and lead to an agronomically, economically, environmentally and socially sustainable agriculture. As an initial action within the new AU, this Scoping Study has been commissioned to more fully explore the potential areas of research that the Programme should address. It will:
01. Identify areas for which there is a likely immediate impact and return in terms of producing alternative effective management systems that provide improved integration of biomass (food and energy) production and environment quality.
02. Produce a Report on the overall potential for new research that will produce an agriculture that is fully integrated into biomass supply and the environment, optimising efficiency of production and environmental benefits.
Soil indicator robustness testing: Food and fibre
The final report of the project ‘Identification and development of a set of national indicators for soil quality’ was published in 2001 and identified an initial list of 67 indicators that could be used in soil monitoring. A policy sift of the original indicators has been undertaken and this needs to be followed by a test of the remaining indicators scientific robustness. The groups of indicators are being split amongst the partners and Defra is taking the lead on the biomass (food and fibre, but excluding forestry) production indicators. Research is required to carry out a test of the scientific robustness of these indicators.
The objectives of the project are to:
(1) populate the indicators using available data;
(2) determine the significance, in terms of a change in soil properties or function, of a change of x% in the indicator over y years;
(3) provide expert judgement on which indicators are suitable to be retained as an indicator of soil quality and suggest, where possible, more suitable indicators of the ability of soil to perform its food and fibre production role;
(4) provide an estimate of the effort (including cost) required to populate these indicators with national data.
Sustainable land management for reducing long-term ecosystem change and environmental pollution
Sustainable land management practices are required that minimise diffuse pollution from agriculture to soil, air and water, meeting the requirements of the Water Framework Directive and mitigating climate change. The UK Environmental Change Network (ECN), established in 1992, monitors key components of environmental change and seeks to relate them to controlling factors such as land management. Rothamsted is a founding site of the ECN, and its ECN activities have become part of its Classical and other long-term experiments; these make an essential and unique contribution to developing sustainable land management systems. In addition to the regular monitoring of soils, crops, waters and the weather, specific research will be made on carbon and greenhouse gas budgets and losses of nitrogen and phosphorus to waters. In particular, recent BBSRC-funded research ('The impact of land management practice on the global warming potential of UK agriculture', D16053) began measurements of carbon fluxes above agricultural land as part of an assessment of land management practices on greenhouse gas fluxes. These measurements will continue within this project and be fed into the EU-funded CarboEurope-IP, which aims to understand and quantify the present terrestrial carbon balance of Europe and the associated uncertainty at local, regional and continental scales.
Objectives:
1. To monitor environmental change and determine the factors controlling change within the UK Environmental Change Network.
2. To study the impacts of land management on carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions and losses of nitrogen and phosphorus to waters, and develop sustainable land management strategies.
Technology transfer: effective nutrient use for arable crops
The Nitrate Research Programme has greatly increased our understanding of N losses and helped to develop ideas for reducing them. However, the research is often not directly accessible to farmers and their advisers and so take-up can be slow and inefficient. The industry generally is eager for support, especially at this time of unprecedented stress and change. Simple messages for technology transfer are needed that will have a measurable impact on practices, reducing nutrient emissions to the environment while maintaining farm profitability. This project will continue to promote nutrient budgeting as a means of helping farmers think about the twin aims of achieving minimal environmental impact while maintaining profitability, and as a measurable means of assessing success. Its one specific objective is:
To work with farmers, advisers, policy makers, Government and all interested parties to provide, through the dissemination of Defra-funded and any other relevant research, 'win-win' means of minimising environmental impact while maintaining profitability.
The development of a fertiliser recommendation system
The current ‘Fertiliser Recommendations for Agricultural and Horticultural Crops’ (often referred to as ‘RB209’ from its original coding as MAFF Reference Book 209) for use in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, describes the principles of crop nutrition and gives recommendations for the best use of lime, fertilisers and organic manures for field crops and grassland. The Recommendations are based upon information available from research and development work carried out by many organisations, including levy boards, fertiliser companies and consultancies. The Recommendations were last revised in 2000, when the 7th Edition was published. Defra has asked the Cross-Institute Programme for Sustainable Soil Function (SoilCIP) and HRI-Warwick to conduct a thorough revision of the Recommendations, collaborating with other organisations as necessary, to deliver an updated guide for the UK.
Objective: To thoroughly revise Defra's current fertiliser recommendation system and deliver an updated system for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The impact of land management practice on the global warming potential (GWP) of UK agriculture
Modelling studies have predicted the impact of various land use change scenarios on net land-atmosphere greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes and the overall effect on the global warming potential (GWP). Experimental methods are now available to test these predictions. We propose to measure CO2, N2O and CH4 fluxes from conventional arable agriculture and two of the most likely land use change options, minimum tillage and organic farming, and from soils with very different carbon contents in Scotland and S. England. We will parameterise appropriate carbon and nitrogen cycling models to predict the long-term impact of likely future land use changes and suggest land management practices that would minimise net GHG fluxes and the impact of climate change.
Objectives
1. To determine the impact of changes in land use/management on the net flux of CO2 between land and atmosphere.
2. To measure fluxes of the other biogenic GHGs, N2O and CH4, add their impact on the net global warming potential (GWP) to that of CO2, and calculate the overall change in GWP resulting from the land use/management system.
3. To use the flux data and data on soil variables which control the gaseous fluxes to parameterise C and N cycling models.
4. To use the models to predict likely impacts of changes in land use/management on net GWP.
Member
Climate Change Critical Review
The overall objective of this project is to critically review to what extent reduced tillage practices and organic matter returns will increase the carbon content of arable soils under English and Welsh conditions.
More specifically the objectives of the project are:
1. To examine the evidence on reduced tillage practices to determine the potential for increasing soil carbon under English and Welsh conditions.
2. To identify any broader environmental or economic benefits/disbenefits of reduced tillage practices.
3. To examine the evidence on organic matter returns to arable soils to determine the potential for increasing soil carbon under English and Welsh conditions.
4. To identify any broader environmental or economic benefits/disbenefits of organic matter returns to arable soils.
Critical review of recent policy relevant research in carbon and nitrogen cycling
Defra have requested a review of recent policy-relevant research on the carbon and nitrogen cycles in agriculture. Rothamsted Research will consult with interested parties and provide a gap analysis for Defra of potential areas of research suitable for commissionin
Mapping complex biological processes across the landscape: the problem of non-stationarity
The overall aim of this proposal is to develop a methodological framework for spatial analysis and estimation of variables that are incompatible with assumptions of stationarity in the variance, based on the linear mixed model. A framework would be based on the following hypotheses.
Hypothesis (i). The non-stationarity in key soil variables can be modelled by an appropriate parameterization of the random-effect(s) in a linear mixed model, and these parameters can be estimated by residual maximum likelihood (REML). This will lead to improvement in spatial predictions.
Hypothesis (ii). Evidence for differing kinds of non-stationarity in the variance can be identified by an exploratory analysis, and tested against a null hypothesis of stationarity.
Hypothesis (iii). The non-stationarity in key soil variables can be emulated by process models that reflect our mechanistic understanding of how they arise.
These hypotheses determine the objectives of the proposal, which are as follows.
1. To develop variance models with parameters to describe different aspects of non-stationarity for spatial linear mixed models (LMM).
2. To develop logically structured exploratory procedures to test the plausibility of assumptions of stationarity in the variance and to identify what non-stationary parameters might be needed for a suitable LMM.
3. To test Hypotheses (i) to (iii) above with the procedures developed under objectives 1 and 2. Thereby, to quantify the practical advantages of these new variance models over conventional geostatistics.
4. To use the data and methods arising from the above objectives to test Hypothesis (iii) and to develop methods to use predictions from process models to improve the sampling and statistical modelling of data where non-stationarity in the variance is implausible.
Soil functions, quality and degradation studies in support of the implementation of the Soil Strategy for England
The Soil Strategy for England 'Safeguarding our Soils' was published by Defra in 2009 with a vision that by 2030 all England's soils will be managed sustainably and degradation threats tackled successfully. Achieving this aim will improve the quality of England's soils and safeguard their ability to provide essential services, including food production, for the future.
The maintenance of the fertility of our soils will become more and more important as pressures on food and water supplies increase. The Soil Strategy for England aims to put in place measures to protect and enhance soils but there is also recognition that there are evidence gaps that need to be examined and addressed.
This project comprised four sub-projects that, together, provide an overview of current knowledge, explore potential ways to manage soils in a sustainable manner and identify gaps in the evidence base for Defra relating to soil functions, quality and degradation. The outputs provide evidence-based support for the implementation of the Soil Strategy for England. Rothamsted contributes to two of the four sub-projects:
B: To address the effects of soil degradation on the ability of soils to function and identify gaps in the evidence base and propose research requirements.
D: To provide a clear view of the current knowledge on the impacts of climate change on soil processes, functions and its relevance to England and Wales.
Studies to support the forthcoming Soil Strategy for England
The Soil Strategy for England, 'Safeguarding our Soils', was published by Defra in 2009 with a vision that by 2030 all England's soils will be managed sustainably and degradation threats tackled successfully. Achieving this aim will improve the quality of England's soils and safeguard their ability to provide essential services, including food production, for the future. The maintenance of the fertility of our soils will become increasingly important as pressures on food and water supplies increase. The Soil Strategy for England aims to put in place measures to protect and enhance soils, but there is also recognition that there are evidence gaps that need to be examined and addressed.
This project comprised six sub-projects that, together, provide an overview of current knowledge, explore potential ways to manage soils in a sustainable manner and identify gaps in the evidence base relating to novel technologies to store carbon in soil, soil management practices, potential climate change effects on urban soils, soil resilience and pollutants in soils that may affect food.
Rothamsted will contribute to five sub-projects:
A: To evaluate the potential of technologies for increasing carbon storage in soil to mitigate climate change.
B: To determine the relationship between best practice for managing soils to protect the environment with that for increased productivity.
D: To review the evidence of what makes some soils more resilient to change, to evaluate what this means for soils in England and Wales, and to provide an initial assessment of the extent to which resilience can be conferred to soils.
E: To review the literature on the concentrations of pollutants in soils that lead to significant concentrations of pollutants in food.
F: To explore and discuss the setting of outcome focused indicators of soil quality that can be reported on within policy reporting cycles
24 GOULDING, K.W.T. (1990) Nitrogen deposition to land from the atmosphere. Soil Use and Management6, 61-63.
25 SALAZAR, I.,ESCUDEY, M. & GOULDING, K. (1992) Heterogeneidad superficial de un suelo Osorno. Agricultura Tecnica (Chile)52, 376-380.
26GOULDING, K. & POULTON, P. (1992) Unwanted nitrate. Chemistry in Britain, December 1992, pp. 1100-1112.
27 GOULDING, K.W.T., WEBSTER, C.P., POWLSON, D.S. & POULTON, P.R. (1993) Denitrification losses of nitrogen fertilizer applied to winter wheat following ley and arable rotations as estimated by acetylene inhibition and 15N balance. Journal of Soil Science 44, 63‑72.
28 WEBSTER, C.P., SHEPHERD, M.A.,GOULDING, K.W.T. & LORD, E. (1993) Comparisons of methods for measuring the leaching of mineral nitrogen from arable land. Journal of Soil Science44, 49-62.
29 BLAKE, L., JOHNSTON, A.E. & GOULDING, K.W.T. (1994) Mobilization of aluminium in soil by acid deposition and its uptake by grass cut for hay - a Chemical Time Bomb. Soil Use & Management 10, 51-55.
30 ABU BAKAR, R., GOULDING, K.W.T., WEBSTER, C.P., POULTON, P.R. & POWLSON, D.S. (1994) Estimating nitrate leaching and denitrification by simultaneous use of Br and 15N tracers. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture66, 509-519.
31GYORI, Z., GOULDING, K., BLAKE, L. & PROKISCH, J. (1994) Soil analyses in the Rothamsted Park Grass Experiment. Agrochemistry and Soil Science43, 319-327.
32WILLISON, T.W., WEBSTER, C.P., GOULDING, K.W.T. & POWLSON, D.S. (1995) Methane oxidation in temperate soils: effects of land use and the chemical form of nitrogen fertilizer. Chemosphere30, 3, 539-546.
33SVERDRUP, H., WARFVINGE, P., BLAKE, L. & GOULDING, K. (1995) Modelling recent and historic soil data from the Rothamsted Experimental Station, UK using SAFE. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment53, 161-177.
34GOULDING, K.W.T., HUTSCH, B.W., WEBSTER, C.P., WILLISON, T.W. & POWLSON, D.S. (1995) The effect of agriculture on methane oxidation in soil. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of LondonA 351, 313-325.
35 YAMULKI, S., GOULDING, K.W.T, WEBSTER, C.P. &HARRISON, R.M. (1995) Studies on NO and N2O fluxes from a wheat field. Atmospheric Environment29, 1627-1635.
36 WILLISON, T.W., GOULDING, K.W.T. & POWLSON, D.S. (1995) Effect of land-use change and methane mixing ratio on methane uptake from United Kingdom soil. Global Change Biology1, 209-212.
37 YAMULKI, S.,HARRISON, R.M. & GOULDING, K.W.T. (1996) Ammonia surface-exchange above an agricultural field in southeast England. Atmospheric Environment30, 109-118.
38 HECKRATH, G., BROOKES, P.C., POULTON, P.R. & GOULDING, K.W.T. (1995) Phosphorus leaching from soils containing different phosphorus concentrations in the Broadbalk experiment. Journal of Environmental Quality24, 904-910.
39HARRISON, R.M., YAMULKI, S., GOULDING, K.W.T. & WEBSTER, C.P. (1995) Effect of fertilizer application on NO and N2O fluxes from agricultural fields. Journal of Geophysical Research100, D12, 25923-25931.
40 WEBSTER, C.P. & GOULDING, K.W.T. (1995) Effect of one year rotational set-aside on immediate and ensuing nitrogen leaching loss. Plant and Soil177, 203-209.
41 WILLISON, T.W.,GOULDING, K., POWLSON, D. & WEBSTER, C. (1995) Farming, fertilizers and the greenhouse effect. Outlook on Agriculture24, 4, 241-247.
42 GYORI, Z., GOULDING, K., BLAKE, L. & PROKISCH, J. (1996) Changes in the heavy metal contents of soil from the Park Grass Experiment at Rothamsted Experimental Station. Fresenius Journal of Analytical Chemistry354, 699-702.
43WILLISON, T.W., O'FLAHERTY, S., TLUSTOS, P., GOULDING, K.W.T. & POWLSON, D.S. (1997) Variations in microbial populations in soils with different methane uptake rates. Nutrient Cycles in Agroecosystems, 49, 85-90.
44 LIVENS, F.R., HOWE, M.T., HEMINGWAY, J.D., GOULDING, K.W.T. & HOWARD, B.J. (1996) Forms and rates of release of 137Cs in two peat soils. European Journal of Soil Science47, 105-112.
45. ELLIS, S., DENDOOVEN, L. & GOULDING, K.W.T. (1996) Quantitative assessment of soil nitrate disappearance and N2O evolution during denitrification. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 28, 589-595.
47 GOULDING, K.W.T. & BLAKE, L. (1998) Land use, liming and the mobilization of potentially toxic metals. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 67, 135-144.
48 Powlson, D.S., Goulding, K.W.T., Willison, T.W., Webster, C.P. & Hutsch, B.W. (1997). The effect of agriculture on methane oxidation in soil. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems49, 59-70.
49SINGH, B. & GOULDING, K.W.T. (1997) Changes with time in the potassium content and phyllosilicates in the soil of the Broadbalk continuous wheat experiment at Rothamsted.. European Journal of Soil Science, 48, 651-659.
50 BRAITHWAITE, A., LIVENS, F.R., RICHARDSON, S., HOWE, M.T. & GOULDING, K.W.T. (1997) Kinetically controlled release of uranium from soils. European Journal of Soil Science, 48, 661-673.
51 ELLIS, S., HOWE, M.T., GOULDING, K.W.T.,Mugglestone, M.A. & DENDOOVEN, L. (1998) Carbon and nitrogen dynamics in a grassland soil with varying pH: effect of pH on the denitrification potential and dynamics of the reduction enzymes. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 30, 359-367.
52 YAMULKI, S., HARRISON, R.M., GOULDING, K.W.T. & WEBSTER, C.P. (1997) N2O, NO and NO2 fluxes from a grassland: effect of soil pH. Soil Biology and Biochemistry29, 1199-1208.
53. Goulding, K.W.T. & Blake, L. (1998) Soil acidification and the mobilisation of toxic metals caused by acid deposition and fertiliser application. Zeszyty Problemowe Postepow NaukRolniczych,456, 19-27.
54. Goulding, K.W.T., Bailey, N.J., Bradbury, N.J., Hargreaves, P., Howe, M.T., Murphy, D.V., Poulton, P.R. & Willison, T.W. (1998) Nitrogen deposition and its contribution to nitrogen cycling and associated soil processes. New Phytologist, 139, 49-58.
55. Tlustos, P., Willison, T.W., Baker, J.C., Murphy, D.V., Pavlikova, D., Goulding, K.W.T. & Powlson, D.S. (1998) Short-term effects of nitrogen on methane oxidation in soils. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 28, 64-70.
56. Willison, T.W., Baker, J.C., Murphy, D.V. & Goulding, K.W.T. (1998) Comparison of wet and dry 15N isotopic dilution techniques as a short-term nitrification assay. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 30, 661-663.
57. Goulding, K.W.T., Bailey, N.J. & Bradbury, N.J. (1998) Model study of the fate of nitrogen deposition on arable land. Soil Use and Management, 14, 70-77.
58. RASMUSSEN, P.E., GOULDING, K.W.T., BROWN, J.R., GRACE, P.R., JANZEN, H.H. & KORSCHENS, M. (1998) Long-term agroecosystem experiments: assessing agricultural Sustainability and global change. Science282, 893-896.
59. BURT, T.P., MATCHETT, L.S., GOULDING, K.W.T., WEBSTER, C.P. & HAYCOCK, N.E. (1999) Denitrification in riparian buffer zones: the role of floodplain hydrology. Hydrological Processes, 13, 1451-1463.
60. WEBSTER, C.P., POULTON, P.R. & GOULDING, K.W.T. (1999) Nitrogen leaching from winter cereals grown as part of a 5-year ley-arable rotation. European Journal of Agronomy 10, 99-109.
61. BLAKE, L., GOULDING, K.W.T., MOTT, C.J.B. & JOHNSTON, A.E. (1999) Changes in soil chemistry accompanying acidification over more than 100 years under woodland and grass at Rothamsted Experimental Station, UK. European Journal of Soil Science, 50, 401-412.
63. BLAKE, L., MERCIK, S., KOERSCHENS, M., GOULDING, K.W.T., STEMPEN, S., WEIGEL, A., POULTON, P.R. & POWLSON, D.S. (1999) Potassium content in soil, uptake in plants and the potassium balance in three European long-term field experiments. Plant & Soil216, 1-14.
64. COBB, D., FEBER, R., HOPKINS, A., STOCKDALE, L., O’RIORDAN, T., CLEMENTS, B., FIRBANK, L., GOULDING, K.W.T., JARVIS, S. & MACDONALD, D. (1999) Integrating the environmental and economic consequences of converting to organic agriculture: evidence from a case study. Land Use Policy16, 207-221.
65. BHOGAL, A., MURPHY, D.V., FORTUNE, S., SHEPHERD, M.A., HATCH, D.J., JARVIS, S.C., GAUNT, J.L. & GOULDING, K.W.T. (1999) Distribution of nitrogen pools in the soil profile of undisturbed and reseeded grasslands. Biology and Fertility of Soils30, 356-362.
66. MURPHY, D.V., BHOGAL, A., SHEPHERD, M.A., GOULDING, K.W.T., JARVIS, S.C., BARRACLOUGH, D. & GAUNT, J.L. (1999) Comparison of 15N labelling methods to measure gross nitrogen mineralisation. Soil Biology and Biochemistry31, 2015-2024.
68. BLAKE, L., MERCIK, S., KOERSCHENS, M., MOSKAL, S., POULTON, P.R., GOULDING, K.W.T., WEIGEL, A. & POWLSON, D.S. (2000) Phosphorus content in soil, uptake by plants and balance in three European long-term field experiments. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems56, 263-275.
69. BLAKE, L., GOULDING, K.W.T., MOTT, C.J.B. & POULTON, P.R. (2000) Temporal changes in chemical properties of air-dried stored soils and their interpretation for long-term experiments. European Journal of Soil Science51, 345-353.
70. GOULDING, K.W.T. (2000) Nitrate leaching from arable and horticultural land. Soil Use and Management16, 145-151.
71. GOULDING, K.W.T., STOCKDALE, E.A., FORTUNE, S. & WATSON, C. (2000) Nutrient cycling on organic forms. Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England161, 65-75.
72. SMITH, P., GOULDING, K.W.T., SMITH, K.A., POWLSON, D.S., SMITH, J.U., FALLOON, P. & COLEMAN, K. (2000). Agricultural carbon mitigation options in Europe: improved estimates and the global perspective. Acta Agronomica Hungarica48, 209-216.
73. SMITH, P., GOULDING, K.W.T., SMITH, K.A., POWLSON, D.S., SMITH, J.U., FALLOON, P. & COLEMAN, K. (2001). Enhancing the carbon sink in European agricultural soils: including trace gas fluxes in estimates of carbon mitigation potential. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems60, 237-252.
74. GOULDING, K.W.T., POULTON, P.R., WEBSTER, C.P. & HOWE, M.T. (2000). Nitrate leaching from the Broadbalk Wheat Experiment, Rothamsted, UK, as influenced by fertilizer and manure inputs and the weather. Soil Use & Management, 16, 244-250.
75. SMITH, P., GOULDING, K.W.T., SMITH, K.A., POWLSON, D.S., SMITH, J.U., FALLOON, P. & COLEMAN, K. (2000). Including trace gas fluxes in estimates of the carbon mitigation mitigation potential of UK agricultural land. Soil Use & Management16, 251-259.
76. BROWN, L., ARMSTRONG-BROWN, S., JARVIS, S.C., SYED, B., GOULDING, K.W.T., PHILLIPS, V.R., SNEATH, R.W. & PAIN, B.F. (2001). An inventory of nitrous oxide emissions from agriculture in the UK using the IPCC methodology: emission estimate, uncertainty and sensitivity analysis. Atmospheric Environment,35, 1439-1449.
77. BROWN, L., SYED, B., JARVIS, S.C., SNEATH, R.W. , PHILLIPS, V.R., GOULDING, K.W.T. & LI, C. (2002). Development and application of a mechanistic model to estimate emissions of nitrous oxide from UK agriculture. Atmospheric Environment36, 917-928.
78. BLAKE, L. & GOULDING, K.W.T. (2002). Effects of atmospheric deposition, soil pH and acidification on heavy metal contents in soils and vegetation of semi-natural ecosystems at Rothamsted Experimental Station, UK. Plant & Soil, 240, 235-251.
79. MACHEFERT, S., DISE, N., GOULDING, K.W.T. & WHITEHEAD, P. (2002). Nitrous oxide emissions from a range of land uses across Europe. Hydrological and Earth Science Systems, 6, 325-337.
80. MURPHY, D.V., RECOUS, S., STOCKDALE, E.A., FILLERY, I.R.P., JENSEN, L.S., HATCH, D.J. and GOULDING, K.W.T. (2003). Gross nitrogen fluxes in soil: theory, measurement and application of 15N pool dilution techniques. Advances in Agronomy, 79, 69-118.
81. SALAZAR, I., GUTIERREZ, L., GUAJARDO, J. & GOULDING, K.W.T. (2002) Effects of organic matter and iron oxides on cation exchange equilibria and potassium selectivity in a volcanic ash soil from Chile. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 33, 3663-3677.
82. ALLINGHAM, K.D., CARTWRIGHT, R., DONAGHY, D., CONWAY, J.S., GOULDING, K.W.T. & JARVIS, S.C. (2002) Nitrate leaching losses and their controls in a mixed farm system in the Cotswold Hills, England. Soil Use & Management, 18, 421-427.
83. WEBSTER, C.P., CONWAY, J.S., CREW, A.P. & GOULDING, K.W.T. (2003) Nitrogen leaching losses under a less intensive farming and environment (LIFE) integrated system. Soil Use & Management19, 36-44.
84. GOULDING, K.W.T. & POULTON, P.R. (2003) Des experimentations de longue duree sur la recherche en environnement. Un exemple pris en Grande Bretagne. Etude et Gestion des Sols10, 253-261.
85. BLAKE, L., JOHNSTON, A. E., POULTON, P. R. & GOULDING, K.W.T. (2003) Changes in soil phosphorus fractions following positive and negative phosphorus balances for long periods. Plant & Soil254, 245-26.
86. LARK, R.M., MILNE, A.E., ADDISCOTT, T.M., GOULDING, K.W.T., WEBSTER, C.P. & O’FLAHERTY, S. (2004) Analysing spatially intermittent variation of nitrous oxide emissions from soil with wavelets and the implications for sampling. European Journal of Soil Science, 55, 601-610.
87. LARK, R.M., MILNE, A.E., ADDISCOTT, T.M., GOULDING, K.W.T., WEBSTER, C.P. & O’FLAHERTY, S. (2004) Scale-and location dependent correlation of nitrous oxide emissions with soil properties: an analysis using wavelets. European Journal of Soil Science55, 611-627.
88. MILNE, A.E., LARK, R.M., ADDISCOTT, T.M., GOULDING, K.W.T., WEBSTER, C.P. AND O’FLAHERTY, S. (2005). Wavelet analysis of the scale- and location-dependent correlation of modelled and measured nitrous oxide emissions from soil. European Journal of Soil Science 56, 3-17.
89. GOULDING, K.W.T. (2004) Minimising losses of nitrogen from UK agriculture. RASE Journal165, 12pp.
90. WILLETT, V.B., GREEN, J.J., MACDONALD, A.J., BADDELY, J.A., CADISCH, G., FRANCIS, S.M.J., GOULDING, K.W.T., SAUNDERS, G., STOCKDALE, E., WATSON, C.A. & JONES, D.L. (2004) Impact of land use on soluble organic nitrogen in soil. Water, Air and Soil Pollution: Focus4 (6), 53-60.
91. Cookson, W.R., Abaye, D.A, Marschner, P., Murphy, D.V., Stockdale, E.A. & Goulding, K.W.T. (2005) The contribution of organic matter fractions to gross N fluxes and microbial community size and structure. Soil Biology and Biochemistry37, 1726-1737.
92. LEACH, K.A., ALLINGHAM, K.D., CONWAY, J.S., GOULDING, K.W.T. & HATCH, D.J. (2005) Nitrogen management for profitable farming with minimal environmental impact: the challenge for mixed farms in the Cotswold Hills, England. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability2, 21-32.
93. BERGSTROM, L. & GOULDING, K.W.T. (2005) Perspectives and challenges in the future use of plant nutrients in tilled and mixed agricultural systems. Ambio34, 283-287.
94. HARGREAVES, P.R., SMITH, J.U., YOUNG, S. & GOULDING, K.W.T. (2005) Development of an empirical model to predict nitrogen dioxide concentrations from weather variables for sites across the UK. Atmospheric Environment39, 409-417.
95. GOULDING, K.W.T. (2004) Strategies for farmers and policy makers to control nitrogen losses whilst maintaining crop production. Science in China, C Life Sciences, 48, 710-719.
96. GOULDING, K.W.T. & POULTON, P.R. (2005) Long-term experiments in environmental research: an example from Rothamsted Research. Geoscientist16, 4-7.
97. MACDONALD, A. et al. (2005) The use of cover crops in cereal-based cropping systems to control nitrate leaching in SE England. Plant and Soil, 273, 355-373.
98. KEMMITT, S.J., GOULDING, K.W.T., WRIGHT, D. & JONES, D.L. (2006) pH regulation of soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in two agricultural soils. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 38, 898-911.
99. GOULDING, K.W.T. (2007) Perspective: Nutrient management on farms or ‘you get out what you put in’. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 87, 177-180.
100. STOCKDALE, E.A., CREAMER, R.E., REES, R.M. GOULDING, K.W.T., DOYLE, C.J. & WATSON, C.A (2006) Soils – the Foundation of the Rural Economy? An exploration with stakeholder groups. Soil Use & Management, in press.
101. GOULDING, K.W.T., JARVIS, S.C.J. & WHITMORE, A.P. (2008) Optimising nutrient management for farm systems. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B, 363, 667-680.
102. SHIL, N.C., STOCKDALE, E.A., GOULDING, K.W.T., FARID, A.T.M. & RAHMAN, M. (2006) Effect of Soil Variability on Denitrifying Enzyme Activity, Measured as an Indicator of N2O Loss. Thailand Journal of Agricultural Science37, no page numbers available.
103. FAN, M., LU, S., Jiang, R., Liu, X., ZENG, X., GOULDING, K.W.T. & ZHANG, F. (2007). Nitrogen input, 15N balance and mineral N dynamics in a rice-wheat rotation in southwest China. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems79, 255-265.
104. Zhang, Y., Zheng, L, Liu, X, Jickells, T, Cape, J.N, Goulding, K, Fangmeier, A, and Zhang, F. (2008) Nitrogen inputs and isotopes in precipitation in the North China Plain. Atmospheric Environment,42, 1436-1448.
105. Zhang, Y. Zheng1, L., Liu, X., Jickells, T., Cape, J.N., Goulding, K.W.T., Fangmeier, A. and Zhang, F. (2008). Evidence for organic N deposition and its anthropogenic sources in China. Atmospheric Environment, 42, 1035-1041.
106. J N Pretty, G Smith, KWT Goulding , S J Groves, I Henderson, R E Hine, J. van Oostrum, D J Pendlington, J K Vis and C Walter. (2008) Multi-Year Assessment of Unilever’s Progress Towards Agricultural Sustainability: Indicators, Methodology and Pilot Farm Results. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 6,37-62.
107. J N Pretty, G Smith, K W T Goulding , S J Groves, I Henderson, R E Hine, V King, J. van Oostrum, D J Pendlington, J K Vis and C Walter. (2008) Multi-Year Assessment of Unilever’s Progress Towards Agricultural Sustainability: Outcomes for Peas (UK), Spinach (Germany, Italy), Tomatoes (Australia, Brazil, Greece, USA), Tea (Kenya, Tanzania, India) and Oil Palm (Ghana). International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 6, 63-88.
108. Murphy, D.V., Stockdale, E.A., Poulton, P.R., Willison, T.W. & Goulding, K.W.T. (2007) Seasonal dynamics of carbon and nitrogen pools and fluxes under continuous arable and ley-arable rotations in a temperate environment. European Journal of Soil Science, 58, 1410-1424.
110. Senbayram, M., Dixon, L., Goulding K. and Bol, R.. (2008) Long-term influence of manure and mineral nitrogen applications on plant and soil 15N and 13C values from the Broadbalk Wheat Experiment. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry22, 1-6.
111. Glendining, M.J., Dailey, A.G., Williams, A.G., van Evert, F.K., Goulding K.W.T. and Whitmore, A.P. (2009) Is it possible to increase the sustainability of arable and ruminant agriculture by reducing inputs? Agricultural Systems 99: 117-125.
112. Goulding, K.W.T., Trewavas, A. and Giller, K.E. (2009) Can organic farming feed the world? A contribution to the debate on the ability of organic farming systems to provide sustainable supplies of food. Proceedings 663, International Fertiliser Society, York.
113. Guo, J.H., Liu, X.J., Zhang, Y., Shen, J.L., Han, W.X., Zhang, W.F., Christie, P., Goulding, K., Vitousek, P. & Zhang, F.S. (2010) Regional Acidification in Major Chinese Croplands. Science, 327: 1008-1010.
114. D.S. Powlson, D.S. Jenkinson, A.E. Johnston, P.R. Poulton, M. J. Glendining, K.W.T. Goulding. (2010) Comments on “Synthetic Nitrogen Fertilizers Deplete Soil Nitrogen: A Global Dilemma for Sustainable Cereal Production,” by R.L. Mulvaney, S.A. Khan, and T.R. Ellsworth in the Journal of Environmental Quality 2009 38: 2295–2314. Journal of Environmenatl Quality, 39: 749–752.
115. Tunney, H., Sikora, F.J., Kissel, D., Wolf, A., Sonon, L. & Goulding, K.W.T. (2009). A comparison of lime requirements by five methods on grassland mineral soils in Ireland. Soil Use & Management, 26, 126-132.
116. Meijide, A., Cardenas, L.M., Bol, R., Bergstermann, A., Goulding, K.W.T., Well, R., Vallejo, A. & Scholefield, D. (2010) Dual isotope and isotopomer fractionation for the understanding of N2O production and consumption during Denitrification in an arable soil. European Journal of Soil Science, 61, 364-374.
117. Powlson, D.S. Jenkinson, D.S., Johnston, A.E., Poulton,P.R., Glendining, M.J. & Goulding, K.W.T. (2010) Comments on “Synthetic Nitrogen Fertilizers Deplete Soil Nitrogen: A Global Dilemma for Sustainable Cereal Production,” by R.L. Mulvaney, S.A. Khan, and T.R. Ellsworth in the Journal of Environmental Quality 2009 38: 2295–2314. Journal of Environmental Quality, 39, 749–752.
118. Powlson, D.S. Jenkinson, D.S., Johnston, A.E., Poulton, P.R., Glendining, M.J. & Goulding, K.W.T. (2010) Reply to Additional Comments on “Synthetic Nitrogen Fertilizers Deplete Soil Nitrogen: A Global Dilemma for Sustainable Cereal Production”, Journal of Environmental Quality, 39, 1528-1529.
119. Bergstermann, A., Cárdenas, L., Bol, R., Gilliam, L., Goulding, K. Meijide, A., Scholefield, D., Vallejo, A. & Well, R. (2011)Antecedent moisture conditions influence the production, consumption and isotopologue distribution of N2O during denitrification. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 43, 240-250.
120. Shen J.L, Tang A.H., Liu X.J., Kopsch J., Fangmeier A., Goulding K.W.T. & Zhang F.S. (2011). Impacts of Pollution Controls on Air Quality in Beijing during the 2008 Olympic Games. Journal of Environmental Quality, 40, 32-45.
121. Milne, A.E., Haskard, K.A., Webster, C.P., Truan, I., Goulding, K.W.T. & Lark, R.M.. (2011) Wavelet analysis of the correlations between soil properties and potential nitrous oxide emission at farm and landscape scales. European Journal of Soil Science, 62, 467-478.
123. Powlson, D.S., Brookes, P.C., Whitmore, A.P., Goulding, K.W.T. & Hopkins, D. (2011) Guest Editors’ Introduction. Soil Organic Matters. European Journal of Soil Science. 62, 1-4.
124. Powlson, D.S., Whitmore, A.P. & Goulding, K.W.T. (2011)Soil carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change: a critical re-examination to identify the true and the false. European Journal of Soil Science, 62, 42-55.
125. Orton, T.G., Goulding, K.W.T. & Lark, R.M. (2011) Geostatistical prediction of nitrous oxide emissions from soil using data, process models and expert opinion. European Journal of Soil Science, 62, 359-370.
126. Goulding, K., Trewavas, A. & Giller, K. (2011) Feeding the world: a contribution to the debate. World Agriculture, 2, 32-38.
127. Cordova, C., Sohi, S., Lark, R.M., Goulding, K. & Robinson, S. (2011) Resolving the spatial variability of soil N using fractions of soil organic matter. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment,147, 66-72.
128. Shen, J. Liu, X., Zhang, Y., Fangmeier, A., Goulding, K. & Zhang, F. (2011) Atmospheric ammonia and particulate ammonium from agricultural sources in the North China Plain. Atmospheric Environment, 45, 5033-5041.
129. Vejaparreddy, M., Richter, G.M. & Goulding, K.W.T. (2011) Using digital image analysis to quantify the architectural parameters of roots grown in thin rhizotrons Plant Biosystems, 144. 499-506.
130. Clark, I.M., Buchkina, N., Jhurreea, D., Goulding, K.W.T. & Hirsch, P.R. (2012) Impacts of nitrogen application rates on the activity and diversity of denitrifying bacteria in the Broadbalk Wheat Experiment. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Series B, 367, 1235-1244.
131. Powlson, D.S., Bhogal, A., Chambers, B.J., Coleman, K., Macdonald, A.J., Goulding, K.W.T. & Whitmore, A.P. (2012?) The potential to increase soil carbon stocks through reduced tillage or organic material additions in England and Wales: a case study. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 146, 22-33.
132. Young, I.M., Feeney, D.S., O’Donnell, A.G. & Goulding, K.W.T. (2012) Fungi in century old managed soils could hold key to the development of soil water repellency. Soil Biology & Biochemistry,45, 125-127.
133. Whitmore, AP, Goulding KWT, Glendining, MJ, Dailey, AG, Coleman K and Powlson, D.S. (2012) Nutrient management in support of environmental sustainability. Sustainability, 31, 2513-24.
134. Goulding, K.W.T. & Whitmore, A.P. (2012) Developing Sustainable Farming Systems by valuing ecosystem services. International Journal for Agricultural Sustainability, 10, 5-7.
135. Dungait, J.A.J., Cardenas, L.M., Blackwell, M.S.A., Wu, L., Withers, P.J.A., Chadwick, D.R., Bol, R., Murray, P.J., Macdonald, A.J., Whitmore, A.P., Goulding, K.W.T. (2012) Advances in the understanding of nutrient 1 dynamics and management in UK agriculture. Science of the Total Environment, 434, 39-50.
136. L. Jordan-Meille, J. Recknagel, P. Csatho, P. Ehlert, R. Flisch, M. Fotyma, V. Génot, K. Goulding, G. Hofmani, G. Provolo, G. Rubaeck, and P. Barraclough. (2012) An overview of fertiliser-P recommendations in Europe: Soil testing, interpretation, and fertiliser recommendations. European Journal of Agronomy, in press.
137. Liu, X-J., Zhang, Y., Han, W., Tang, A., Shen, J., Cui, Z., Vitousek, P., Erisman, J-W., Goulding, K., Christie, P., Fangmeier, A. & Zhang, F. (2012) Enhanced nitrogen deposition over China. Nature, 494, 459-462.
138. Milne A E, Haskard K A, Webster C P, Truan K W, Goulding K W T, Lark R M. (2013) Wavelet analysis of the variability of nitrous oxide emissions from soil at decimetre to kilometre scales. Journal of Environmental Quality, 42 doi: 10.2134/jeq2012
Other outputs:
85 Conference, book chapters and other non-refereed papers.
48 Technical Reports.
28 Popular articles.
1 Computer Model.
› Invited conference presentations: See Personal Profile
2011
› Marc Redmile-Gordon: PhD Supervision - Bristol University
2010
› Honorary Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society of England
2009
› Member: BBSRC Human Resources Advisory Group
› President: British Society of Soil Science
2008
› Darren Mccabe: PhD Supervision - Reading University
2007
› Carolin Cordova Saez: PhD Supervision - Reading University
2005
› Chartered Scientist
2003
› Fellow of the Institute of Profession Soil Scienti
2002
› Subject Editor: Soil Biology and Biochemistry
› Editorial Board: International J. of Agricultural Sustainability
1980
› Member of the Society of Chemical Industry
1975
› Member of the British Society of Soil Science
Provides the research community access to a range of in situ state-of-the-art instrumentation in hydrologically isolated fields and farms to better address key issues in sustainable agriculture. More...
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Advanced terrestrial ecosystem analysis and modelling (ATEAM)
Rothamsted Insect Survey
