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Contact Details Department of Biology (Area 2) University of York PO Box 373 York YO10 5YW Tel: +44 (0)1904 328551 E-mail: pi2@york.ac.uk Office: B/D007

Career Outline

1982	BSc (1st Class Honours) Biological Sciences	Manchester Polytechnic
1986	PhD. Effects of airborne sulphur pollutants on soil biological activity	University of Liverpool, UK
1986-1989	NERC Post-doctoral Research Assistant	University of Exeter
1989-1990	NERC Research Fellow	ITE Merlewood
1990-1996	Senior Scientific Officer	ITE Merlewood
1996-2000	Grade 7	ITE Merlewood
1998-2000	Visiting Professor	University of Lancaster, UK
2000-date	Professor of Global Change Ecology	University of York, UK

Research Interests

The research group has particular interests in the role of soils in global change and in the application of stable isotope approaches to ecological research. Research is varied in scale, ranging from assessments of the carbon fluxes and inventories of terrestrial ecosystems, through to extracting nucleotide sequences from functional groups of soil bacteria. The research has pioneered techniques in the field tracing and measurement of carbon fluxes, and utilises state-of-the-art equipment based in both the laboratory and the field in order to identify and quantify major sources and sinks for the major ‘greenhouse’ gases.

Discoveries:
We have pioneered stable isotope approaches to following the pathways and fate of carbon through plant-soil systems, identifying how these will change as the atmospheric CO₂ concentration rise and also characterising the organisms involved in processing the carbon in the soil.

Some Recent Publications

Heath J, Ayers E, Possell M, Bardgett RD, Black HIJ, Grant H, Ineson P and Kerstiens G (2005) Rising atmospheric CO2 reduces sequestration of root-derived soil carbon Science 309: 1711-1713

Phoenix GK, Hicks WK, Cinderby S, Kuylenstierna JCI, Stock WD, Dentener FJ, Giller KE, Austin AT, Lefroy RDB, Gimeno BS, Ashmore MR and Ineson P (2006) Atmospheric nitrogen deposition in world biodiversity hotspots: the need for a greater global perspective in assessing N deposition impacts Global Change Biology 12: 470-476

Current Research Projects

• Arctic-Biosphere-Atmosphere Coupling across multiple scales (ABACUS)
  Funding body: NERC
• Carbon cycling in forests: Priming of old soil organic matter through plant derived C input
  Funding body: NERC
• Ground-based carbon measurement programme: National Centre for Earth Observation
  Funding body: NERC Centre of Excellence
• Closed system carbon research in the Ecotron
  Funding body: NERC
• Bug to Big: Tracing methane fluxes from the molecular to landscape scale
  Funding body: NERC UKPopNet and English Nature
• Unravelling the effects of tropospheric ozone on below-ground processes driving methane and carbon dioxide fluxes (with Prof. Mike Ashmore)
  Funding body: NERC

PhD Research Projects Available for 2010

Trace gas production from organic soils (for 2010-11)
It is now realised that the feedbacks between climate change and trace gas transfers from terrestrial ecosystems to the atmosphere may be critical in deciding the future rate of climate change. Central to improving this understanding is the need for data on trace gas fluxes from terrestrial ecosystems, with an improved understanding on how they respond to climatic and other factors. Since organic soils are particularly important stores of carbon, and have considerable potential as a source (or sink) for trace gases such as methane, experiments will be performed on these soils in both the field and laboratory to identify the key driving factors.

Impacts of upland drainage on ecosystem carbon cycling (for 2010-11)
Climate change predictions suggest that there will be major changes in future global rainfall patterns over the next few decades, with the UK Government being committed to anticipating these changes and planning to minimise impacts. The predictions suggest a change in seasonal patterns of rainfall for much of the UK, with increased potential for increased rainfall in winter whilst decreases in summer rainfall will lead to increased summer droughts; such climate changes could have particularly strong impacts on the upland areas of the UK, with negative consequences for vegetation and soils. In anticipation of such changes, large scale field experiments are being established to investigate these potential impacts and to develop strategies to mitigate the impacts of such changes. The student will join a team of researchers investigating the impacts of drainage modification on upland ecosystems with particular emphasis on quantifying the effects on ecosystem ‘greenhouse’ gas balance (CO2, CH4 and N2O).

Lab Members

Status	Name	Project
EU Research Fellow	Dr Oleg Menyailo	Nitrogen and carbon interactions in forest ecosystems
Post doctoral fellow	Dr Jens-Arne Subke	Carbon cycling in forests: Priming of old soil organic matter through plant derived C input
Post doctoral fellow	Dr Andreas Heinemeyer	Ground-based carbon measurement programme: National Centre for Earth Observation
Post doctoral fellow	Dr Sylvia Toet	Unravelling the effects of tropospheric ozone on below-ground processes driving methane and carbon dioxide fluxes (with Prof. Mike Ashmore)
Research Student	Naomi Voke	Carbon priming in forest soils
Research Student	James Stockdale	Landscape carbon fluxes
Technician	Lorna Paterson	Bug to big project
Technician	Rob Holden	Bug to big project