Academics and Team
These following are / were the main people involved in the project:
Dr. Andreas Heinemeyer (project leader, PI)
Andreas is an Associate Professor (senior researcher) at Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and has particular knowledge of terrestrial carbon fluxes, both measuring and modelling. He obtained one previous NERC grant (as PI) on peatland carbon fluxes and hydrology (UKPopNet; £40k). He has published considerably in this area over the past decade (including co-authorships in Nature Climate Change and Ecology Letters) and participated in national (NCEO, QUEST, CEH) and international (ESF, EGU) collaborations. He edited a book and contributed to six book chapters on an integrated methodology in soil carbon dynamics (Kutsch, Bahn & Heinemeyer, 2009). In addition, he has organised past NERC and ESF summer schools on carbon cycling. He also has GIS experience in a peatland context, specifically climate effects on enchytraeid abundance (Briones et al., 2007). Since 2017 he leads the plant-soil, management & climate group in SEI.
Selected relevant publications include: A. Heinemeyer, Q. Asena, W.L. Burn & A.L. Jones (2018) Peatland carbon stocks and burn history: blanket bog peat core evidence highlights charcoal impacts on peat physical properties and long-term carbon storage. GEO: Geography and Environment 5(2), e00063, https://doi.org/10.1002/geo2.63. P.A. Morton & A. Heinemeyer (2018) Vegetation matters: Correcting chamber carbon flux measurements using plant volumes. Science of the Total Environment, 639: 769–772; A. Heinemeyer & G.T. Swindles (2018) Unraveling past impacts of climate change and land management on historic peatland develoipment using proxybased reconstruction, monitoring data and process modeling. Global Change Biology, 24(9): 4131-4142; J.M. Clark, A. Heinemeyer, P. Martin, S. Bottrell (2011) Re-examining the relationship between drought-induced acidification and DOC in peat pore-waters at six different sites in Great Britain, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 109: 253-270; A. Heinemeyer & N.P. McNamara (2011) Comparing the closed static versus the closed dynamic chamber flux methodology: implications for soil respiration studies. Plant and Soil, 346:145–151; A. Heinemeyer, M. Wilkinson, R. Vargas, J.-A. Subke, E. Casella, J.I.L. Morison & P. Ineson (2012) Exploring the “overflow tap” theory: linking forest soil CO2 fluxes and individual mycorrhizosphere components to photosynthesis. Biogeosciences, 9: 79-95; A. Moilanen, B.J. Anderson, F. Eigenbrod, A. Heinemeyer, D.B. Roy, S. Gillings, P.R. Armsworth, K.J. Gaston, C.D Thomas (2011) Balancing alternative land uses in conservation prioritization. Ecological Applications, 21(5): 1419–1426; A. Heinemeyer, C. Di Bene, A.R. Lloyd, D. Tortorella, R. Baxter, B. Huntley, A. Gelsomino & P. Ineson (2011) Soil respiration: implications of the plant-soil continuum and respiration chamber collar-insertion depth on measurement and modelling of soil CO2 efflux rates in three ecosystems. European Journal of Soil Sciences, 62: 82–94; A. Heinemeyer, S. Croft, M.H. Garnett, M. Gloor, J. Holden, M.R. Lomas & P. Ineson (2010) The MILLENNIA peat cohort model, predicting past, present and future soil carbon budgets and fluxes under changing climates in peatlands. Climate Research (Special Issue: Climate Change and the British Uplands), 45: 207–226; B.J. Anderson, P.R. Armsworth, F. Eigenbrod, C.D. Thomas, S. Gillings, A. Heinemeyer, D.B. Roy, K.J. Gaston (2009) Spatial covariance between biodiversity and other ecosystem services. Journal of Applied Ecology, 46: 888-896; M.J.I. Briones, P. Ineson, A. Heinemeyer (2007). Predicting potential impacts of climate change on the geographical distribution of enchytraeids: a meta-analysis approach. Global Change Biology, 13: 2252–2269.
Dr. Harry Vallack (former PDRA in Phase 1)
Harry is a retired (2020) senior researcher at SEI and has a PhD in carbon cycling in upland soils and has led a report for the North York Moors National Park on afforestation effect in peatlands. He is an ecologist of over 30 years experience which has included much research on the carbon dynamics of soils but also on energy model developments and air pollution/GHG emissions inventories. He has been involved in the development of innovative techniques for measuring the carbon isotopic composition of soil and ecosystem CO2 efflux in situ. His recent research has focussed on the fate of assimilated C in the plant-soil system in response to management practices (lime and nitrogen fertilizer inputs) in uplands and forests. He has also been using in situ 13C pulse-labelling techniques to partition soil CO2 respiration between heterotrophic and autotrophic (including mycorrhizal) components. Harry will retire in autumn 2019.
Selected relevant publications include:
Vallack HW, Subke JA, et al. 2012. The application of nitrogen fertilizer to a boreal pine forest has a negative impact on the respiration of ectomycorrhizal hyphae, Plant and Soil, 352: 405-417. Subke JA, Vallack HW, Magnusson T, et al. 2009. Short-term dynamics of abiotic and biotic soil 13CO2 effluxes after in situ 13CO2 pulse labelling of a boreal pine forest. New Phytologist, 183: 349-357. Vallack, H.W. and Rypdal, K. The Global Atmospheric Pollution Forum Air Pollutant Emissions Inventory Manual. July 2006. Stockholm Environment Institute, University of York, York, UK, 2006 (book/report). Vallack, H.W. and Ineson, P. The carbon sequestration potential of native broadleaf tree plantations on the North York Moors’. March 2005, Stockholm Environment Institute, University of York, York, UK (report).
Dr Rachel Pateman (PDRA)
Rachel joined SEI in 2013, having completed her PhD in the Biology Department at the University of York. Her PhD research related to the impacts of climate change on UK biodiversity, specifically how species have already responded to climate change by altering the types of habitat they use. She has continued her work on UK biodiversity, for example, researching how altering management of the UK uplands may help to buffer soil invertebrates against increasingly dry conditions, which could prove important for the conservation of upland breeding birds (Peatland-ES-UK) and she has also worked on several citizen science projects, enthusing people about nature and engaging people in the scientific process. Projects have included Moors for the Future Partnership (MFTF Citizen Science) and the long-term, national OPAL project (OPAL).
Dr. Astrid Hanlon (project partner link, YPP; replaced by Dr. Tim Thom from the YPP)
Astrid was the research coordinator for the Yorkshire Peat Partnership (YPP). Her work involved liaising with Universities to identify, facilitate and co-supervise high quality research into ecosystem services and practical peatland restoration. The role also included researching, developing and implementing monitoring of restoration works and wider peatland variables; this included developing protocols, software and GIS techniques for field and remote monitoring. Communicating and raising awareness about the importance of peat conservation and the role that science plays in determining policy was also key to the role. Previous work included research into carbon cycling in estuarine environments involving secondments with both the Environment Agency and Michigan Technological University, USA. Astrid left the project due to maternity leave. Dr Tim Thom has now taken over her role.
Selected relevant publications include: 1. Hanlon A.R.M., Bellinger B., Haynes K.,Xiao G., Hoffman T.A., Gretz M.R., Ball A.S., Osborn A.M. and Underwood G.J.C., 2006.“Dynamics of EPS production and loss in an estuarine, diatom dominated, microalgal biofilm over a tidal emersion.” Limnology and Oceanography 2006. 2. Hanlon A.R.M., Underwood G.J.C., Oxborough K. and Baker N.R. 2006 (Limnology and Oceanography).“The effects of simazine on species-specific diatom cell growth and photosynthetic parameters.” 3. Hanlon A.R.M., Underwood G.J.C., Oxborough K. and Baker N.R. 2006 (Environmental Pollution). “In sediment species-specific photochemical efficiency responses to low level simazine exposure” 4. Underwood G.J.C., Perkins R.G., Consalvey M., Hanlon A.R.M., Oxborough K. and Baker N.R. and Paterson D.M., 2005. “Pattern sin microphytobenthic productivity: Species-specific variation in migratory rhythms and photosynthesis in mixed-species biofilms” Limnology and Oceanography Vol. 50, pp. 755 – 767. 5. Mason C.F., Underwood G.J.C., Baker N.R., Davey P.A., Davidsson I., Hanlon A.R.M., Long S.P., Oxborough K., Paterson D.M. and Watson A., 2003. “The role of herbicides in the erosion of salt marshes in Eastern England” Environmental Pollution, Vol. 122, pp. 41 – 49. 6. Perkins R.G., Oxborough K., Hanlon A.R.M., Underwood G.J.C. and Baker N.R., 2002. “Can chlorophyll a fluorescence be used to estimate the rate of electron transport within microphytobenthic biofilms?” Marine Ecology Progress Series, Vol 228, pp. 47 – 56. 7. Oxborough K., Hanlon A.R.M., Underwood G.J.C. and Baker N.R., 2000. “In vivo estimation of the photosystem II photochemical efficiency of individual microphytobenthic cells using high-resolution imaging of chlorophyll a fluorescence.” Limnology and Oceanography, Vol 45, pp. 1420 – 1425.
Dr Phoebe Morton (PhD student - submitted and graduated in 2017)
Phoebe was a PhD student at SEI and has a BSc in Biology (with a Year in Industry) from the University of York. She has worked for the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust in the Scottish Highlands for a year as a placement student, which included work with gamebirds in a wide variety of upland habitats, vegetation surveys and habitat mapping. Through this work, she has gained a deep understanding of management of upland areas and their importance for local industries. Her undergraduate project focussed on investigating how soil CO2 and CH4 fluxes in mineral soils alter when mycorrhizas are present and with biochar (charcoal) addition. Her PhD thesis was on "A Burning Issue: Assessing the impact of alternative grouse moor managements on vegetation dynamics and carbon cycling on UK blanket bogs". She now works on water quality (rivers) in Northern Ireland.
William Burn (current PhD student - started in October 2017)
Will is a NERC iCASE PhD student at SEI, partnered with Natural England. He has a BSc in Plant Science from the University of Sheffield during which time he worked part-time as a technician on a large NERC project examining growth history and photosynthetic systems in grasses. Will’s PhD aims to link habitat status to microbial communities in blanket bog, achieved with a large-scale mesocom experiment that links the results of long term monitoring of blanket bog mesosoms with next generation sequencing of microbial communities. Will spends his spare time caving, mountaineering and fell running.
Abby Mycroft (current PhD student - started in October 2018)
Abby is a PhD student in the SEI and has a BSc (hons) in Environmental Science with a study abroad year from The University of Nottingham and a MSc in Hydrogeology from The University of Birmingham. Between her undergraduate and masters degree she worked as a Chemical Analyst analysing soil and water for organic chemical contaminants using GC/MS. Her PhD is entitled ‘Linking blanket bog management, habitat status and climate to peat chemistry, carbon storage and water quality’ and aims to provide answers to the key practitioner question of: how favourable is a habitat and which vegetation community and management regime is best in relation to C-storage, DOC compounds affecting water quality and greenhouse gas emissions? She spends her free time playing the violin, knitting, reading and is a member of the UOY powerlifting society!
Anthony Jones (current Technician)
Anthony has a BSc in Applied Biology from the University of Nottingham and an MSc in Wetland Science and Conservation from Bangor University, where his research project focused on the effect of restoration actions on the lowland fen Cors Erddreiniog, Anglesey. This research was undertaken with the Centre of Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), where he also provided technical support for the Defra funded 'Lowland Peat Project' involving chamber gas flux measurements. Within the project he is mainly responsible for water quality assessment and gas fluxes.
Tom Holmes (current Technician)
Tom has a PhD from the University of York (Environment) where he researched damage from past storm events and recovery rates of saltmarshes. The work also involved analysing soil cores for chemicals and pollen to reconstruct past environmental changes in relation to storm events. Within the team is mainly responsible for chemical analysis of water and plant samples.
Nicola Myers (former Technician)
Nicola was a very dedicated and cheerful technician, mainly involved with the initial cranefly work. She decided to leave to look after her first child and the family business (still near York).
Thomas Sloan (former Technician)
Tom was one of the project research technicians and has a BSc in Ecology, Conservation and the Environment from the University of York. Tom has several years of technical experience in environmental, climate and agricultural research in the UK and abroad. This has included spells at Imperial College London working on closed system modelling of climate change, at FERA surveying British mammal populations and studying legume crops with the Processors and Growers Research Organisation. He is now doing a PhD at York on "Quantifying carbon accumulation and loss in afforested peatlands".
Anda Baumerte (former Technician)
Anda is from Riga and was our second research technician since February 2015. She has a BSc in Environmental Science and MSc in Biology from the University of Latvia as well as a MSc in Environmental Economics and Environmental Management from the University of York. Anda has experience in international environmental policy and management issues and nanomaterial safety assessment in the UK and abroad. She also has considerable NGO experience, mainly in her home country, Latvia. When she is not working, she is dancing away on the dance floor! She now works in an environmental consultancy.
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Dr Mel Meridith-Williams (former Technician)
Mel was one of the first project research technicians and has a PhD in Environmental Science, from the University of York. Melanie has several years of technical experience in environmental research in the UK and abroad. This has included spells at at FERA as an aquatic ecotoxicologist and environmental modeller and at CEFAS researching parasites in the European oyster. Mel is also a Beagle fanatic. She now works as a PDRA in New Zealand.
Also involved in the Phase 1 of the project were the following academics:
Dr. Colin McClean (Senior Lecturer) is a spatial analyst with substantial experience of spatial modelling across a range of research areas from conservation ecology and biodiversity through land use modelling and pollution impacts to biogeochemistry. Funded work by McClean has involved modelling the potential impacts of climate change on African and UK plant species. In other modelling work he has applied a number of reserve modelling and selection algorithms to both marine and terrestrial conservation problems. Recent work sponsored by WWF is cited in the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution marine fisheries report. Results of the climate change impacts work for Africa are cited in the Stern Review and 2007 IPCC impact report. Other work includes looking at Sahelian “greening” using detailed hydrologically relevant terrain modelling and the climate change impact modelling for the Shea Tree in the Sudano-Sahelian zone (EU-funded). Common to most of this diverse work is the use of large and readily available spatial data sets for novel applications, a crucial concept in the current proposal.
Selected relevant publications include: 1. Balmford, A., Gravestock, P., Hockley, N., McClean, C. & Roberts, C. (2004) The worldwide costs of marine protected areas, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci, 101 (26), 9694-9697. 2. Roberts C., McClean, C., Allen, G., Hawkins, J., McAllister, D., Mittermeier, C., Schueler, F., Spalding, M., Veron, E., Wells, F., Vynne, C. & Werner, T. (2002) Marine biodiversity hotspots and conservation priorities for tropical reefs, Science, 295, 1280-1284. 3. Huby, M., Cinderby, S., Crowe, A.M., Gillings, S., McClean, C.J., Moran, D., Owen, A., & White, P.C.L. (2006) The association of natural, social and economic factors with bird species richness in rural England, Journal of Agricultural Economics, 57, 295-312. 4. McClean, C.J., Ashmore, M.A., van den Berg, L.J.L. & Preston, C.D. (2011) Atmospheric nitrogen deposition explains patterns of plant species loss. Global Change Biology, 17, 2882–2892. 5. Begum, S., McClean, C.J., Cresser, M.S. and Breward, N. Can sediment data be used to predict alkalinity and base cation chemistry of surface waters? Science of the Total Environment, 409, 404-11. 2010. 6. Platts, P.J., McClean, C.J., Lovett, J.C. & Marchant, R. (2008) Predicting tree distributions in an East African biodiversity hotspot: model selection, data bias and envelope uncertainty, Ecological Modelling, 218, 121-134. 7. Termansen M., McClean C.J. & Preston C.D. (2006) The use of genetic algorithms and Bayesian classification to model species distributions, Ecological Modelling, 192, 410-424. 8. McClean, C.J., Lovett J., Küper, W., Hannah, L., Sommer, J.H., Barthlott, W., Termansen, M., Smith, G.F., Tokumine, S. & Taplin, J.R.D. (2005) African Plant Diversity and Climate Change, Annals of the Missouri Botanical Gardens, 92 (2), 139-152.
Professor Alastair Fitter (emeritus Professor, CBE FRS, York) is one of the best known and respected ecologists and botanists in the UK. He has led or initiated many large consortiums (e.g. UKPopNet) and initiatives, and published extensively in major journals, too numerous to name. He continues to contribute to policy related work through his role as chair or trustee on many organisations, such as the YPP and his position within the Natural England Science Advisory Committee. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) and recently received a CBE for his outstanding scientific and policy related work. He was the principle supervisor for Heinemeyer's PhD thesis.
Dr Calvin Dytham (Reader, York) is a theoretical ecologist with a strong track record in statistical analysis and experimental design. His research has spanned the effects of climate change on range expansions of insects and fish, the conservation of rare species in the UK and the effects of invasions by exotic species. Funded work on butterfly expansions has exposed clear interactions of habitat variation and climate shifts while work on mycorrhiza used hierarchical statistical model analysis of pyrosequence data to reveal seasonal and spatial patterns in a field site. His theoretical work includes strategic modelling of ranges incorporating inter-individual variation and spatial patterning in the assessment of species assemblages and management recommendations. His statistics text book has been a best-seller and is widely cited.
Selected relevant publications include: 1. C.Dytham (2011) Choosing and Using Statistics, A Biologist’s Guide. Third Edition. 298 pp. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN: 978-1-4051-9839-4. 2. T. Meithe, J.W.Pitchford & C. Dytham (2011) Modelling the evolutionary effects of a coastal marine reserve on different ecological guilds of fish. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 91, 1369-1380. 3. H.J. Poethke, C. Dytham & T. Hovestadt (2011) A metapopulation paradox: partial improvement of habitat may reduce metapopulation persistence. American Naturalist, 177, 792-799. 4. J.D. Chipperfield, C. Dytham & T. Hovestadt (2011) An updated algorithm for the generation of neutral landscapes by spectral synthesis. PLOS One, 6, e17040. 5. A.J. Dumbrell, … C. Dytham et al. (2011) Distinct seasonal assemblages of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi revealed by massively parallel pyrosequencing. New Phytologist, 190, 794-804. 6. A.J. Dumbrell, … C. Dytham et al. (2010) Relative roles of niche and neutral processes in structuring a soil microbial community. ISME Journal, 4, 337-345. 7. A.J. Dumbrell, … C. Dytham et al. (2010) Idiosyncrasy and overdominance in the structure of natural communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi: is there a role for stochastic processes? Journal of Ecology, 98, 419-428. 8. G.E. Allen & C. Dytham (2009) An efficient method for shochastic simulation of biological populations in continuous time. Biosystems 98, 37-42. 9. C. Dytham (2009) Evolved dispersal strategies at range margins. Proc Roy Soc B. 276, 1407-1413. 10. C. West, C. Dytham, D. Righton & J.W. Pitchford (2009) Preventing overexploitation of migratory fish stocks: the efficacy of marine protected areas in a stochastic environment. ICES Journal of Marine Science 66, 1919-1930. 11. J.M.J. Travis, K. Mustin, T.G. Benton & C. Dytham (2009) Accelerating invasion rates result from the evolution of density-dependent dispersal. Journal of Theoretical Biology 259, 151-158. 12. D.S. Chapman, G.S. Oxford & C. Dytham (2009) Process from pattern in the distribution of an endangered leaf beetle. Ecography 32, 259-268. 13. K. Mustin, T.G. Benton, C. Dytham & J.M.J. Travis (2009) The dynamics of climate-induced range shifting; perspectives from simulation modelling. Oikos, 118, 131-137. 14. J.M.J. Travis, T. Muenkemueller, O.J. Burton, A. Best, C. Dytham & K. Johst (2007) Deleterious mutations can surf to high densities on the wave front of an expanding population. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 24, 2334-2343. 15. C. Dytham & S.D. Simpson (2007) Elevated mortality of fish larvae on coral reefs drives the evolution of larval movement patterns. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 346, 255-264. 16. S.E.M. Fraser, C. Dytham & P.J. Mayhew (2007) Determinants of parasitoid abundance and diversity in woodland habitats. Journal of Applied Ecology, 44, 352-361. 17. E.P. Holland, J.N. Aegerter, C. Dytham & G.C. Smith (2007) Landscape as a model: the importance of geometry. PLOS Computational Biology, 3, 1979-1988. See CV for other publications.
Professor Phil Ineson (emeritus Professor, Biology, York)
held the Chair of Global Change Ecology at the University of York. His research interest is in the role of soils in global change, and he has published more than 140 papers over the past 25 years. He has pioneered new approaches using stable isotopes tracing the fate of assimilated carbon into different groups of organisms in the soil, as well as the use of automated continuous chamber measurements of the net CO2 exchange in arctic vegetation. He is one of the initial collaborators within UKPopNet and currently coordinates research at the Lake Vyrnwy site in several grants as either PI or Co-PI. Prof. Ineson’s Great Dunfell climate change work on soil and water (lysimeter analysis) (Ineson et al., GCB 4, 143-162, 1998) is particularly relevant to this project. Prof. Ineson has a long track record of attracting research funds in a carbon cycle and hydrological context: Soil Biodiversity – Soil faunal biodiversity and carbon cycling (1997-2001). Detection of trophic interactions in soil using stable isotopes (2002-2004). Carbon transfers at Sourhope – from plant to soil organic matter (1999-2002). Quantification of soil carbon inputs under elevated CO2 (2004-2007). TOPS: Tropospheric ozone pollution using stable isotopes (2002-2006). Centre for Terrestrial Carbon Dynamics. (2002-2007). UKPopNet (NERC/Natural England; 2006-2009): The Bug to Big Project (2007-2010). Carbon cycling in forests: the role of priming (2008-2011).
Selected relevant publications include: Hartley IP, Ineson P. 2008. Substrate quality and the temperature sensitivity of soil organic matter decomposition. Soil Biol Biochem 40, 1567-1574. Briones MJI, Ineson P, Heinemeyer A. 2007. Predicting potential impacts of climate change on the geographical distribution of enchytraeids: a meta-analysis approach. Global Change Biol 13, 2252-2269. Heath J, Ayres E, Possell M, Bardgett RD, Black HIJ, Grant H, Ineson P, Kerstiens G. 2005. Rising atmospheric CO2 reduces sequestration of root-derived soil carbon. Science 309, 1711-1713. McNamara, NP; Black, HIJ; Piearce, TG; Reay, DS; Ineson, P (2008) The influence of afforestation and tree species on soil methane fluxes from shallow organic soils at the UK Gisburn Forest Experiment. Soil Use and Management 24: 1-7. Briones, MJI; Garnett, MH; Ineson, P (2010) Soil biology and warming play a key role in the release of 'old C' from organic soils. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 42: 960-967. Garnett, M.H., Ineson, P., Stevenson, A.C., Howard, D.C., 2001. Terrestrial organic carbon storage in a British moorland. Global Change Biology 7, 375-388. Garnett, M.H., Ineson, P., Stevenson, A.C., 2000. Effects of burning and grazing on carbon sequestration in a Pennine blanket bog, UK. Holocene 10, 729-736. E. Tipping, C. Woof, E. Rigg, A. F. Harrison, P. Ineson, K. Taylor, D. Benham, J. Poskitt, A. P. Rowland, R. Bol and D. D. Harkness (1999) Climatic influences on the leaching of dissolved organic matter from upland UK moorland soils, investigated by a field manipulation experiment. Environment International, 1, 83-95. Prof. Ineson was Heinemeyer's line manager during the NERC funded CTCD and NCEO project phase (2002-2012).
Dr Charles Bristow (Birkbeck, London)
is Head of Department at Birkbeck and has pioneered the use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) to investigate shallow subsurface stratigraphy in Holocene and Quaternary sediments. He has over 15 years of experience in using GPR and has undertaken GPR surveys in a wide range of environments including, rivers, swamps, deserts, glaciers and coastal sediments. He has published extensively on the subject and edited a book on GPR in Sediments with Dr Harry Jol (Bristow and Jol 2003) and recently completed a paper on GPR for the treatise on Methods in Geomorphology which is in press.
Dr Lauren Parry (formerly a KTP at DMS, University of Leeds; now a lecturer in Glasgow)
was a KTP researcher between Leeds University and Dinsdales Moorland Services (DMS) with an interest in peatland management, conservation and restoration. Her current role focused on developing improved methodologies for surveying peatlands using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and other geophysical methods. This included generating accurate, high resolution carbon inventories, mapping surface contents and peat pipe identification. She was leading the GPR work as part of this project.
Recent publications include: Billett M.F., Charman D.J., Clark J.M., Evans C.D., Evans M.G., Ostle N.J., Worrall. F, Burden A, Dinsmore K.J, Jones T, McNamara N.P, Parry L, Rowson J.G, Rose R. (2010). Carbon balance of UK peatlands: current state of knowledge and future research challenges. Climate Research. House, J., Clark, C., Gallego-Sala, A., Orr, H., Aylen, J., Bardgett, R., Billett, M., Bonn, A., Caporn, S., Chapman, S., Clutterbuck, B., Evans, C., Evans, M., Farewell, T., Freeman, C., Grayson, R., Hall, J., Holden, J., McMorrow, J., Milledge, D., Nayak, D., Ostle, N., Parry, L., Prentice, C., Stevens, C., Smith, J., Smith, P., Vanguelova, E., Ward, S., Waldron, S., White, S., Worrall, F., Yallop, A. (2010) Vulnerability of upland peatland services to climate change. Environment Agency Science Report SC070036/SR.
The Team's expertise:
Site setup Forest of Bowland
The York team are nationally and internationally recognised for the excellence of their research on peatland carbon cycling and on management impacts on the peatland carbon store. Several members of the team have been invited keynote speakers at major conferences on C cycling. We have also worked closely with practitioners including CCW (UKPopNet, EU LIFE project) and have established contacts to management contractors such as Dinsdales Moorland Services (through work in the Peak District and Wales). This ensures we have a good understanding of the suite of restoration practices and methodological approaches that are to be undertaken and are associated with peatland research. Moreover the Project's Advisory Group will provide additional stakeholder and policy level insights and guidance (this group now consists of all the co-funders and a NE/Defra representation). The expertise and experience in similar projects (e.g. UKPopNet) of the team together with the YPP and the Advisory Group will ensure high scientific and policy relevant standards in this project.
Winter impression at Mossdale
The team have an outstanding record of publishing in the highest-ranked international journals and also of leading a wide range of relevant research projects. Based on our expertise and facilities we often provide GHG (GC) and water quality analysis for other Universities and research groups. We also collaborate on methodological advances with CEH (i.e. examining static cover box chamber measurements for CO2 fluxes compared to the Li-Cor system which showed the importance of considering incubation times; Heinemeyer & McNamara, 2011) and other institutes (i.e. a novel gas flux system (Gas-Snake, a filed UK patent (GB1015047.2); Heinemeyer et al., 2011) for measuring gas fluxes. We also contributed to several publications on linking carbon to ecosystem services and protective areas (Eigenbrod et al. 2009-2011, and Anderson et al., 2009). We certainly are at the forefront of soil flux methodology and further developments. This includes organising and performing summer schools on soil and peatland carbon dynamics and co-editing of a book on methodologies in carbon dynamics (Kutsch, Bahn & Heinemeyer, 2009).
We have also started critically assessing the evidence around management impacts on peatland functioning (Ashby & Heinemeyer, 2019a), especially C storage (Heinemeyer et al., 2018). This also included several rebuttals and responses (Heinemeyer et al., 2019; Ashby & Heinemeyer, 2019b).
First site visit Nidderdale - yes, it can be nasty weather!
The York team consists of experienced technicians at the Environment Department and researchers who are based at SEI at York, which has a long track record with Defra in various past and current projects. Further the York team works in close collaboration with the YPP’s research and management group; this includes CASE PhD students. Another CASE student is now part of a NERC-funded iCASE with Natural England.
Evening impression at Nidderdale
The team further includes key expertise in related areas such as Ground Penetrating radar (GPR) through links to London (Bristow, Brikbeck) and Leeds (Parry, DMS).
First site visit Mossdale