- Ecology, Environmental Studies, Conservation Biology, Biodiversity, Landscape Ecology, Community Ecology, and 27 moreRural Development, Conservation Ecology, Sustainable agriculture, Environmental Management, Wildlife Ecology And Management, Ecosystem Services, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function, Organic agriculture, Agroecology, Restoration Ecology, Invasive species ecology, Landscape History, Environment and natural resources conservation, Land management, Agricultural Policy, Invasive Species, Landscape History, Invasion Ecology, Agrobiodiversity, Vegetation Ecology, Land Use Model, Land uses soil fertility, Envirnmental Weeds, Wildlife restoration, Environmental Sustainability, Landscape Ecological Planning, and Ecological Planningedit
Grassland restoration is the dominant activity funded by agri-environment schemes (AES). However, the re-instatement of biodiversity and ecosystem services is limited by a number of severe abiotic and biotic constraints resulting from... more
Grassland restoration is the dominant activity funded by agri-environment schemes (AES). However, the re-instatement of biodiversity and ecosystem services is limited by a number of severe abiotic and biotic constraints resulting from previous agricultural management. These appear to be less severe on ex-arable sites compared with permanent grassland. We report findings of a large research programme into practical solutions to these constraints. The key abiotic constraint was high residual soil fertility, particularly phosphorus. This can most easily be addressed by targeting of sites of low nutrient status. The chief biotic constraints were lack of propagules of desirable species and suitable sites for their establishment. Addition of seed mixtures or green hay to gaps created by either mechanical disturbance or herbicide was the most effective means of overcoming these factors. Finally, manipulation of biotic interactions, including hemiparasitic plants to reduce competition from grasses and control of mollusc herbivory of sown species, significantly improved the effectiveness of these techniques.
Research Interests:
RSC Publishing Logo. ...
Research Interests:
SummaryMicrobial communities respond to a variety of environmental factors related to resources (e.g. plant and soil organic matter), habitat (e.g. soil characteristics) and predation (e.g. nematodes, protozoa and viruses). However, the... more
SummaryMicrobial communities respond to a variety of environmental factors related to resources (e.g. plant and soil organic matter), habitat (e.g. soil characteristics) and predation (e.g. nematodes, protozoa and viruses). However, the relative contribution of these factors on microbial community composition is poorly understood. Here, we sampled soils from 30 chalk grassland fields located in three different chalk hill ridges of Southern England, using a spatially explicit sampling scheme. We assessed microbial communities via phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analyses and PCR‐denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and measured soil characteristics, as well as nematode and plant community composition. The relative influences of space, soil, vegetation and nematodes on soil microorganisms were contrasted using variation partitioning and path analysis. Results indicate that soil characteristics and plant community composition, representing habitat and resources, shape soil microbial community composition, whereas the influence of nematodes, a potential predation factor, appears to be relatively small. Spatial variation in microbial community structure was detected at broad (between fields) and fine (within fields) scales, suggesting that microbial communities exhibit biogeographic patterns at different scales. Although our analysis included several relevant explanatory data sets, a large part of the variation in microbial communities remained unexplained (up to 92% in some analyses). However, in several analyses, significant parts of the variation in microbial community structure could be explained. The results of this study contribute to our understanding of the relative importance of different environmental and spatial factors in driving the composition of soil‐borne microbial communities.
Research Interests: Microbiology, Geography, Environmental microbiology, Biology, Ecology, and 15 moreMicrobial consortia, Medicine, England, Microbial Population Biology, Fatty acids, Animals, Bacteria, Community Structure, Grassland, Ecosystem, Calcium Carbonate, Microbial Community Structure, Environmental, Microbial community, and Environmental factor
ABSTRACT succession of species in ecosystems is one of the most important yet controversial topics in ecology. The degree to which succession is deterministic, convergent, and predictable has been vigorously debated for nearly a century.... more
ABSTRACT succession of species in ecosystems is one of the most important yet controversial topics in ecology. The degree to which succession is deterministic, convergent, and predictable has been vigorously debated for nearly a century. In this study, we provide the first experimental evidence, to our knowledge, that succession can simultaneously be predictable and unpredictable. We manipulated initial plant species composition on abandoned arable land in the Netherlands and subsequently allowed natural colonization over nine years. We show that initial compositional variation causes plant communities to follow divergent pathways of succession in species composition. Such divergence makes succession appear strongly unpredictable. However, these same communities exhibit striking patterns of convergence in the composition of trait-based groups of plant species, indicating highly deterministic assembly rules. This contrast between species divergence and trait convergence is attributable to priority effects involving inhibition or facilitation rather than to statistical inevitability, dispersal limitation, or community neutrality. These results have profound implications for restoration of biodiversity: restoring specific species compositions may require detailed knowledge of how initial community states determine the direction of ecosystem assembly, even when communities converge predictably in species traits
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Non-technical summaryOur current global food system – from food production to consumption, including manufacture, packaging, transport, retail and associated businesses – is responsible for extensive negative social and environmental... more
Non-technical summaryOur current global food system – from food production to consumption, including manufacture, packaging, transport, retail and associated businesses – is responsible for extensive negative social and environmental impacts which threaten the long-term well-being of society. This has led to increasing calls from science–policy organizations for major reform and transformation of the global food system. However, our knowledge regarding food system transformations is fragmented and this is hindering the development of co-ordinated solutions. Here, we collate recent research across several academic disciplines and sectors in order to better understand the mechanisms that ‘lock-in’ food systems in unsustainable states.
Research Interests: Business, Social Change, Economics, Resilience, Food Systems, and 12 moreFood Policy, Sustainable Development, Environmental Policy and Governance, Ecology, Agriculture, Food Security, Sustainable Food Systems, Sustainability Transitions, Politics and Governance, Ecology and Biodiversity, Global Sustainability, and Global Food System
Research Interests:
Restoration schemes aimed at enhancing plant species diversity of improved agricultural grassland have been a key feature of agri-environmental policy since the mid 1980s. Allied to this has been much research aimed at providing policy... more
Restoration schemes aimed at enhancing plant species diversity of improved agricultural grassland have been a key feature of agri-environmental policy since the mid 1980s. Allied to this has been much research aimed at providing policy makers with guidelines on how best to manage grassland to restore botanical diversity. This research includes long-term studies of the consequences for grassland diversity of management techniques such as different hay cut dates, fertiliser additions, seed introductions and grazing regimes. Studies have also explored the role of introductions of Rhinanthus minor into species-poor swards to debilitate competitive grasses. While these studies have been successful in identifying some management features that control plant species diversity in agricultural grassland, they have taken a largely aboveground perspective on plant community dynamics.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Wet habitats are considered a potentially important component of the farmed landscape for biodiversity, including provision of a range of resources for declining farmland bird species. The Wetting Up Farmland for Birds and other... more
Wet habitats are considered a potentially important component of the farmed landscape for biodiversity, including provision of a range of resources for declining farmland bird species. The Wetting Up Farmland for Birds and other Biodiversity (WUFFB) project in England is ...
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
... You are welcome to look for and obtain items of interest and make contact with the authors and creators. ... Mortimer, SR and Westbury, DB and Dodd, S and Brook, AJ and Harris, SJ and Kessock-Philip, R and Chaney, K and Lewis, P and... more
... You are welcome to look for and obtain items of interest and make contact with the authors and creators. ... Mortimer, SR and Westbury, DB and Dodd, S and Brook, AJ and Harris, SJ and Kessock-Philip, R and Chaney, K and Lewis, P and Buckingham, DL and Peach, WJ (2007 ...
Research Interests: Geography, Agronomy, Agroforestry, Biodiversity, Production economics, and 3 moreCrop Production, Crop, and S
Research Interests: Business, Economics, Industrial Organization, Food Safety, International Trade, and 15 moreFood Policy, Obesity, Environmental Health, Agriculture, Public Health, Food Consumption, Developing World, National Health Service, Fruit and vegetables, Human health, Healthy Diet, Farm management, Diet Quality, consumption sociology, and february
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Biology, Ecology, Soil Chemistry, Biodiversity, Biological Sciences, and 15 moreEnvironmental Sciences, Plant, Negative Feedback, Potassium, Soil organic matter, Sandy soil, Microorganism, Functional Group, Plant species, Ecosystem Function, Plant Community, Soil Nutrients, Soil Chemical Properties, Microbial community, and Soil Biodiversity
ABSTRACT Grasslands restoration is a key management tool contributing to the long-term maintenance of insect populations, providing functional connectivity and mitigating against extinction debt across landscapes. As knowledge of... more
ABSTRACT Grasslands restoration is a key management tool contributing to the long-term maintenance of insect populations, providing functional connectivity and mitigating against extinction debt across landscapes. As knowledge of grassland insect communities is limited, the lag between the initiation of restoration and the ability of these new habitats to contribute to the successful enhancement of native biodiversity is unclear. Using two long term data sets from the same restoration experiment, we investigate differences in successional trajectories during the establishment of butterfly (11 years) and phytophagous beetle (13 years) during the recreation of calcareous grassland. Overall restoration success was higher for the butterflies than for the beetles. However, both shared the same general pattern of rapidly increasing restoration success over the first five years, which approached an asymptote after c. 10 years. The use of pro-active grassland restoration to mitigate against future environmental change needs to account for such time lags if the value of these habitats is to be fully realised.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Aims The home-field advantage (HFA) hypothesis predicts faster decomposition of plant residues in home soil compared to soils with different plants (away), and has been demonstrated in forest and grassland ecosystems. It remains unclear... more
Aims The home-field advantage (HFA) hypothesis predicts faster decomposition of plant residues in home soil compared to soils with different plants (away), and has been demonstrated in forest and grassland ecosystems. It remains unclear if this legacy effect applies to crop residue decomposition in arable crop rotations. Such knowledge could improve our understanding of decomposition dynamics in arable soils and may allow optimisation of crop residue amendments in arable systems by cleverly combining crop-residue rotations with crop rotations to increase the amount of residue-derived C persisting in soil. Methods We tested the HFA hypothesis in a reciprocal transplant experiment with mesh bags containing wheat and oilseed rape residues in soils at three stages of a short-rotation cropping system. Subsets of mesh bags were retrieved monthly for six months to determine residue decomposition rates, concomitantly measuring soil available N, microbial community structure (phospholipid fa...
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Agroforestry and Silage
Research Interests:
Surveys of these restoration grasslands using Lepidoptera bioindicators (butterflies/day-flying moths) have shown that they are approaching the ecological conditions of the target ancient chalk grassland within 10 years with species... more
Surveys of these restoration grasslands using Lepidoptera bioindicators (butterflies/day-flying moths) have shown that they are approaching the ecological conditions of the target ancient chalk grassland within 10 years with species richness increasing and colonisation of Lepidoptera associated with tall-grass habitats e.g Meadow brown and Marbled white (Maniola jurtina, Melanargia galathea) (3). But species associated with short, herb-rich grassland e.g. Adonis blue and Small blue (Lysandra bellargus, Cupido minimus) (4) are isolated to the chalk grassland fragments within the WHS and the enhancement of habitat connectivity as a result of this restoration project is yet to be investigated. References
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Integration of crop and livestock production systems (ICLS) represents a method for enhancing the sustainability of agricultural systems. Introducing more diversified farm production plans increases profitability and resilience by... more
Integration of crop and livestock production systems (ICLS) represents a method for enhancing the sustainability of agricultural systems. Introducing more diversified farm production plans increases profitability and resilience by minimising the negative environmental impacts of agricultural production. Examining farm businesses located in Less Favoured Areas (LFAs) of England, we investigate how conversion into more integrated systems impacts on profitability. Thus, providing knowledge that can enable structural changes on the farm level towards enhancing financial performance and the sustainable intensification of the production system. Through Linear Programming (LP), four distinct optimisation scenarios are estimated, demonstrating the different dynamics between more specialised and more integrated-diversified (intensified) production systems. Data regarding physical and financial performances of 139 farm businesses were derived from the Farm Business Survey (FBS) for the accoun...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Recent demonstrations of the role of plant–soil biota interactions have challenged the conventional view that vegetation changes are mainly driven by changing abiotic conditions. However, while this concept has been validated under... more
Recent demonstrations of the role of plant–soil biota interactions have challenged the conventional view that vegetation changes are mainly driven by changing abiotic conditions. However, while this concept has been validated under natural conditions, our understanding of the long‐term consequences of plant–soil interactions for above‐belowground community assembly is restricted to mathematical and conceptual model projections. Here, we demonstrate experimentally that one‐time additions of soil biota and plant seeds alter soil‐borne nematode and plant community composition in semi‐natural grassland for 20 years. Over time, aboveground and belowground community composition became increasingly correlated, suggesting an increasing connectedness of soil biota and plants. We conclude that the initial composition of not only plant communities, but also soil communities has a long‐lasting impact on the trajectory of community assembly.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Summary The success of grassland biodiversity restoration schemes is determined by many factors; as such their outcomes can be unpredictable. There is a need for improved understanding of the relative importance of below‐ground factors to... more
Summary The success of grassland biodiversity restoration schemes is determined by many factors; as such their outcomes can be unpredictable. There is a need for improved understanding of the relative importance of below‐ground factors to restoration success, such as contrasting soil type and management intensities, as well as plant community composition and order of assembly. We carried out an 8‐year mesocosm experiment across three locations in the UK to explore the relative and interactive roles of various above‐ground and below‐ground factors in the establishment of target species, to determine general constraints on grassland restoration. Each location had a series of mesocosms with contrasting soil types and management status, which were initially sown with six grasses typical of species‐poor grasslands targeted for restoration. Over 5 years, sets of plant species were added, to test how different vegetation treatments, including early‐coloniser species and the hemiparasite Rh...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Soil biodiversity plays a key role in regulating the processes that underpin the delivery of ecosystem goods and services in terrestrial ecosystems. Agricultural intensification is known to change the diversity of individual groups of... more
Soil biodiversity plays a key role in regulating the processes that underpin the delivery of ecosystem goods and services in terrestrial ecosystems. Agricultural intensification is known to change the diversity of individual groups of soil biota, but less is known about how intensification affects biodiversity of the soil food web as a whole, and whether or not these effects may be generalized across regions. We examined biodiversity in soil food webs from grasslands, extensive, and intensive rotations in four agricultural regions across Europe: in Sweden, the UK, the Czech Republic and Greece. Effects of land‐use intensity were quantified based on structure and diversity among functional groups in the soil food web, as well as on community‐weighted mean body mass of soil fauna. We also elucidate land‐use intensity effects on diversity of taxonomic units within taxonomic groups of soil fauna. We found that between regions soil food web diversity measures were variable, but that incr...
Research Interests: Geography, Ecosystem Services, Ecology, Agriculture, Biodiversity, and 14 moreGlobal Change Biology, Medicine, Biological Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Europe, Species Richness, Soil Microbiology, Agricultural intensification, Body Mass, Functional Groups, Soil Biology, Early Terrestrial Ecosystems, Taxonomic Distinctness, and Soil Biodiversity
Research Interests:
Intensive land use reduces the diversity and abundance of many soil biota, with consequences for the processes that they govern and the ecosystem services that these processes underpin. Relationships between soil biota and ecosystem... more
Intensive land use reduces the diversity and abundance of many soil biota, with consequences for the processes that they govern and the ecosystem services that these processes underpin. Relationships between soil biota and ecosystem processes have mostly been found in laboratory experiments and rarely are found in the field. Here, we quantified, across four countries of contrasting climatic and soil conditions in Europe, how differences in soil food web composition resulting from land use systems (intensive wheat rotation, extensive rotation, and permanent grassland) influence the functioning of soils and the ecosystem services that they deliver. Intensive wheat rotation consistently reduced the biomass of all components of the soil food web across all countries. Soil food web properties strongly and consistently predicted processes of C and N cycling across land use systems and geographic locations, and they were a better predictor of these processes than land use. Processes of car...