tag: carbon

Soil biocrusts affect metabolic response to hydration on dunes in west Queensland, Australia

Soil biocrusts, formed from communities of microbes and their extracellular products are a common feature of dryland soil surfaces. Biocrust organisms are only intermittently metabolically active, but due to their ubiquity they make a significant contribution to the carbon cycle. Quantification of the controls and insights into the interlinked process of photosynthesis and respiration are …

Towards a microbial process-based understanding of the resilience of peatland ecosystem service provisioning – A research agenda

Peatlands are wetland ecosystems with great significance as natural habitats and as major global carbon stores. They have been subject to widespread exploitation and degradation with resulting losses in characteristic biota and ecosystem functions such as climate regulation. More recently, large-scale programmes have been established to restore peatland ecosystems and …

Budget 2020: enough cash for trees and soil?

Visit the University of Derby blog for this article I wrote about the new UK budget in March 2020. It’s just over a week since the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak unleashed his ambitious ’spending spree’ budget, marking an end to austerity as a UK economic policy. Instead there …

Wetlands in Drylands: Hidden Hotspots of Carbon Sequestration and Storage?

Although the term ‘wetlands in drylands’ sounds like a contradiction, many drylands host a range of ephemeral wetlands. Pans, for example, are widespread features in many drylands, representing topographic depressions of varying size and shape that host ephemeral, sometimes saline, bodies of shallow water following infrequent precipitation or river flooding …

Integrating microbiomics into peatland management and restoration

Peatlands are Important global carbon stores but are also sensitive climatically controlled ecosystems dependent on the maintenance of high water tables. Consequently they are under threat in warmer drier future climate conditions. The natural resilience of peatland systems and the potential to engineer resilience through peatland restoration are therefore important …

Bacterial 16S diversity of basal ice, sediment, and the forefront of Svínafellsjökull glacier via isolation chips and classical culturing techniques

Sub-glacial microbes are receiving increased attention due to their central roles in storage and release of greenhouse gases, such as methane and CO2. Climate change driven warming and resulting glacier retreat exposes bedrock that can contribute to soil formation in which subglacial-released microorganisms may play a crucial role. Basal ice, …

Pastoralism and soil quality in the Kalahari

Land use change in the rangelands of Botswana is affecting soil properties. Pastoralism is the only viable livelihood for many rural poor in Botswana, and privatization of communal land is reducing the area of grazing available to those without land tenure. This has elevated stocking densities in communal areas, increasing …

Environmental cost of fieldwork

Students and teachers alike are concerned for the environment, but the environmental cost of fieldwork is a seldom discussed and uncomfortable irony. Following a rare discussion on the subject with colleagues during a research field trip I decided to investigate to see if we can make more informed choices when planning and …

Educational value of fieldwork

Some of my school peers selected Geography A-level at least in part because of the fieldwork opportunities, and they selected university courses on the same criteria, seeking courses with the best holiday opportunities. What can be done to ensure that fieldwork is highly educational for all participants, including those lacking motivation to learn? I …