Bacterial-fungal interactions in peat at Holme Moss
The poster presented at the 33rd New Phytologist symposium was re-used and a brief oral introduction was given in the main symposium.
3D printing for research
We have just received funding from MMU to allow us to buy a 3D printer for research. I am exploring the use of this disruptive technology in my own environmental microbiology research, and am collaborating with other researchers who are interested in applying it in other projects including bryophyte photosynthesis …
Diverse mycorrhizal representation and bacterial-fungal interactions in an upland peatland vegetation mosaic undergoing restoration
Peatlands are under threat from land management, anthropogenic pollution and climate change. These factors are implicated in severe degradation of peatlands in the southern Pennines of northern England. Significant areas of unconsolidated bare peat are both highly vulnerable to peat erosion and resistant to natural re-vegetation. Restoration efforts during the …
Networks of Power and Influence
This week I am attending the 33rd New Phytologist symposium (Networks of Power and Influence) with Robin Sen and Francis Brearley from MMU. I will present a poster of work supported by MMU and Moors for the Future. The poster shows a preliminary network analysis of bacterial and fungal microbial …
Reproducible research
The statistical analyses for our recent paper on the bacterial communities of biological soil crusts in the Kalahari can be fully examined and reproduced via code and data I have deposited on GitHub. The analysis relies heavily on the phyloseq package for R. The phyloseq paper and associated documentation were really an inspiration, and …
Override autocorrect in Excel cells
As a microbial ecologist I often work with spreadsheets where I want to use the header “OTU” which means operational taxonomic unit. We use this acronym instead of saying species because the species concept for microbes is not very clear. Anyway, in Excel you can’t write “OTU” in a cell …
Transparency in PDF output from MS publisher
When using Microsoft Publisher you will likely want to export to PDF for circulation or printing. At this stage I found that all my transparent layers got spoilt and I found some tricky ways to work around it like printing to a PDF printer, but this is not very satisfactory. …
Microbial community responses in degraded peatlands undergoing restoration in the Southern Pennines
Over 70% of upland peatlands in the Southern Pennines are degraded, with extensive areas of bare unconsolidated peat incised with networks of gullies often down to the bedrock. Land management, air pollution and climate change are implicated as major factors leading to loss of vegetation and susceptibility to erosion. Over …
Niche partitioning of bacterial communities in biological crusts and soils under grasses, shrubs and trees in the Kalahari
The Kalahari of southern Africa is characterised by sparse vegetation interspersed with microbe-dominated biological soil crusts (BSC) which deliver a range of ecosystem services including soil stabilisation and carbon fixation. We characterised the bacterial communities of BSCs (0–1 cm depth) and the subsurface soil (1–2 cm depth) in an area typical of …
3D design software
I know nothing about design but I often design make my own research equipment. I have been preparing to expand my experimental possibilities by using 3D printing: Make my experiments more reliable (quality of construction) Increase experimental throughput (replication) Share designs for my equipment so others can use and improve (open …