Prescribed burning is a common management strategy in peatlands that has the potential to affect soil physicochemistry, alter biogeochemical cycles and trigger changes in vegetation structure. How burning affects prokaryotic community composition across different soil profiles is not well understood. This study explored the effects of prescribed burning on the …
Editorial for a special issue on Biocrusts in Frontiers in Microbiology can be found here. The special issue consists of 25 articles which can be downloaded as an e-book here. The remit for submissions is reproduced below: Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are widely distributed throughout the world, and cover approximately …
Biological soil crusts, or biocrusts, are microbial communities found in soil surfaces in drylands and in other locations where vascular plant cover is incomplete. They are functionally significant for numerous ecosystem services, most notably in the C fixation and storage due to the ubiquity of photosynthetic microbes. Whereas carbon fixation …
This study explores the potential impact of natural soil on concrete crack self-healing in sub-surface structures. Three types of pre-cracked cement mortar samples were prepared for laboratory experiments, with some samples inoculated with bacterial healing agents, others supplemented with nutrients to attract indigenous soil bacteria, and plain mortar served as …
The use of bacteria-based self-healing concrete for sub-structures in ground conditions is an area of increasing interest for enhancing the durability and longevity of infrastructure. In line with this objective, the present study investigates the bio-self-healing performance when a cementitious material is embedded in clay soil with varying chemical exposures …
In research on self-healing concrete, the restorative performance can be evaluated by a wide range of techniques. However, most of these techniques can be challenging to apply to concrete samples embedded in soil without causing a significant disturbance to the test (as they require removing the samples from the soil, …
This is a perspective review authored by peatland scientists, microbial ecologists, land managers and non-governmental organisations who were attendees at a series of three workshops held at The University of Manchester in 2019-2020. Here we review the impacts of climate change (search criteria for references are given in the introduction …
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 …
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 …
I visited a Derbyshire primary school to contribute to a lesson on soil for 7 year olds. It was great fun doing experiments on permeability with the children and I also took the opportunity to break down stereotypes of who can be a scientist. I brought in an auger and …