Professor Jonathan R Leake
School of Biosciences
Professor of Plant-Soil Interactions
+44 114 222 0055
Full contact details
School of Biosciences
C53
Alfred Denny Building
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TN
- Profile
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- BSc (1984) University of Bristol
- PhD (1988) University of Sheffield
- NERC Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield (1988-1990)
- Temporary Lecturer, Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield (1990)
- Lecturer, Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield (1990-2003)
- Senior Lecturer, Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield (2003-2006)
- Reader in Plant-Soil interactions, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield (2007-present)
- Research interests
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- Plant-to-soil carbon fluxes - Quantitative analysis of carbon fluxes from plants to soil in grasslands and forests, and the storage of carbon in soils and vegetation. Development of methods for carbon budgeting in urban greenspace and its potential contribution to sustainable urban environments.
- Mycorrhizal fungi- their networks of power and influence - from nano-to-global scales - Use carbon isotope tracers to quantify energy passing from plants to their symbiotic root-infecting mycorrhizal fungi and how it is used by these fungi: (i) To drive mineral weathering, (ii) in nutrient and carbon cycling and (iii) to empower interactions with other soil organisms (fungi, plants, and fungal-feeding collembolans).
- Myco-heterotrophy: plants parasitic on fungi - About 10% of all plant species are myco-heterotrophic for part of their life, including most orchids. Over 400 species are fully myco-heterotrophic. My interests are in understanding their evolution, adaptive features, life-cycles, ecology, physiology, functioning and their critical fungal partners.
- Specialised root functioning - Root adaptations as an alternative strategy to mycorrhiza- spatial and temporal foraging precision and uptake of phosphorus by dauciform roots in sedges.
- Pollution impacts on plants, soil biology and chemistry, and health - Impacts of long-term nitrogen pollution on grassland soil and plant ecology, and recovery following reduced pollution inputs. Health risks and benefits associated with urban food production. Effects of urban greenspace and soils in trapping and sequestering black carbon.
- Publications
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Show: Featured publications All publications
Featured publications
Journal articles
- Functional analysis of liverworts in dual symbiosis with Glomeromycota and Mucoromycotina fungi under a simulated Palaeozoic CO2 decline. The ISME Journal, 10(6), 1514-1526. View this article in WRRO
- From mycoheterotrophy to mutualism: mycorrhizal specificity and functioning in Ophioglossum vulgatumsporophytes. New Phytologist, 205(4), 1492-1502. View this article in WRRO
- First evidence of mutualism between ancient plant lineages (Haplomitriopsida liverworts) and Mucoromycotina fungi and its response to simulated Palaeozoic changes in atmospheric CO2. New Phytologist, 205(2), 743-756. View this article in WRRO
- Urban cultivation in allotments maintains soil qualities adversely affected by conventional agriculture. Journal of Applied Ecology. View this article in WRRO
- Ectomycorrhizal fungi and past high CO
2
atmospheres enhance mineral weathering through increased below-ground carbon-energy fluxes. Biology Letters, 10(7), 20140375-20140375. View this article in WRRO
- Land-cover effects on soil organic carbon stocks in a European city.. Sci Total Environ, 472, 444-453. View this article in WRRO
- Weathering by tree-root-associating fungi diminishes under simulated cenozoic atmospheric CO
2 decline. Biogeosciences, 11(2), 321-331. View this article in WRRO - Plants parasitic on fungi: Unearthing the fungi in myco-heterotrophs and debunking the 'saprophytic' plant myth. Mycologist, 19(3), 113-122.
- Myco-heterotroph/epiparasitic plant interactions with ectomycorrhizal and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.. Curr Opin Plant Biol, 7(4), 422-428.
All publications
Journal articles
- Herbal leys increase forage macro- and micronutrient content, spring lamb nutrition, liveweight gain, and reduce gastrointestinal parasites compared to a grass-clover ley. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 367, 108991-108991.
- Photosynthate transfer from an autotrophic orchid to conspecific heterotrophic protocorms through a common mycorrhizal network. New Phytologist. View this article in WRRO
- Herbal leys have no effect on soil porosity, earthworm abundance, and microbial community composition compared to a grass-clover ley in a sheep grazed grassland after 2-years. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 365, 108928-108928.
- Enhanced Rock Weatherings Effects on Soil and Plant Chemistry in Acidic Biodiverse Grassland.
- Elevated
CO2 interacts with nutrient inputs to restructure plant communities in phosphorus‐limited grasslands. Global Change Biology, 30(1). - Sustainability assessment of peri-urban organic horticulture — a case study in the United Kingdom. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. View this article in WRRO
- Experimental evaluation of biological regeneration of arable soil : the effects of grass-clover leys and arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculants on wheat growth, yield, and shoot pathology. Frontiers in Plant Science, 13.
- Soil macroaggregation drives sequestration of organic carbon and nitrogen with three-year grass-clover leys in arable rotations. Science of The Total Environment, 158358-158358.
- AGRONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF REINTRODUCING HERB and LEGUME-RICH MULTISPECIES LEYS INTO ARABLE ROTATIONS: A REVIEW. Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering, 9(2), 245-271.
- Healthy soil, healthy food, healthy people: An outline of the H3 project. Nutrition Bulletin, 46(4), 497-505.
- Arable fields as potential reservoirs of biodiversity: Earthworm populations increase in new leys. Science of the Total Environment, 789. View this article in WRRO
- Soil quality regeneration by grass-clover leys in arable rotations compared to permanent grassland: Effects on wheat yield and resilience to drought and flooding. Soil and Tillage Research, 212.
- Effects of mineralogy, chemistry and physical properties of basalts on carbon capture potential and plant-nutrient element release via enhanced weathering. Applied Geochemistry, 105023-105023.
- Legume–microbiome interactions unlock mineral nutrients in regrowing tropical forests. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(11), e2022241118-e2022241118.
- Phosphate availability and ectomycorrhizal symbiosis with Pinus sylvestris have independent effects on the Paxillus involutus transcriptome. Mycorrhiza.
- Effect of earthworms on soil physico-hydraulic and chemical properties, herbage production, and wheat growth on arable land converted to ley. Science of The Total Environment, 713. View this article in WRRO
- Niche differentiation and plasticity in soil phosphorus acquisition among co-occurring plants. Nature Plants, 6(4), 349-354. View this article in WRRO
- Estimating food production in an urban landscape. Scientific Reports, 10(1). View this article in WRRO
- The hidden potential of urban horticulture. Nature Food, 1, 155-159. View this article in WRRO
- Feeding a city – Leicester as a case study of the importance of allotments for horticultural production in the UK. Science of The Total Environment, 705. View this article in WRRO
- Mid-Devonian Archaeopteris roots signal revolutionary change in earliest fossil forests. Current Biology, 30(3), 421-431.e2. View this article in WRRO
- Impact of fertiliser, water table, and warming on celery yield and CO2 and CH4 emissions from fenland agricultural peat. The Science of The Total Environment, 667, 179-190. View this article in WRRO
- Functional complementarity of ancient plant‐fungal mutualisms: contrasting nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon exchanges between Mucoromycotina and Glomeromycotina fungal symbionts of liverworts. New Phytologist. View this article in WRRO
- The role of hedgerows in soil functioning within agricultural landscapes. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 273, 1-12. View this article in WRRO
- Grow your own food security? Integrating science and citizen science to estimate the contribution of own growing to UK food production. Plants, People, Plant. View this article in WRRO
- Circular economy fertilization: Testing micro and macro algal species as soil improvers and nutrient sources for crop production in greenhouse and field conditions. Geoderma, 334, 113-123. View this article in WRRO
- Publisher Correction: Farming with crops and rocks to address global climate, food and soil security. Nature Plants, 4(6), 392-392.
- Farming with crops and rocks to address global climate, food and soil security. Nature Plants, 4, 138-147. View this article in WRRO
- N2-fixing tropical legume evolution: a contributor to enhanced weathering through the Cenozoic?. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 284(1860). View this article in WRRO
- Soil surface temperatures reveal moderation of the urban heat island effect by trees and shrubs.. Scientific Reports, 6. View this article in WRRO
- Functional analysis of liverworts in dual symbiosis with Glomeromycota and Mucoromycotina fungi under a simulated Palaeozoic CO2 decline. The ISME Journal, 10(6), 1514-1526. View this article in WRRO
- Measurement and analysis of household carbon: The case of a UK city. Applied Energy, 164, 871-881.
- Modelling short-rotation coppice and tree planting for urban carbon management - a citywide analysis. Journal of Applied Ecology, 52(5), 1237-1245. View this article in WRRO
- Investigating Devonian trees as geo-engineers of past climates: linking palaeosols to palaeobotany and experimental geobiology. Palaeontology, 58(5), 787-801. View this article in WRRO
- The role of forest trees and their mycorrhizal fungi in carbonate rock weathering and its significance for global carbon cycling. Plant, Cell & Environment, 38(9), 1947-1961. View this article in WRRO
- Constraining the role of early land plants in Palaeozoic weathering and global cooling. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 282(1813). View this article in WRRO
- Oxalate secretion by ectomycorrhizal Paxillus involutus is mineral-specific and controls calcium weathering from minerals. Scientific Reports, 5, 12187-12187. View this article in WRRO
- Black Carbon Contribution to Organic Carbon Stocks in Urban Soil. Environmental Science & Technology, 49(14), 8339-8346. View this article in WRRO
- Long-term nitrogen deposition depletes grassland seed banks. Nature Communications, 6(1).
- From mycoheterotrophy to mutualism: mycorrhizal specificity and functioning in Ophioglossum vulgatumsporophytes. New Phytologist, 205(4), 1492-1502. View this article in WRRO
- Soil and the city. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 13(5), 241-241.
- First evidence of mutualism between ancient plant lineages (Haplomitriopsida liverworts) and Mucoromycotina fungi and its response to simulated Palaeozoic changes in atmospheric CO2. New Phytologist, 205(2), 743-756. View this article in WRRO
- Urban cultivation in allotments maintains soil qualities adversely affected by conventional agriculture. Journal of Applied Ecology. View this article in WRRO
- Ectomycorrhizal fungi and past high CO
2
atmospheres enhance mineral weathering through increased below-ground carbon-energy fluxes. Biology Letters, 10(7), 20140375-20140375. View this article in WRRO
- The Role of Nitrogen Deposition in Widespread Plant Community Change Across Semi-natural Habitats. Ecosystems.
- Land-cover effects on soil organic carbon stocks in a European city.. Sci Total Environ, 472, 444-453. View this article in WRRO
- Erratum: Networks of power and influence: the role of mycorrhizal mycelium in controlling plant communities and agroecosystem functioning. Botany, 92(1), 83-83.
- Urban tree effects on soil organic carbon.. PLoS One, 9(7), e101872. View this article in WRRO
- Weathering by tree-root-associating fungi diminishes under simulated cenozoic atmospheric CO
2 decline. Biogeosciences, 11(2), 321-331. View this article in WRRO - Nanoscale Observations of Extracellular Polymeric Substances Deposition on Phyllosilicates by an Ectomycorrhizal Fungus. Geomicrobiology Journal, 30(8), 721-730.
- Increased susceptibility to drought-induced mortality in Sequoia sempervirens (Cupressaceae) trees under Cenozoic atmospheric carbon dioxide starvation.. Am J Bot, 100(3), 582-591.
- Identifying potential sources of variability between vegetation carbon storage estimates for urban areas. Environmental Pollution, 183, 133-142.
- Organic carbon hidden in urban ecosystems.. Sci Rep, 2, 963. View this article in WRRO
- Untangling above- and belowground mycorrhizal fungal networks in tropical orchids.. Mol Ecol, 21(20), 4921-4924.
- Evolution of trees and mycorrhizal fungi intensifies silicate mineral weathering.. Biol Lett, 8(6), 1006-1011. View this article in WRRO
- Plant-driven weathering of apatite--the role of an ectomycorrhizal fungus.. Geobiology, 10(5), 445-456.
- Evaluating the effects of terrestrial ecosystems, climate and carbon dioxide on weathering over geological time: a global-scale process-based approach.. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 367(1588), 565-582.
- Soil microbial biomass and the fate of phosphorus during long-term ecosystem development. Plant and Soil, 1-10.
- Nanoscale channels on ectomycorrhizal-colonized chlorite: Evidence for plant-driven fungal dissolution. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 117(3). View this article in WRRO
- Contrasting arbuscular mycorrhizal responses of vascular and non-vascular plants to a simulated Palaeozoic CO₂ decline.. Nat Commun, 3, 835.
- Ecosystem CO
2 starvation and terrestrial silicate weathering: Mechanisms and global-scale quantification during the late Miocene. Journal of Ecology, 100(1), 31-41. - High resolution characterization of ectomycorrhizal fungal-mineral interactions in axenic microcosm experiments. Biogeochemistry, 111(1-3), 411-425.
- In situ atomic force microscopy measurements of biotite basal plane reactivity in the presence of oxalic acid. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 75(22), 6870-6881.
- Modelling the evolutionary rise of ectomycorrhiza on sub-surface weathering environments and the geochemical carbon cycle. American Journal of Science, 311, 369-403.
- Are soils in urban ecosystems compacted? A citywide analysis.. Biol Lett, 7(5), 771-774.
- Twelve testable hypotheses on the geobiology of weathering.. Geobiology, 9(2), 140-165.
- Designing a carbon capture function into urban soils. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers: Urban Design and Planning, 164(2), 121-128.
- Recovery of soil nitrogen pools in species-rich grasslands after 12 years of simulated pollutant nitrogen deposition: A 6-year experimental analysis. Global Change Biology, 17(8), 2615-2628.
- Mapping an urban ecosystem service: Quantifying above-ground carbon storage at a city-wide scale. Journal of Applied Ecology, 48(5), 1125-1134.
- Mutualistic mycorrhiza-like symbiosis in the most ancient group of land plants.. Nat Commun, 1, 103.
- Plant-driven fungal weathering: Early stages of mineral alteration at the nanometer scale. GEOLOGY, 37(7), 615-618.
- Biological weathering and the long-term carbon cycle: integrating mycorrhizal evolution and function into the current paradigm.. Geobiology, 7(2), 171-191.
- Health benefits of 'grow your own' food in urban areas: implications for contaminated land risk assessment and risk management?. Environ Health, 8 Suppl 1, S6. View this article in WRRO
- Base cation depletion, eutrophication and acidification of species-rich grasslands in response to long-term simulated nitrogen deposition.. Environ Pollut, 155(2), 336-349.
- Biological weathering in soil: the role of symbiotic root-associated fungi biosensing minerals and directing phiotosynthate-energy into grain-scale mineral weathering. MINERALOGICAL MAGAZINE, 72(1), 85-89.
- Giving and receiving: measuring the carbon cost of mycorrhizas in the green orchid, Goodyera repens.. New Phytol, 180(1), 176-184.
- Bryophyte physiological responses to, and recovery from, long-term nitrogen deposition and phosphorus fertilisation in acidic grassland.. New Phytol, 180(4), 864-874.
- Fungal fidelity in the myco-heterotroph-to-autotroph life cycle of Lycopodiaceae: a case of parental nurture?. New Phytol, 177(3), 572-576.
- Mycorrhizal acquisition of inorganic phosphorus by the green-leaved terrestrial orchid Goodyera repens.. Ann Bot, 99(5), 831-834.
- The cellular distribution of metabolites in mycorrhizal Orchid roots measured by Imaging MALDI. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology, 146(4), S222-S222.
- Carbon fluxes from plants through soil organisms determined by field (CO2)-C-13 pulse-labelling in an upland grassland. APPL SOIL ECOL, 33(2), 152-175.
- Mutualistic mycorrhiza in orchids: evidence from plant-fungus carbon and nitrogen transfers in the green-leaved terrestrial orchid Goodyera repens.. New Phytol, 171(2), 405-416.
- Soil invertebrates disrupt carbon flow through fungal networks. SCIENCE, 309(5737), 1047-1047.
- Mycorrhizal fungi as drivers of ecosystem processes in heathland and boreal forest biomes (vol 82, pg 1243, 20074). CAN J BOT, 83(8), 1073-1073.
- Liming and nitrogen fertilization affects phosphatase activities, microbial biomass and mycorrhizal colonisation in upland grassland. PLANT SOIL, 271(1-2), 157-164.
- Accumulation of pollutant nitrogen in calcareous and acidic grasslands: Evidence from N flux and 15N tracer studies. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution: Focus, 4(6), 159-167.
- Plants parasitic on fungi: Unearthing the fungi in myco-heterotrophs and debunking the 'saprophytic' plant myth. Mycologist, 19(3), 113-122.
- Symbiotic germination and development of the myco-heterotroph Monotropa hypopitys in nature and its requirement for locally distributed Tricholoma spp.. NEW PHYTOL, 163(2), 405-423.
- Myco-heterotroph/epiparasitic plant interactions with ectomycorrhizal and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.. Curr Opin Plant Biol, 7(4), 422-428.
- Plant communities affect arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal diversity and community composition in grassland microcosms. NEW PHYTOL, 161(2), 503-515.
- Development, persistence and regeneration of foraging ectomycorrhizal mycelial systems in soil microcosms.. Mycorrhiza, 14(1), 37-45.
- Accumulation of pollutant Nitrogen in calcareous and ccidic grasslands: Evidence from N Flux and 15N tracer studies. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution: Focus, 4(6), 159-167.
- Simulated pollutant nitrogen deposition increases P demand and enhances root-surface phosphatase activities of three plant functional types in a calcareous grassland. NEW PHYTOL, 161(1), 279-289.
- Plant community composition affects the biomass, activity and diversity of microorganisms in limestone grassland soil. EUR J SOIL SCI, 54(4), 671-677.
- Epiparasitic plants specialized on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. NATURE, 419(6905), 389-392. View this article in WRRO
- View this article in WRRO
- Hyperaccumulation of Zn by Thlaspi caerulescens can ameliorate Zn toxicity in the rhizosphere of cocropped Thlaspi arvense.. Environ Sci Technol, 35(15), 3237-3241.
- Rates and quantities of carbon flux to ectomycorrhizal mycelium following 14C pulse labeling of Pinus sylvestris seedlings: effects of litter patches and interaction with a wood-decomposer fungus.. Tree Physiol, 21(2-3), 71-82.
- Grassland responses to elevated CO2 determined by plant–microbe competition for phosphorus. Nature Geoscience.
- Sustainable soil management in the
United Kingdom : A survey of current practices and how they relate to the principles of regenerative agriculture. Soil Use and Management. - The Fate and Distribution of Microalgal Nitrogen When Applied as an Agricultural Soil Fertiliser and Its Effect on Soil Microbial Communities. Phycology, 2(3), 297-318.
- Optimizing fen peatland water‐table depth for romaine lettuce growth to reduce peat wastage under future climate warming. Soil Use and Management.
- Weathering by tree root-associating fungi diminishes under simulated Cenozoic atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> decline. Biogeosciences Discussions, 10(10), 15779-15807.
- Increased yield and CO2 sequestration potential with the C-4 cereal sorghum bicolor cultivated in basaltic rock dust-amended agricultural soil. Global Change Biology. View this article in WRRO
Chapters
- List of Contributors, Mycorrhizal Mediation of Soil (pp. xi-xii). Elsevier
- Mycorrhizal Symbioses and Pedogenesis Throughout Earth’s History, Mycorrhizal Mediation of Soil (pp. 9-33). Elsevier
- Urban Cultivation in Allotments Maintains Soil Qualities Adversely Affected by Conventional Agriculture, Urban Horticulture: Ecology, Landscape, and Agriculture (pp. 55-78).
- MALDI-MSI: a new tool for metab olite analysis in forensic science, Acta medicinae legalis et socialis (pp. 311-317). Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra
- Methods of Comparative Study, Methods in Comparative Plant Ecology (pp. 29-222). Springer Netherlands
- Mycorrhizas and the terrestrial carbon cycle: roles in global carbon sequestration and plant community composition, Fungi in the Environment (pp. 161-184). Cambridge University Press
- Role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in carbon and nutrient cycling in grassland, Fungi in Biogeochemical Cycles (pp. 129-150). Cambridge University Press
Conference proceedings papers
- Ectomycorrhizal weathering, a matter of scale?. MINERALOGICAL MAGAZINE, Vol. 72(1) (pp 131-134)
- High-resolution imaging of biotite dissolution and measurement of activation energy. MINERALOGICAL MAGAZINE, Vol. 72(1) (pp 115-120)
- Networks of power and influence: the role of mycorrhizal mycelium in controlling plant communities and agroecosystem functioning. CANADIAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY-REVUE CANADIENNE DE BOTANIQUE, Vol. 82(8) (pp 1016-1045)
- Mycorrhizal fungi as drivers of ecosystem processes in heathland and boreal forest biomes. CANADIAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY-REVUE CANADIENNE DE BOTANIQUE, Vol. 82(8) (pp 1243-1263)
Preprints
- Functional analysis of liverworts in dual symbiosis with Glomeromycota and Mucoromycotina fungi under a simulated Palaeozoic CO2 decline. The ISME Journal, 10(6), 1514-1526. View this article in WRRO
- Research group
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Research links and collaborations
- Prof. Sir David Read FRS - University of Sheffield, UK
- Dr. Duncan Cameron - University of Sheffield, UK
- Prof. David Beerling - University of Sheffield, UK
- Prof Margaret Bell and Dr Anil Namdeo - University of Newcastle, UK
- Prof. Kevin Gaston - University of Exeter, UK
- Prof. Kevin Lomas - University of Loughborough, UK
- Prof. Mike Burrell - University of Sheffield, UK
- Prof. Steven Banwart - University of Sheffield, UK
- Prof. Vala Ragnarsdottir - University of Reykjavik, Iceland
- Prof. Lianne Benning - University of Leeds, UK
- Dr Terry McMaster - University of Bristol, UK
- Dr. Martin I Bidartondo - Imperial College and Kew Gardens, UK
Postdoctoral research fellows
- Dr Jill Edmondson - Measurement, Mapping, Modelling, Management (4M): An evidence-based methodology for understanding and shrinking the urban carbon footprint. Quantifying the urban soil and vegetation carbon pools within the city of Leicester (EPSRC SUE2 consortium grant jointly with Prof KJ Gaston).
Research students
- Kirsty Elliott
- Owen Hayman (co-supervised with Professor DJ Beerling)
- Joseph Llanos (co-supervised with Professor P Warren)
- Magdalena Matysek (co-supervised with Dr D Childs)
Research technicians
- Irene Johnson - Research group technician maintaining laboratory fungal culture collection and coordinating mycorrhizal syntheses and isotope tracer studies. Deputy radiation protection officer. Departmental core funding.
- Adele Duran - Biologically-Mediated Weathering of Minerals from Nanometre Scale to Environmental Systems. Funding NERC and WUN Weathering Science Consortium.
- Dr David A Johnson - NERC grant jointly with Dr Gareth Phoenix and Dr Duncan Cameron.
- Stefanie Tille - Functional and evolutionary significance of symbiotic fungal associations in lower land plants (NERC-funded project with Prof DJ Beerling and Dr DD Cameron).
- Teaching activities
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I am tutor for the Biology with a Year Abroad degrees, and member of the Departmental Teaching Committee. My teaching interests are in interdisciplinary science spanning between biology and the environment with particular focus on biogeochemical cycles of carbon nitrogen and phosphorus, plant-soil interactions, Earth-surface processes driven by plants and microorganisms, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, human impacts on terrestrial ecosystems and sustainability.
At Level 2 I teach and coordinate APS255 (Environmental Interpretation Field Course) which is an interdisciplinary residential field course based at the edge of the Connemara region of Western Ireland. The course involves in-depth study of habitats, landscape-shaping processes and human impacts on natural ecosystems, providing wide-ranging training in methods for field description, sampling, quantification and interpretation of ecosystems and the environment.
At Level 3 I coordinate and teach two modules:
- APS346 (Sustainable Agro-Ecosystems) reviews the current threats to sustainable food production and natural ecosystems caused by intensive agriculture and unsustainable exploitation of natural resources. A major focus is on the foundational role of soils in providing the underpinning support to terrestrial ecosystems and agriculture, and the way soils have been abused and damaged by human actions.
- APS332 (Issues in Environmental Science) is a seminar and discussion-group based module that considers human impacts upon the environment and the sustainability of the planet, combining reviews of scientific evidence with public and professional opinions and attitudes.
I supervise Level 3 Projects (APS330) in a wide range of subjects concerning plant-environment interactions, nutrient cycling and biogeochemistry, and Level 3 Dissertations (APS331) in topics relating to symbiosis, food security, sustainability, urban ecology, and agro-ecosystem functioning.
I have supervised Level 4 MBiolSci and MRes students on projects involving plant root adaptations, host genotype variation in mycorrhiza functioning and soil carbon sequestration.
- Professional activities and memberships
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- Advisor to the Editors of the New Phytologist (1997-present)
- Editorial board of Mycological Research (1999-2003)
- British Ecological Society Policy Advisory Group on Climate Change (2007-present)
- Phosphorus in Forest Ecosystems. Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Workshop Berlin 17-18 June 2010.
- Soil Phosphorus. Australian Research Council-New Zealand Network for Vegetation Function, Working Group 64, Perth, Western Austalia, December 2009.
- National Science Foundation USA - Workshop: Frontiers in Exploration of the Critical Zone II: Biological Aspects of Weathering, Washington DC, October 2009.
- External examiner for PhD candidates at University College Dublin, 2010; Imperial College, London 2009; University of Nottingham, 2009; University College Dublin, 2008; Manchester Metropolitan University 2007; The University of Lund, Sweden 2004; The University of York, UK 2002; The University of Western Sydney Australia, 2000; and The University of Durham, 1997.
Invited lectures
- Colonization of the terrestrial environment. 25th New Phytologist/Colston Research Society Symposium, Bristol, UK 2010
- Goldschmidt 2009, Davos, Switzerland
- Opening Plenary at Geochemistry of Earths´s Surface, London, 2008
- Keynote lecture: British Mycological Society Annual Conservation and Taxonomy Meeting in partnership with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2006
- Keynote lecture on Ericoid mycorrhizas and carbon cycling, International meeting on roots, mycorrhizas and their external mycelia in carbon dynamics in forest soil, Rovaniemi, Finland, 2006
- British Mycological Society Meeting, Fungi in the Environment, University of Nottingham, UK, 2004
- Opening Plenary at the fourth International Symposium on Mycorrhiza, Montreal, Canada, 2003