Molecular Metrics for Assessing the Status of Peatlands (MMASP)

Dr Nicholle G. A. BellSoil Security Fellow

School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh

Photo by: Eleanor Bentall/RSPB

Soil Security Programme Annual Conference, Reading, 2016

Background and reasoning for the projectMolecular Metrics for Assessing the Status of Peatlands

Background

Peatlands are vital to many ecosystem services

80% of UK peatlands are damaged

2020 Million Hectare Challenge/Peatland CodeRestoration: rewetting

vegetation reappearance C sink

Is our restoration efforts are working?

m/z1H (Aromatic)

13C(13CH3)

1H (13CH3)

13C/ppm

Aliphatic

Sugars

AromaticCarboxylic

MMASP

Restored

Damaged

Restoration Process

Millions of £ invested to restore peatlands

LIQUID-STATE NMR

FT ICR MS

MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS

BULK MEASUREMENTS

SITES & EXPERTISE

PEAT SAMPLE ANALYSIS

DAMAGED RESTORED

SOLID-STATE NMR

Rothamsted Researchwhere knowledge grows

Rothamsted Researchwhere knowledge grows

Dr Jackie Stroud

Sustainable Soils and Grassland Systems Department

Without earthworms

agriculture would be difficult, if not

impossibleCharles Darwin, 1881

Ploughing on regardless?

Forecasting land management and extreme weather effects on earthworm populations, soil function

and ecosystem services

Dr Alice S.A. Johnston

Overview

Ecosystem

services

Soil functio

nsSo

i lS ecu r i t y

Extreme weather

Land managemen

t

Figure adapted from Brown (2000)

Verticalburrowers

(anecic)

Horizontalburrowers(endogeic)

DecompositionSurface dwellers(epigeic)

Nutrient cycling

Soil pore creation

Soil aggregate formation

Water recycling and

detoxification

Water flow regulation

Carbon and nutrient

regulation

Soil structure and

maintenance

Earthworms Soil functions Ecosystem services

Proposal summary

Proposal summary

Verticalburrowers

(anecic)

Horizontalburrowers(endogeic)

Surface dwellers(epigeic)

Earthworms

Model validationJohnston et al. (2015)

Energy budget model

Individual-based model (IBM) interfaceS

oil d

epth

Proposal summary

Verticalburrowers

(anecic)

Horizontalburrowers(endogeic)

DecompositionSurface dwellers(epigeic)

Nutrient cycling

Soil pore creation

Soil aggregate formation

Earthworms Soil functions

breakdown of litter & OM

incorporation of litter in soil

stimulation of microbes

release of nitrogen in casts

nutrient transformation

stimulation of microbes

deep vertical burrows

horizontal burrow networks

excreted mucus

modification of soil in casts

Proposal summaryModel inputs:

Soil textureSoil water contentSoil temperature

SOMBulk density

C/N/PVegetation type

Land management

Model outputs:

Earthworm nicheEarthworm biomassEarthworm density

Burrow locationCast formation

SOMMacroaggregates

Bulk densityWater infiltration rate

Microbial biomassC/N/P

Soil map, European Soil Bureau

Proposal summary

Decomposition

Nutrient cycling

Soil pore creation

Soil aggregate formation

Water recycling and

detoxification

Water flow regulation

Carbon and nutrient

regulation

Soil structure and

maintenance

Soil functions Ecosystem services

Spurgeon et al. (2013)

Wat

er in

filtra

tion

rate

(m

m/h

)

Don et al. (2008)

Carbon and nutrient regulation

Water flow regulation

Soi

l dep

th (m

m)

C stock change due to earthworms (g/m2) Earthworm abundance (n/m2)

Soil structure and maintenance

Alegre et al. (1996)Bul

k de

nsity

(mg/

m3 )

Time (months)

Forecasting land management and extreme weather effects on earthworm populations, soil function

and ecosystem services

Dr Alice S.A. Johnston

NERC Soil KE Fellowship emphasis, Data and Apps

OUTCOME - IMPACT

NERC digital platforms become the defacto tools for the dissemination of NERC soil science data and crowdsourcing of soil data for industry, society and other stakeholders, in the UK, Europe and potentially beyond, raising the public awareness of soils.

New knowledge embedded at JRC, ONS, Defra – NC accounting

KE

IDENTIFY STAKEHOLDERSSURVEY

GET NERC TOOLS & DATA INTO GLOBAL SOIL MAPPING INITITIVES

ISRIC & EU JRC

ECOSYSTEM ACCOUNTING POLICY INDICATORS

ONS, Defra, WG, JRC, NERC

NERC Institutes

NERC SwindonPartners

KE KE

DATA APPS

UK Soil ObservatoryFree to view soil informationCrowdsourcing platform

mySoil Data disseminationCrowdsourcing

David A. RobinsonCEH