The Soil Security Programme Fellows Introduction
12
Molecular Metrics for Assessing the Status of Peatlands (MMASP) Dr Nicholle G. A. Bell Soil Security Fellow School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh Photo by: Eleanor Bentall/RSPB Soil Security Programme Annual Conference, Reading, 2016
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Transcript of The Soil Security Programme Fellows Introduction
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
