Groundbreaking research in Scotland

29 March 2004

A £5·85m study of the soil in the Cheviot Hills has finally come to an end, producing a huge wealth of new information for scientists.

"I suspect we know more about the biodiversity of this one field at Sourhope than any other soil on this planet," said Professor Michael Usher, the chairman of the Soil Biodiversity Programme steering committee.

The seven-year study, involving 120 scientists and the largest of its kind in the world, aims to improve knowledge of soil biodiversity and the carbon cycle - a key to understanding climate change.

Scientist, Nick Ostle, from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Lancaster, who worked on the project said: "We now understand much more about the way carbon compounds move through the soil. For instance, we have learned that carbon taken in by plants as carbon dioxide is rapidly transferred, within hours, to the soil as food for other organisms.

"This creates hotspots of biological activity in the root systems," added Dr Ostle. "A mass of microbes, bacteria, mites and fungi descend upon the plant's root systems to feed."

Soil organisms break down pollutants, recycle nutrients and consume trace gases that regulate climate. Fungi, springtails, mites, earthworms, slugs and beetles help create the structure of soil. The work will tell scientists how pollution affects these organisms.

There have been many more discoveries and the team has developed new research methods that can be applied across the world, for example new ways of tracking carbon through the food chain until it appears back in the atmosphere.

"We can tag micro-organisms using stable isotope tracers so we can determine their role in the carbon cycle. Soil is an important global reservoir of carbon - soil biology regulates this stock and biodiversity affects how much carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere," said Nick.

Where carbon has been and where carbon is going is important to scientists. It means they are able to predict climate change more accurately.

The research, part of the Natural Environment Research Council's soil biodiversity programme, will be discussed at an open meeting on Wednesday 31 March at the Royal Society in Edinburgh. The talks will also include work carried out by the Scottish Executive Environment & Rural Affairs Department funded Micronet programme that carried out complementary work on biodiversity on the same plot of land.

Leading scientists in the field will talk about the impact of their work followed by discussions on the issues raised.

Further information

Dr Andrew Sier
Programme Manager,
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology,
Lancaster Environment Centre.
Tel: 01524 595 800 / 0781 027 0301

NERC Press Office
Natural Environment Research Council
Polaris House, North Star Avenue
Swindon, SN2 1EU
Tel: 01793 411561
Mob: 07917 557215

Notes

1. The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is one of the UK's research councils. It uses a budget of about £270m a year to fund and carry out impartial scientific research in the sciences of the environment. NERC trains the next generation of independent environmental scientists. It is addressing some of the key questions facing mankind such as global warming, renewable energy and sustainable economic development.

The Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) is one of NERC's Research Centres. It incorporates scientific expertise across a range of disciplines including environmental microbiology and virology, terrestrial and freshwater ecology, and hydrology. Its research is aimed at improving our understanding of both the environment and the processes that underlie the Earth's support systems. CEH is particularly interested in the impacts of human activity on natural environments.

2. There will be a second end of programme event concentrating on the NERC soil biodiversity programme on the 6 April at the QE II conference centre in London.

Press release: 07/04

Groundbreaking research in Scotland

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