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a river meander through wetlands as seen from above.

Biogeochemistry of soils, wetlands, and marine environments

We undertake research into what drives nutrient and pollutant cycling in soils, wetlands, freshwaters and marine habitats around the world and aim to develop novel solutions to major environmental challenges.

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Earth

Our Research

Our main focus is understanding the fate, flow and transformation of nutrients and pollutants in different ecosystems and the regulation of these processes by microorganisms, plants and animals. 

We work in all the major biomes of the world, from the Arctic through to tropical rainforests. We also study the most extreme environments on Earth to understand how biology is pushing the frontiers of life. Our applied research addresses the greatest threats facing our environment and ecosystems worldwide.
 

Where we work

Our unique setting on the doorstep of Eryri (Snowdonia) provides a great opportunity to understand the flow of nutrients and pollutants from catchment-to-coast. We also work in collaboration with a wide range of other scientists right across the globe. No stone is left unturned.

The nutrients and pollutants we study 

In the context of climate change, sustainable land use and water pollution, a lot of our work focuses on carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen cycling. We also study the flow of heavy metals and rare earth elements in soil, river and lake ecosystems, particularly in relation to mining activities and evaluating the success of remediation measures. This work is complemented by research on the degradation, fate and impact of emerging organic pollutants in the environment including plastics, endocrine disrupting chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

Sheep roaming the Snowdonia National Park
A sea campion on the coast.
A sea camion in its natural habitat on the coast.

Excellent field and laboratory facilities

This includes the Henfaes experimental field station located close to the University, which allows integrated studies from the Irish Sea coast to the mountains of Eryri (Snowdonia). Close by, we also have the Afon Conwy (river) ‘Living Lab’ catchment, estuary and coastal zone which is a major focus for our studies on land use change and the impact of agricultural and urban pollution. We also possess experimental wetlands, forests and wastewater treatments plants. Overseas we have long-term field sites in polar ecosystems, tropical/boreal/temperate forests, deserts, grasslands and a wide range of agroecosystems.
 

We possess portable field labs and sensor networks for studying water quality and greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, N2O, CH4). This is complemented by our central analytical facilities which includes the latest equipment for characterising and culturing microbial communities (e.g., GridIon, qPCR, dPCR, NextSeq, MiSeq, RABIT, Bioreactors, Sysmex Cell sorter), isotope tracing (e.g., 3H, 13C, 14C, 15N, 32P, 33P, 35S), elemental analysis (e.g., TXRF, pXRF, ICP, Dionex) and organic pollutant analysis and metabolomics (e.g., Orbitrap LC-MS/MS, Synapt G2-Si IMS LC-MS/MS, Xevo TQ-XS UPLC, HPLC). Our bioinformatics is supported SuperComputing Wales.
 

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Featured researchers

Find out more about some of our researchers. A full list of staff and students can be found below.

Image of member of staff, Ewa Krzyszczyk, standing in a boat holding cameras

Dr Ewa Krzyszczyk

Ewa is a marine zoologist interested in behaviour and conservation of marine mammals, fish, and a variety of marine ecosystems (reefs, mangroves, seagrass).

Image of member of staff, John Healy, taking measurements of a tree trunk

Prof John Healey

John is a forest ecologist working to achieve the sustainable management, conservation and restoration of forest resources.

Image of staff member, Farnon Ellwood climbing a ladder

Dr Farnon Ellwood

Farnon is a community ecologist specialising in the development of theoretical frameworks that can be used to conserve tropical biodiversity by informing sustainable management practices.

Biogeochemistry of soils, wetlands, and marine environments researchers

Featured projects

Find out about current Conservation@Bangor projects by reading our project pages and blogs:

Three researchers in the field setting up plastic mulch film trials

Microplastics
A net is used to collect microplastics within the Conwy river

Plastic Vectors
A researcher wearing a high viz vest, facemask and blue plastic gloves, taking samples for viral and plastics analysis at an urban wastewater treatment plant

Wastewater

Recent Publications

A selection of recent publications from Biogeochemistry of soils, wetlands, and marine environments researchers is listed here, but for all the latest publications, please check individual researcher pages linked above.

  • Brown, R.W., Chadwick, D.R., Zang, H., Graf, M., Liu, X., Wang, K., Greenfield, L.M. & Jones, D.L., 2023. Bioplastic (PHBV) addition to soil alters microbial community structure and negatively affects plant-microbial metabolic functioning in maize. Journal of Hazardous Materials 441, 129959.
  • Brown, R., Chadwick, D., Bott, T., West, H., Wilson, P., Hodgins, G., Snape, C. & Jones, D.L., 2023. Biochar application to temperate grasslands: challenges and opportunities for delivering multiple ecosystem services. Biochar 5, 33.
  • Browne, L., Markesteijn, L., Manzané-Pinzón, E., Wright, S.J., Bagchi, R., Engelbrecht, B., Jones, F.A. & Comita, L.S., 2023. Widespread variation in functional trait-vital rate relationships in tropical tree seedlings across a precipitation and soil phosphorus gradient. Functional Ecology 37, 248-260 
  • Buckingham, S., Topp, C.F.E., Smith, P., Eory, V., Chadwick, D., Baxter, C.K., Cloy, J.M., Connolly, S., Cooledge, E., Cowan, N., Drewer, J., Duffy, C., Fox, N.J., Jebari, A., Jenkins, B., Krol, D.J., Marsden, K., McAuliffe, G.A., Morrison, S.J., O'Flaherty, V., Ramsey, R., Richards, K.G., Roehe, R., Smith, J., Smith, K., Takahashi, T., Thorman, R.E., Williams, J., Wiltshire, J.& Rees, R.M., 2023. Priorities for mitigating greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions to meet UK policy targets. Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering. 10, 268-280.
  • Button, E.S., Marshall, M., Sanchez-Rodriguez, A.R., Blaud, A., Abadie, M., Chadwick, D.R. & Jones, D.L., 2023. Greenhouse gas production, diffusion and consumption in a soil profile under maize and wheat production. Geoderma 430, 116310.
  • Dodd, R.J., Chadwick, D.R., Hill, P.W., Hayes, F., Sánchez-Rodríguez, A.R., Gwynn-Jones, D., Smart, S.M. & Jones, D.L., 2023. Resilience of ecosystem service delivery in grasslands in response to single and compound extreme weather events. Science of the Total Environment 861, 160660.
  • Dunn, C., 2023. Earth has lost one-fifth of its wetlands since 1700 – but most could still be saved. The Conversation. 
  • Esquivel Sheik, M.J., Finegan, B., Healey, J.& Casanoves, F., 2023. Increasing biodiversity in livestock production systems: plant traits and natural regeneration capacity of woody vegetation in managed grasslands. In: Silvopastoral systems of Meso America and Northern South America: Chará, J. & Jose, S. (eds). Springer Nature Switzerland AG
  • Ford, H., Gove, J.M., Healey, J., Davies, A., Graham, N.& Williams, G.J., 2023. Recurring bleaching events disrupt the spatial properties of coral reef benthic communities across scales. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation.
  • Gao, D., Liu, S., Gao, F., Ning, C., Wu, X., Yan, W.& Smith, A., 2024. Response of soil micro-food web to nutrient limitation along a subtropical forest restoration. Science of the Total Environment 909, 168349.
  • Gao, L., Smith, A., Jones, D.L., Guo, Y., Lui, B., Guo, Z., Chunnan, F., Zheng, J., Cui, X. & Hill, P., 2023. How do tree species with different successional stages affect soil organic nitrogen transformations? Geoderma 430, 116319
  • Gao, L., Smith, A., Jones, D.L., Lui, B., Guo, Y., Cui, X. & Hill, P., 2024. Respiration and carbon use efficiency characteristics of soluble protein-derived carbon by soil microorganisms: A case study at afforested sites. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 188, 109255.
  • Graf, M., Greenfield, L., Reay, M.K., Bargiela, R., Williams, G., Onyije, C., Lloyd, C.E.M., Bull, I.D., Evershed, R.P., Golyshin, P., Chadwick, D. & Jones, D.L., 2023. Increasing concentration of pure micro- and macro-LDPE and PP plastic negatively affect crop biomass, nutrient cycling, and microbial biomass. Journal of Hazardous Materials 458, 131932
  • Gresham, A., Healey, J., Eichhorn, M., Barton, O., Smith, A. & Shannon, G., 2023. Horizontal viewsheds of large herbivores as a function of woodland structure. Ecology and Evolution 13, 11.
  • King, A.J., Portugal, S.J., Strombom, D., Mann, R.P., Carrillo, J.A., Kalise, D., Croon, G.D., Barnett, H., Scerri, P., Gross, R., Chadwick, D. & Papadopoulou, M., 2023. Biologically inspired herding of animal groups by robots. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 14, 478-486.
  • Li, J., Zhang, J., Ren, S., Huang, D., Liu, F., Li, Z., Zhang, H., Zhao, M., Cao, Y., Mofolo, S., Liang, J., Xu, W., Jones, D.L., Chadwick, D.R., Liu, X. & Wang, K., 2023. Atmospheric deposition of microplastics in a rural region of North China Plain. Science of the Total Environment 877, 162947.
  • Ning, Y., Liu, S., Smith, A., Qiu, Y., Gao, H., Yuan, W., Lu, Y., Yuan, W.& Feng, S., 2023. Dynamic multi-dimensional scaling of 30+ year evolution of Chinese urban systems: patterns and performance. Science of the Total Environment 863, 160705.
  • Pan, W., Zhou, J., Tang, S., Wu, L., Ma, Q., Marsden, K.A., Chadwick, D.D.R.& Jones, D.L., 2023. Utilisation and transformation of organic and inorganic nitrogen by soil microorganisms and its regulation by excessive carbon and nitrogen availability. Biology and Fertility of Soils 59, 379-389
  • Peng, X., Jiang, S., Liu, S., Valbuena, R., Smith, A., Zhan, Y., Shi, Y., Ning, Y., Feng, S., Gao, H.& Wang, Z., 2023. Long-term satellite observations show continuous increase of vegetation growth enhancement in urban environment. Science of the Total Environment 898, 165515.
  • Plaga, B., Bauhus, J., Smith, A., Gonzalez Pereira, M. & Forrester, D., 2023. Drought-related mortality modifies mixing effects on light absorption and growth in mono-specific and mixed stands of Fagus sylvatica, Alnus glutinosa and Betula pendula. Forestry cpad051.
  • Porto Costa, M., Saget, S., Zimmermann, B., Petig, E., Rees, R.M., Chadwick, D., Gibbons, J., Shrestha, S., Williams, M. & Styles, D., 2023. Environmental and land use consequences of replacing milk and beef with plant-based alternatives. Journal of Cleaner Production 424, 138826.
  • Reay, M.K., Greenfield, L.M., Graf, M., Lloyd, C.E.M., Evershed, R.P., Chadwick, D.R. & Jones, D.L., 2023. LDPE and biodegradable PLA-PBAT plastics differentially affect plant-soil nitrogen partitioning and dynamics in a Hordeum vulgare mesocosm. Journal of Hazardous Materials 447, 130825.
  • Reay, M.K., Marsden, K., Powell, S., Chadwick, D., Jones, D.L. & Evershed, R. P., 2023. Combining field and laboratory approaches to quantify N assimilation in a soil microbe-plant-animal grazing land system. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 346, 108338.
  • Reay, M.K., Marsden, K., Powell, S., Rivera, L.M., Chadwick, D., Jones, D.L. & Evershed, R.P., 2023. The soil microbial community and plant biomass differentially contribute to the retention and recycling of urinary-N in grasslands. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 180, 109011.
  • Rhymes, J., Chadwick, D.R., Williams, A.P., Harris, I.M., Lark, R.M. & Jones, D.L., 2023. Evaluating the accuracy and usefulness of commercially-available proximal soil mapping services for grassland nutrient management planning and soil health monitoring. Precision Agriculture 24, 898-920.
  • Samphire, M., Chadwick, D. & Jones, D.L., 2023. Biodegradable plastic mulch films increase yield and promote nitrogen use efficiency in organic horticulture. Frontiers in Agronomy 5, 1141608
  • Sánchez-Rodríguez, A.R., Gómez-Álvarez, E., Méndez, J.M., Skiba, U.M., Jones, D.L., Chadwick, D.R., Del Campillo, M.C., Fernandes, R.B., Kleffmann, J. & Barrón, V., 2023. Photocatalytic fixation of NOx in soils. Chemosphere 338, 139576.
  • Silva, A.M.M., Jones, D.L., Chadwick, D.R., Qi, X., Cotta, S.R., Araujo, V.L.V.P., Matteoli, F.P., Lacerda-Junior, G.V., Pereira, A.P.A., Fernandes-Junior, P.I. & Cardoso, E.J.B.N., 2023. Can arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and rhizobacteria facilitate 33P uptake in maize plants under water stress? Microbiological Research 271, 127350.
  • Tang, S., Ma, Q., Marsden, K., Chadwick, D., Luo, Y., Kuzyakov, Y., Wu, L.& Jones, D.L., 2023. Microbial community succession in soil is mainly driven by carbon and nitrogen contents rather than phosphorus and sulphur contents. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 180, 109019.
  • Tang, S., Ma, Q., Zhou, J., Pan, W., Chadwick, D.R., Gregory, A.S., Wu, L.& Jones, D.L., 2023. Use of untargeted metabolomics to analyse changes in extractable soil organic matter in response to long-term fertilisation. Biology and Fertility of Soils 59, 301-316
  • Viljoen, S.J., Brailsford, F.L., Murphy, D.V., University, M., Chadwick, D.R. & Jones, D.L., 2023. Leaching of phthalate acid esters from plastic mulch films and their degradation in response to UV irradiation and contrasting soil conditions. Journal of Hazardous Materials 443, 130256.
  • Wang, D., Chadwick, D.R., Hill, P.W., Ge, T.& Jones, D.L., 2023. Tracing the mineralization rates of C, N and S from cysteine and methionine in a grassland soil: A 14-C and 35-S dual-labelling study. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 177, 108906.
  • Yan, X., Li, J., Smith, A., Yang, D., Ma, T., Su, Y.& Shao, J., 2023. Evaluation of machine learning methods and multi-source remote sensing data combinations to construct forest above-ground biomass models. International Journal of Digital Earth 16, 4471-4491.