Professor Bridget Emmett

Deputy Director of the Biogeochemistry Programme, Section Head and Head of Site, CEH at Bangor

Research interests

I work on Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Function at CEH's Bangor research site. Originally a botanist, my experience includes plant-soil interactions, biogeochemistry and ecosystem experimentation.

Current projects include: impacts of nitrogen deposition and grazing pressure on upland acid grassland and their interactions, impacts of climate change in heathlands, soil nitrogen transformations in semi-natural soils, carbon and nitrogen sequestration in forest systems (EU CNTER project), the GANE roof project (impacts of reductions of N and S deposition in acid grassland and the interaction with climate change), impact of land management on soils and hydrology (Pontbren study), and modelling the effects of nitrogen and acidity on plant species cover.

I am responsible for 19 scientific staff as Section Head and Head of Site at Bangor and also have responsibility as Deputy Director of the Biogeochemistry Programme across CEH.

I have been involved in five European Union projects (NITREX, DYNAMO, CLIMOOR, CNTER, VULCAN) over the last ten years, plus various ongoing collaborative projects with groups in the USA involving nitrogen modelling, 15N isotopic studies (natural abundance and enriched) and ecosystem experimentation.

Brief CV

Recent publications

See also the NERC Open Research Archive.

Prieto, Patricia; Penuelas, Josep; Niinemets, Ulo; Ogaya, Roma; Schmidt, Inger K.; Beier, Claus; Tietema, Albert; Sowerby, Alwyn; Emmett, Bridget A.; Kovacs Lang, Edit; Kroel-Dulay, Gyorgy; Lhotsky, Barbara; Cesaraccio, Carla; Pellizzaro, Grazia; de Dato, Giovanbattista; Sirca, Costantino; Estiarte, Marc. 2009. Changes in the onset of spring growth in shrubland species in response to experimental warming along a north-south gradient in Europe. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 18 (4). 473-484. 10.1111/j.1466-8238.2009.00460.x

Beier, C.; Emmett, B. A.; Penuelas, J.; Schmidt, I. K.; Tietema, A.; Estiarte, M.; Gunderson, P.; Llorens, L.; Riis-Nielsen, T.; Sowerby, A.; Gorissen, A.. 2008. Carbon and nitrogen cycles in European ecosystems respond differently to global warming. Science of the Total Environment, 407 (1). 692-697. 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2008.10.001

Sowerby, Alwyn; Emmett, Bridget A.; Tietema, Albert; Beier, Claus. 2008. Contrasting effects of repeated summer drought on soil carbon efflux in hydric and mesic heathland soils. Global Change Biology, 14 (10). 2388-2404. 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01643.x

Evans, Chris D.; Goodale, Christine L.; Caporn, Simon J. M.; Dise, Nancy B.; Emmett, Bridget A.; Fernandez, Ivan J.; Field, Chris D.; Findlay, Stuart E. G.; Lovett, Gary M.; Meesenburg, Henning; Moldan, Filip; Sheppard, Lucy J.. 2008. Does elevated nitrogen deposition or ecosystem recovery from acidification drive an increased dissolved organic carbon loss from upland soil? A review of evidence from field nitrogen experiments. Biogeochemistry, 91 (1). 13-35. 10.1007/s10533-008-9256-x

Luo, Yi Qi; Gerten, Dieter; Le Maire, Guerric; Parton, William J.; Weng, En Sheng; Zhou, Xu Hui; Keogh, Cindy; Beier, Claus; Ciais, Philippe; Cramer, Wolfgang; Dukes, Jeffrey S.; Emmett, Bridget; Hanson, Paul J.; Knapp, Alan; Linder, Sune; Nepstad, Dan; Rustad, Lindsay. 2008. Modelled interactive effects of precipitation, temperature [and CO2] on ecosystem carbon and water dynamics in different climatic zones. Global Change Biology, 14 (9). 1986-1999. doi:1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01629.x

Rowe, Edwin C.; Smart, Simon M.; Kennedy, Valerie H.; Emmett, Bridget A.; Evans, Chris D.. 2008. Nitrogen deposition increases the acquisition of phosphorus and potassium by heather Calluna vulgaris. Environmental Pollution, 155 (2). 201-207. 10.1016/j.envpol.2007.12.008

Estiarte, M.; Penuelas, J.; Sardans, J.; Emmett, B. A.; Sowerby, A.; Beier, C.; Schmidt, I. K.; Tietema, A.; Van Meeteren, M. J. M.; Kovacs Lang, E.; Mathe, P.; De Angelis, P.; De Dato, G. 2008. Root-surface phosphatase activity in shrublands across a European gradient: Effects of warming. Journal of Environmental Biology, 29 (1). 25-29.

Toberman, Hannah; Evans, Chris D.; Freeman, Christopher; Fenner, Nathalie; White, Marie; Emmett, Bridget A.; Artz, Rebekka R.E.. 2008. Summer drought effects upon soil and litter extarcellular phenol oxidase activity and soluble carbon release in an upland Calluna heathland. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 40 (6). 1519-1532. 10.1016/j.soilbio.2008.01.004

Sutton, M.A.; Nemitz, E.; Erisman, J.W.; Beier, C.; Butterbach Bahl, K.; Cellier, P.; de Vries, W.; Cotrufo, F.; Skiba, U.; Di Marco, C.; Jones, S.; Laville, P.; Soussana, J. F.; Loubet, B.; Twigg, M.; Famulari, D.; Whitehead, J.; Gallagher, M. W.; Neftel, A.; Flechard, C. R.; Herrmann, B.; Calanca, P. L.; Schjoerring, J. K.; Daemmgen, U.; Horvath, L.; Tang, Y. S.; Emmett, B. A.; Tietema, A.; Penuelas, J.; Kesik, M.; Brueggemann, N.; Pilegaard, K.; Vesala, T.; Campbell, C. L.; Olesen, J. E.; Dragosits, U.; Theobald, M. R.; Levy, P.; Mobbs, D. C.; Milne, R.; Viovy, N.; Vuichard, N.; Smith, J. U.; Smith, P.; Bergamaschi, P.; Fowler, D.; Reis, S.. 2007. Challenges in quantifying biosphere - atmosphere exchange of nitrogen species. Environmental Pollution, 150. 125-139. 10.1016/j.envpol.2007.04.014

Davey, Matthew P.; Berg, Bjorn; Emmett, Bridget A.; Rowland, Phil. 2007. Decomposition of oak leaf litter is related tio initial Mn concentrations. Canadian Journal of Botany, 85 (1). 16-24. 10.1139/B06-150