Dr Nick OstleCentre for Ecology & Hydrology, Lancaster Environment Centre, Library Avenue, |
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Research Interests and Expertise
Ecosystem carbon and nitrogen dynamics, peatlands and grasslands, soil, greenhouse gases CO2, CH4, stable isotope (15N and 13C) tracer technologies, 14C tracers and modelling, climate change and biodiversity, soil ecology, soil respiration.
Research Projects
Plant functional diversity and peatland carbon cycling (NERC 2008-2011)
Peatlands represent a vast store of terrestrial carbon. Here, we are exploring how changes in vegetation composition and diversity resulting from long-term management influence the cycling of C in peatland ecosystems. The study is being carried out at Moor House National Nature Reserve an Environmental Change Network site located in the Pennine hills of northern England. The work involves carbon flux sampling and 13C tracer studies of a long-term (>50-year) field experiment with management treatments, combined with a plant removal experiment. The project is joint between Dr Nick Ostle (CEH Lancaster) and Professor Richard Bardgett of Lancaster University and is funded under the NERC-CEH Ecology & Hydrology Funding Initiative (EHFI) scheme. The post-doctoral scientist is Dr Susan Ward with support from CEH biogeochemist Simon Oakley.
Managing grassland diversity to enhance soil carbon sequestration (BBSRC 2006-2009)
The issue of soil C storage is high on the political and scientific agenda, largely due to growing interest in the extent to which soils can sequester C. This study is testing whether management aimed at enhancing botanical diversity - a major objective of agri-environment schemes - enhances the sequestration of C in grassland soils, as a result of altering C inputs to soil and their processing by the microbial community. The project is joint between Dr Nick Ostle (CEH Lancaster) and Professor Richard Bardgett of Lancaster University, and the field work is being done at Colt Park meadows, a long-term grassland diversity restoration experiment in the Yorkshire Dales. The post-doctoral scientist is Dr Gerlinde DeDeyn with support from CEH biogeochemists Dr Niall McNamara and Simon Oakley.
Acidity controls on organic matter cycling and nitrogen saturation in organic soils (NERC 2007-2010) 
This study aims to examine the extent to which long-term decreases in sulphur deposition, and consequent reductions in soil acidity, are altering carbon and nitrogen cycling in UK organic soil types (i.e. peats and peaty podzols). In particular, the project will examine whether unexpected reductions in nitrate leaching could be explained by intensified demand for available nitrogen in ecosystems recovering from acidification as sulphur deposition declines. A series of replicated acidity manipulation experiments on peats and peaty podzols are being made in an area of high nitrogen deposition (Peak District) and low nitrogen deposition (North Wales) which, together with analysis of existing data and development of a linked carbon-nitrogen-acidity model. The project is joint between Dr Chris Evans (CEH Bangor), Professor Chris Freeman (Bangor University) and Dr Nick Ostle (CEH Lancaster), and is funded under the NERC-CEH EHFI scheme. The post-doctoral scientist is Dr Tim Jones, who is supported with CEH Bangor biogeochemist Annette Burden.
Soil carbon-climate coupling: stoichiometric constraints on organic matter decomposition (NERC 2006-2009)
Soils contain the largest terrestrial reservoir of organic matter. The contribution of soil respired CO2 to atmospheric greenhouse gases is potentially huge, with the temperature dependency of decomposition being a crucial determinant. In this work we have been reviewing current knowledge and making new temperature sensitivity experiments on a range of global peats to assess the role of nutrient availability as an explanatory parameter. The objective is to provide better resolution of soil carbon processes in developing dynamic global vegetation models. This project is joint with Dr Nick Ostle, Dr Niall McNamara (CEH Lancaster), Professor Richard Bardgett (Lancaster University), Professor Pete Smith (Aberdeen University), Dr Andrew Whitmore (Rothamsted Research). The work is funded by NERC through the QUEST (http://quest.bris.ac.uk) QUERCC project: Quantifying ecosystem roles in the carbon cycle.
Selected Papers
Hardie, S.M.L., Garnett M.H., Fallick A.E., Rowland A.P., Ostle N.J. (2007) Spatial variability of bomb-14C in an upland peat bog. Radiocarbon 49, 1055-1063.
Ward S.E., Bardgett R.D., McNamara N.P., Adamson J.K., Ostle N.J. (2007) Long-term consequences of grazing and burning on northern peatland carbon dynamics. Ecosystems 10, 1069-1083.
Smith P., Chapman S.J., Scott W.A., Black H.I.J., Wattenbach M., Milne R., Campbell C.D., Lilly A., Ostle N., Levy P.E., Lumsdon D.G., Millard P., Towers W., Zaehle S., Smith J.U. (2007). Climate change cannot be entirely responsible for soil carbon loss observed in England and Wales, 1978-2003. Global Change Biology 13, 2605-2609.
Vandenkoornhuyse P., Mahe S., Ineson P., Staddon P., Ostle N., Cliquet J.B., Francez A.J., Fitter A.H., Young J.P.W. Active root-inhabiting microbes identified by rapid incorporation of plant-derived carbon into RNA. PNAS 104, 16970-16975.
Fenner N., Ostle N.J., McNamara N., Sparks T., Harmens H., Reynolds B., Freeman C. 2007. Elevated CO2 effects on peatland plant community carbon dynamics and DOC production. Ecosystems 10, 635-647.
Bradford M.A., Tordoff G.M., Black H.I.J., Cook R., Eggers T., Garnett M.H., Grayston S.J., Hutcheson K.A., Ineson P., Newington J.E., Ostle N., Sleep D., Stott A., Jones T.H. (2007) Carbon dynamics in a model grassland with functionally different soil communities. Functional Ecology 21, 690-697.
Manefield M., Griffiths R., McNamara N.P., Sleep D., Ostle N., Whiteley A. (2007) Insights into the fate of a C-13 labelled phenol pulse for stable isotope probing (SIP) experiments. Journal of Microbial Methods 69, 340-344.
Ayres E., Dromph K., Cook R., Ostle N., Bardgett R. (2007) Influence of above-ground and below-ground herbivory of a legume on nutrient transfer to soil and neighbouring plants. Functional Ecology (in press).
Ostle N.J., M.J.I. Briones, P. Ineson, L. Cole, P. Staddon and D. Sleep (2007) Isotopic detection of recent photosynthate carbon flow into grassland rhizosphere fauna. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 39, 768-777.
Briones, María Jesús Iglesias, Nicholas J. Ostle and Mark H. Garnett (2007) Invertebrates increase the sensitivity of non-labile soil carbon to climate. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 39, 816-818.
Hardie S.M.L., Garnett M.H., Fallick A.E., Rowland A.P., Ostle N.J. (2005) Carbon dioxide capture using a zeolite molecular sieve sampling system for isotopic studies (C13 and C14) of respiration. Radiocarbon 47, 441-451.
Bol R., Ostle N.J., Chenu C.C., Petzke K.J., Werner R.A., Balesdent J. (2004) Long-term changes in the distribution and d15N values of individual soil amino acids in the absence of plant and fertiliser inputs. Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies 40, 243-256.
Freeman C., Ostle N.J., Fenner N., Kang H. (2004) A regulatory role for phenol oxidase during decomposition in peatlands. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 36, 1663-1667.
Briones M.J.I., Poskitt J., Ostle N. (2004) Influence of warming and enchytraeid activities on soil CO2 and CH4 fluxes. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 36, 1851-1859.
Freeman C., Fenner N., Ostle N.J., Kang H., Dowrick D.J., Reynolds B., Lock M.A., Sleep D., Hughes S., Hudson J. (2004) Export of dissolved organic carbon from peatlands under elevated carbon dioxide levels. Nature 430, 195-198.
Griffiths R.I., Manefield M., Ostle N., McNamara N., O'Donnell A.G., Bailey M.J., Whiteley A.S. (2004) 13CO2 pulse labelling of plants in tandem with stable isotope probing: methodological considerations for examining microbial function in the rhizosphere. Journal Of Microbiological Methods 58, 119-129.
Fenner N., Ostle N., Freeman C., Sleep D., Reynolds B. (2004) Peatland carbon afflux partitioning reveals that Sphagnum photosynthate contributes to the DOC pool. Plant and Soil 259, 345-354.
Treonis A.M., Ostle N.J., Stott A.W., Primrose R., Grayston S.J., Ineson P. (2004) Identification of groups of metabolically-active rhizosphere microorganisms by stable isotope probing of PLFAs. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 36, 533-537.
Ostle N., Whiteley A.S., Bailey M.J., Sleep D., Ineson P., Manefield (2003). Active microbial RNA turnover in a grassland soil estimated using a 13CO2 spike. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 35, 877-885.
Staddon P.L., Ramsey C.B., Ostle N., Ineson P., Fitter A.H. (2003) Rapid turnover of hyphae of mycorrhizal fungi determined by AMS microanalysis of 14C. Science 300, 1138-1140.
Freeman C., Ostle N., Kang H. (2001) An enzymic 'latch' on a global carbon store - A shortage of oxygen locks up carbon in peatlands by restraining a single enzyme. Nature 409, 149-149.
Ostle N., Ineson P., Benham D., Sleep D. (2000) Carbon assimilation and turnover in grassland vegetation using an in situ 13CO2 pulse labelling system. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 14, 1345-1350.
Ostle N.J., Bol R., Petzke K.J., et al. (1999). Compound specific d 15N ‰ values of amino acids in grassland and arable soils. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 31 (12): 1751-1755.
Freeman C., Liska G., Ostle N.J., Lock M.A., Reynolds B., Hudson J. (1996) Microbial activity and enzymic decomposition processes following peatland water table drawdown. Plant and Soil 180, 121-127.
