Dr. Sabine Reinsch

I am a soil ecologist with interest in the links between the soil, plants and the atmosphere. Specifically, I am interested how climate and land-use affect the plant-soil interaction. I use field monitoring and experimental work to develop a deeper understanding of soil processes. I am especially interested in the role of the soil microbial community in carbon and nutrient cycling.

In my current position, I study the effects of environmental change (climate and land-use) on biogeochemical carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycling. I study how physical, chemical and biological soil properties influence each other. In particular, I examine whether soil available carbon and nutrients, as well as related biogeochemical processes, are suitable predictors of three soil-mediated ecosystem services (aboveground biomass productivity, carbon storage, and soil water regulation) at site, catchment and national scales.

In 2021, I managed the field survey for the “Environment and Rural Affairs Monitoring & Modelling Programme” (ERAMMP). My work included overseeing the field survey budget and the workflow off-site for the project team; and coordinating and running 2-week training sessions for two of the survey components. On a day-to-day basis, I looked after the up to 16 surveyors, managed their workload, negotiated access with landowners and managed our relationship with them. The data derived from this survey will enable us, the ERAMMP team, to assess the state of the Welsh landscape in terms of climate mitigation, biodiversity and other relevant indicators.

Current research projects I am involved in

• The UK-SCaPE project on soil organic carbon dynamics aims to better understand the biotic and abiotic controls on soil processes. I am responsible for managing the project and field campaigns where soil cores to one-metre depth were taken to unravel the links between soil dynamics in topsoil and subsoil. We measured soil physical, chemical and biological properties across land uses and soil types across the UK to build our understanding on soils and to advance our SOC-D data and modelling framework.
• I manage, coordinate and conduct science at the Welsh long-term monitoring site for climate change research where we found that drought eroded the soil structure of the shallow organo-mineral soil without changing the plant community (see publications below).
• We are starting up a new project on the quantification of climate and land use effects on continental-scale coupling of water and carbon cycles using field data collection and monolith studies.

Past projects I worked on

• I was part of a Newton Fund UK-China project coordinating work package activities across institutes in the UK, conducted field work, managed and analysed data to improve our understanding of the impact of soil carbon and nitrogen turnover on physical, chemical and biological soil properties.
• In the EU INTERREG project FABulous Farmers the aim is to review and identify sustainable land management interventions in different EU countries.
• My previous research has further included understanding soil carbon turnover (cycling and storage) under changing climatic conditions (elevated atmospheric CO2, warming and drought) using stable carbon isotopes (natural abundance and labelling) in the field and in the laboratory. As part of the Macronutrient Turf2Surf project I investigated how land use and soil depth affect the potential for soil organic matter priming.

News and blog posts

• On the track of soil carbon - in an ancient wood
• On the track of soil carbon - along the Roman roads
• On the track of soil carbon - out and about across the UK
• Securing the UK's natural carbon storage
• NERC Council visit to CEH at Bangor
• Climate manipulation experiment receives new infrastructure
• On slurry crusts, greenhouse gas emissions and methane-consuming bacteria
• On how to maximise the contribution of long-term experiments to global science...
• Soils store carbon - or do they?
• Future climate change affects plants and soils differently
• Global study indicates warming will lead to soil carbon loss

• 2019-present: Soil Ecologist, Band 6, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bangor, UK
• 2020: Maternity break
• 2013-2019: Soil Ecologist, Band 6, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bangor, UK
• 2012-2013: Post Doc (Soil Ecologist), Technical University of Denmark, DK
• 2009-2012: PhD (Climate Change, Soil Ecology), Technical University of Denmark, DK
• 2003-2009: Master of Science (Biology), Friedrich-Schiller Universitaet Jena, DE