Carbon and nitrogen cycling in agricultural soils

Agricultural soil

Carbon and Nitrogen cycling in agricultural soils drives many soil processes and contributes to ecosystem services provided by soils including nutrient turnover and soil stabilization. Central to many of these processes is the decomposition (mineralization) of organic matter and plant residues. There are several foci for this research, including understanding factors that control decomposition, the fate of residues from genetically modified plants in soils, and the effects of different management on soil carbon stocks.

Selected publications

  • Dungait, J.A.J, Ghee, C., Rowan, J.S., McKenzie, B.M., Hawes, C., Dixon, E.R., Paterson, E. & Hopkins, D.W. (2013) Microbial responses to the erosional redistribution of soil organic carbon in arable fields. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 60, 195-201.
  • McCormack, S.A., Ostle, N., Bardgett, R.D., Hopkins, D.W. & Vanbergen, A.J. (2013) Biochar in bioenergy cropping systems: impacts on soil faunal communities and linked ecosystem processes. Global Change Biology Bioenergy 5, 81-95.
  • Tilston, E.L., Halpin, C. & Hopkins, D.W. (2013) Decomposition of tobacco roots with modified phenylpropanoid content by fungi with contrasting lignocellulose degradation strategies. Biology & Fertility of Soils 49, 304-311.
  • Dungait, J.A.J., Hopkins, D.W., Gregory, A.S. & Whitmore, A.P. (2012) Soil organic matter turnover is governed by accessibility not recalcitrance. Global Change Biology 18, 1781-1796.
  • Benhua Sun, Hallett, P.D., Caul, S., Daniell, T.J. & Hopkins, D.W. (2011) Distribution of soil carbon and microbial biomass in arable soils under different tillage regimes. Plant and Soil 338, 17-25.
  • Hopkins, D.W., Waite, I.S., McNicol, J.W., Poulton, P.R., Macdonald, A.J. & O'Donnell, A.G. (2009) Soil organic carbon contents in long-term experimental grassland plots in the UK (Palace Leas and Park Grass) have not changed consistently in recent decades. Global Change Biology 15, 1739-1754.