PhD: Impact of Reduced and
Zero Tillage Farming on Soil Biodiversity within Cultivated
Agricultural Land
September 2017 - January 2021
The improvement of soil
health will have a major impact on agricultural productivity.
Soil-dwelling organisms within agro-ecosystems provide crucial
ecosystem services for food production through contributions to
nutrient recycling (detrivores such as earthworms), drought tolerance
(mycorrhizal fungi), and pest mitigation (predators and parasitoids of
pests). However, studies to date have suffered from a lack of longer
term management data, often being derived from treatments of short
duration without consideration of longer-term impacts, or utililising
small spatial scales rather than undertaking a ‘whole farm’ analysis.
The studentship will assess the impact of reduced and zero tillage on
soil dwelling fauna of agronomic importance within arable land, and
then identify management practices of greatest potential benefit to key
species and the ecosystem services they provide, based on the practices
of participating Dorset and Hertfordshire farmers. Recommendations will
be derived for management practices of greatest benefit to preserving
beneficial organisms and their functions in the context of broader
policy drivers including sustainable agriculture, sustainable
intensification, greenhouse gas mitigation, and climate change
adaptation.
Contact
Dr Doug Warner
Appointed student
Tom Wilkes
Publications
- Wilkes, T.I., Warner, D.J., Edmonds-Brown, V., Davies, K.G. &
Denholm, I. (2021). Zero tillage systems conserve arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, enhancing soil glomalin and water stable aggregates with implications for soil stability. Soil Systems, 5(1): 4. DOI.
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