Room: 1st Floor Environment Centre Wales building / Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

Email: cbrewster@ceh.ac.uk

Phone: 01248 374536

Web: 

My NERC-funded research project will investigate the effects of ozone and nitrogen pollution on wheat and its wild relatives and in particular their effects on nitrogen cycling by soil and microbial enzymes.  In addition to changes in plant physiology, recent experiments have indicated that ozone affects microbial communities in the rhizosphere, alters nitrogen absorption and resorption, and may lead to an increased proportion of deposited nitrogen being either leached into groundwater and streams, or into the atmosphere as nitrous oxide or nitrogen dioxide. The aim is to use the results of this research to develop a conceptual model of the interactive effects of ozone and nitrogen on vegetation, highlighting the mechanisms by which ozone could exacerbate the impacts of nitrogen pollution.