Dr Robert Griffiths

Professor in Environmental Microbiology

Contact info

Rob Griffiths is an environmental microbiologist whose research focuses on understanding the "natural" and human associated drivers of microbial biodiversity, and understanding the role of microbiomes in environmental health. He uses molecular, biogeochemical and data-driven approaches to uncover fundamental ecological processes operating on microbial communities and impacting functional outcomes.

  1. 2019
  2. Grassland biodiversity restoration increases resistance of carbon fluxes to drought

    Cole, A. J., Griffiths, R. I., Ward, S. E., Whitaker, J., Ostle, N. J. & Bardgett, R. D., 19 Apr 2019, In: Journal of Applied Ecology. 56, 7, p. 1806-1816 11 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  3. Published

    Divergent national-scale trends of microbial and animal biodiversity revealed across diverse temperate soil ecosystems

    George, P., Lallias, D., Creer, S., Seaton, F., Kenny, J. G., Eccles, R. M., Griffiths, R., Lebron, I., Emmett, B., Robinson, D. & Jones, D. L., 7 Mar 2019, In: Nature Communications. 10, 1, p. 1107 1107.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  4. Soil parameters, land use, and geographical distance drive soil bacterial communities along a European transect

    Plassart, P., Prévost-Bouré, N. C., Uroz, S., Dequiedt, S., Stone, D., Creamer, R., Griffiths, R. I., Bailey, M. J., Ranjard, L. & Lemanceau, P., 24 Jan 2019, In: Scientific Reports. 9, 1, 605.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  5. 2018
  6. Land use driven change in soil pH affects microbial carbon cycling processes

    Malik, A. A., Puissant, J., Buckeridge, K. M., Goodall, T., Jehmlich, N., Chowdhury, S., Gweon, H. S., Peyton, J. M., Mason, K. E., van Agtmaal, M., Blaud, A., Clark, I. M., Whitaker, J., Pywell, R. F., Ostle, N., Gleixner, G. & Griffiths, R. I., 4 Sept 2018, In: Nature Communications. 9, 1, 3591.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  7. Seasonality alters drivers of soil enzyme activity in subalpine grassland soil undergoing climate change

    Puissant, J., Jassey, V. E. J., Mills, R. T. E., Robroek, B. J. M., Gavazov, K., De Danieli, S., Spiegelberger, T., Griffiths, R., Buttler, A., Brun, J-J. & Cécillon, L., Sept 2018, In: Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 124, p. 266-274 9 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  8. Soil bacterial networks are less stable under drought than fungal networks

    de Vries, F. T., Griffiths, R. I., Bailey, M., Craig, H., Girlanda, M., Gweon, H. S., Hallin, S., Kaisermann, A., Keith, A. M., Kretzschmar, M., Lemanceau, P., Lumini, E., Mason, K. E., Oliver, A., Ostle, N., Prosser, J. I., Thion, C., Thomson, B. & Bardgett, R. D., 2 Aug 2018, In: Nature Communications. 9, 1

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  9. Published

    Detecting macroecological patterns in bacterial communities across independent studies of global soils

    Ramirez, K. S., Knight, C. G., Hollander, M., Brearley, F. Q., Constantinides, B., Cotton, T. E. A., Creer, S., Crowther, T. W., Davison, J., Delgado-Baquerizo, M., Dorrepaal, E., Elliott, D. R., Fox, G., Griffiths, R., Hale, C., Hartman, K., Houlden, A., Jones, D., Krab, E. J., Maestre, F. T., McGuire, K. L., Monteux, S., Orr, C. H., van der Putten, W. H., Roberts, I. S., Robinson, D., Rocca, J., Rowntree, J., Schlaeppi, K., Shepherd, M., Singh, B. K., Straathof, A., Talbot, J. M., Thion, C., van der Heijden, M. & de Vries, F. T., 2018, In: Nature Microbiology. 3, p. 189-196 8 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  10. 2017
  11. Bacterial Physiological Adaptations to Contrasting Edaphic Conditions Identified Using Landscape Scale Metagenomics

    A., M. A., C., T. B., S., W. A., Mark, B. & I., G. R., 5 Jul 2017, In: mBio. 8, 4

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  12. Legacy effects of drought on plant–soil feedbacks and plant–plant interactions

    Kaisermann, A., de Vries, F. T., Griffiths, R. I. & Bardgett, R. D., 16 Jun 2017, In: New Phytologist. 215, 4, p. 1413-1424 12 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  13. Soil networks become more connected and take up more carbon as nature restoration progresses

    Morriën, E., Hannula, S. E., Snoek, L. B., Helmsing, N. R., Zweers, H., de Hollander, M., Soto, R. L., Bouffaud, M-L., Buée, M., Dimmers, W., Duyts, H., Geisen, S., Girlanda, M., Griffiths, R. I., Jørgensen, H-B., Jensen, J., Plassart, P., Redecker, D., Schmelz, R. M., Schmidt, O., Thomson, B. C., Tisserant, E., Uroz, S., Winding, A., Bailey, M. J., Bonkowski, M., Faber, J. H., Martin, F., Lemanceau, P., de Boer, W., van Veen, J. A. & van der Putten, W. H., 8 Feb 2017, In: Nature Communications. 8, 1, 14349.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  14. 2016
  15. Selecting cost effective and policy-relevant biological indicators for European monitoring of soil biodiversity and ecosystem function

    Griffiths, B. S., Römbke, J., Schmelz, R. M., Scheffczyk, A., Faber, J. H., Bloem, J., Pérès, G., Cluzeau, D., Chabbi, A., Suhadolc, M., Sousa, J. P., Martins da Silva, P., Carvalho, F., Mendes, S., Morais, P., Francisco, R., Pereira, C., Bonkowski, M., Geisen, S., Bardgett, R. D., de Vries, F. T., Bolger, T., Dirilgen, T., Schmidt, O., Winding, A., Hendriksen, N. B., Johansen, A., Philippot, L., Plassart, P., Bru, D., Thomson, B., Griffiths, R. I., Bailey, M. J., Keith, A., Rutgers, M., Mulder, C., Hannula, S. E., Creamer, R. & Stone, D., Oct 2016, In: Ecological Indicators. 69, p. 213-223 11 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  16. Soil Fungal:Bacterial Ratios Are Linked to Altered Carbon Cycling

    Malik, A. A., Chowdhury, S., Schlager, V., Oliver, A., Puissant, J., Vazquez, P. G. M., Jehmlich, N., von Bergen, M., Griffiths, R. I. & Gleixner, G., 9 Aug 2016, In: Frontiers in Microbiology. 7

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  17. Global change pressures on soils from land use and management

    Smith, P., House, J. I., Bustamante, M., Sobocká, J., Harper, R., Pan, G., West, P. C., Clark, J. M., Adhya, T., Rumpel, C., Paustian, K., Kuikman, P., Cotrufo, M. F., Elliott, J. A., McDowell, R., Griffiths, R. I., Asakawa, S., Bondeau, A., Jain, A. K., Meersmans, J. & Pugh, T. A. M., Mar 2016, In: Global Change Biology. 22, 3, p. 1008-1028 21 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  18. Differences in soil micro-eukaryotic communities over soil pH gradients are strongly driven by parasites and saprotrophs

    Dupont, A. Ö. C., Griffiths, R. I., Bell, T. & Bass, D., 15 Jan 2016, In: Environmental Microbiology. 18, 6, p. 2010-2024 15 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  19. A method of establishing a transect for biodiversity and ecosystem function monitoring across Europe: Soil biodiversity and ecosystem functions across Europe: A transect covering variations in bio-geographical zones, land use and soil properties

    Stone, D., Blomkvist, P., Hendriksen, N. B., Bonkowski, M., Jørgensen, H. B., Carvalho, F., Dunbar, M. B., Gardi, C., Geisen, S., Griffiths, R., Hug, A. S., Jensen, J., Laudon, H., Mendes, S., Morais, P. V., Orgiazzi, A., Plassart, P., Römbke, J., Rutgers, M., Schmelz, R. M., Sousa, J. P., Steenbergen, E., Suhadolc, M., Winding, A., Zupan, M., Lemanceau, P. & Creamer, R. E., Jan 2016, In: Applied Soil Ecology. 97, p. 3-11 9 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  20. Ecological network analysis reveals the inter-connection between soil biodiversity and ecosystem function as affected by land use across Europe: Soil biodiversity and ecosystem functions across Europe: A transect covering variations in bio-geographical zones, land use and soil properties

    Creamer, R. E., Hannula, S. E., Leeuwen, J. P. V., Stone, D., Rutgers, M., Schmelz, R. M., Ruiter, P. C. D., Hendriksen, N. B., Bolger, T., Bouffaud, M. L., Buee, M., Carvalho, F., Costa, D., Dirilgen, T., Francisco, R., Griffiths, B. S., Griffiths, R., Martin, F., Silva, P. M. D., Mendes, S., Morais, P. V., Pereira, C., Philippot, L., Plassart, P., Redecker, D., Römbke, J., Sousa, J. P., Wouterse, M. & Lemanceau, P., Jan 2016, In: Applied Soil Ecology. 97, p. 112-124 13 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  21. Mapping and validating predictions of soil bacterial biodiversity using European and national scale datasets: Soil biodiversity and ecosystem functions across Europe: A transect covering variations in bio-geographical zones, land use and soil properties

    Griffiths, R. I., Thomson, B. C., Plassart, P., Gweon, H. S., Stone, D., Creamer, R. E., Lemanceau, P. & Bailey, M. J., Jan 2016, In: Applied Soil Ecology. 97, p. 61-68 8 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  22. 2015
  23. Biogeochemical cycles and biodiversity as key drivers of ecosystem services provided by soils

    Smith, P., Cotrufo, M. F., Rumpel, C., Paustian, K., Kuikman, P. J., Elliott, J. A., McDowell, R., Griffiths, R. I., Asakawa, S., Bustamante, M., House, J. I., Sobocká, J., Harper, R., Pan, G., West, P. C., Gerber, J. S., Clark, J. M., Adhya, T., Scholes, R. J. & Scholes, M. C., 19 Nov 2015, In: SOIL. 1, 2, p. 665-685 21 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  24. Soil conditions and land use intensification effects on soil microbial communities across a range of European field sites

    Thomson, B. C., Tisserant, E., Plassart, P., Uroz, S., Griffiths, R. I., Hannula, S. E., Buée, M., Mougel, C., Ranjard, L., Veen, J. A. V., Martin, F., Bailey, M. J. & Lemanceau, P., Sept 2015, In: Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 88, p. 403-413 11 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  25. Mapping natural capital: optimising the use of national scale datasets

    Henrys, P. A., Bee, E. J., Watkins, J. W., Smith, N. A. & Griffiths, R. I., Jun 2015, In: Ecography. 38, 6, p. 632-638 7 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  26. PIPITS: an automated pipeline for analyses of fungal internal transcribed spacer sequences from the Illumina sequencing platform

    Gweon, H. S., Oliver, A., Taylor, J., Booth, T., Gibbs, M., Read, D. S., Griffiths, R. I. & Schonrogge, K., 22 Apr 2015, In: Methods in Ecology and Evolution. 6, 8, p. 973-980 8 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  27. Rhizosphere bacterial carbon turnover is higher in nucleic acids than membrane lipids: implications for understanding soil carbon cycling

    Malik, A. A., Dannert, H., Griffiths, R. I., Thomson, B. C. & Gleixner, G., 9 Apr 2015, In: Frontiers in Microbiology. 6

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  28. Plant diversity increases soil microbial activity and soil carbon storage

    Lange, M., Eisenhauer, N., Sierra, C. A., Bessler, H., Engels, C., Griffiths, R. I., Mellado-Vázquez, P. G., Malik, A. A., Roy, J., Scheu, S., Steinbeiss, S., Thomson, B. C., Trumbore, S. E. & Gleixner, G., 7 Apr 2015, In: Nature Communications. 6, 1, 6707.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  29. Catchment-scale biogeography of riverine bacterioplankton

    Read, D. S., Gweon, H. S., Bowes, M. J., Newbold, L. K., Field, D., Bailey, M. J. & Griffiths, R. I., Feb 2015, In: The ISME Journal. 9, 2, p. 516-526 11 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  30. Vegetation exerts a greater control on litter decomposition than climate warming in peatlands

    Ward, S. E., Orwin, K. H., Ostle, N. J., Briones, M. J. I., Thomson, B. C., Griffiths, R. I., Oakley, S., Quirk, H. & Bardgett, R. D., 1 Jan 2015, In: Ecology. 96, 1, p. 113-123 11 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review