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All Outputs (34)

Organic management in coffee: a systematic review of the environmental, economic and social benefits and trade-offs for farmers (2025)
Journal Article
Jones, K., Njeru, E. M., Garnett, K., & Girkin, N. T. (2025). Organic management in coffee: a systematic review of the environmental, economic and social benefits and trade-offs for farmers. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2025.2510361

Global coffee production is expanding, contributing to environmental degradation, notably through extensive use of inorganic fertilizers. Volatile prices, climate change, rising input costs, and pressure to decrease carbon footprints represent key ch... Read More about Organic management in coffee: a systematic review of the environmental, economic and social benefits and trade-offs for farmers.

The temperature dependence of greenhouse gas production from Central African savannah soils (2025)
Journal Article
Girkin, N. T., Cooper, H. V., Johnston, A. S., Ledger, M., Mouanda Niamba, G., Vane, C. H., Moss-Hayes, V., Crabtree, D., Dargie, G. C., Vasquez, S., Bocko, Y., Wenina, E. M., Mbemba, M., Boom, A., Ifo, S. A., Lewis, S. L., & Sjögersten, S. (2025). The temperature dependence of greenhouse gas production from Central African savannah soils. Geoderma Regional, 40, Article e00934. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geodrs.2025.e00934

Savannahs cover 20 % of the global land surface, but there have been few studies of greenhouse gas (GHG) dynamics from savannah soils. Here, we assess potential turnover of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) from surface (0–1... Read More about The temperature dependence of greenhouse gas production from Central African savannah soils.

Unraveling mechanisms of N₂O emissions and nitrogen cycling: The role of biochar C:N ratios in loamy and sandy soils (2025)
Journal Article
Jaffar, M. T., Ahmed, M., Shi, R., Jiang, S., Kong, Z., Girkin, N., Zhang, J., & Huo, H. (2025). Unraveling mechanisms of N₂O emissions and nitrogen cycling: The role of biochar C:N ratios in loamy and sandy soils. Applied Soil Ecology, 207, Article 105950. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.105950

The influence of biochar on N cycle is well-known, but specific biological and chemical mechanisms under biochar with different C:N ratios and soil types, remain inadequately unclear. This study aimed to explore the changes in N cycle after adding N-... Read More about Unraveling mechanisms of N₂O emissions and nitrogen cycling: The role of biochar C:N ratios in loamy and sandy soils.

Plant root carbon inputs drive methane production in tropical peatlands (2025)
Journal Article
Girkin, N. T., Siegenthaler, A., Lopez, O., Stott, A., Ostle, N., Gauci, V., & Sjögersten, S. (2025). Plant root carbon inputs drive methane production in tropical peatlands. Scientific Reports, 15(1), Article 3244. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-87467-w

Tropical peatlands are carbon-dense ecosystems that are significant sources of atmospheric methane (CH4). Recent work has demonstrated the importance of trees as an emission pathway for CH4 from the peat to the atmosphere. However, there remain quest... Read More about Plant root carbon inputs drive methane production in tropical peatlands.

Assessing the Impact of Voluntary Certification Schemes on Future Sustainable Coffee Production (2024)
Journal Article
Jones, K., Njeru, E. M., Garnett, K., & Girkin, N. (2024). Assessing the Impact of Voluntary Certification Schemes on Future Sustainable Coffee Production. Sustainability, 16(13), Article 5669. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16135669

Coffee production faces major sustainability issues and consumers increasingly look to choose certified coffee as awareness grows. While consumers’ understanding of sustainability issues is limited, independent voluntary certification schemes such as... Read More about Assessing the Impact of Voluntary Certification Schemes on Future Sustainable Coffee Production.

The three-peat challenge: business as usual, responsible agriculture, and conservation and restoration as management trajectories in global peatlands (2023)
Journal Article
Girkin, N. T., Burgess, P. J., Cole, L., Cooper, H. V., Honorio Coronado, E., Davidson, S. J., Hannam, J., Harris, J., Holman, I., McCloskey, C. S., McKeown, M. M., Milner, A. M., Page, S., Smith, J., & Young, D. (2023). The three-peat challenge: business as usual, responsible agriculture, and conservation and restoration as management trajectories in global peatlands. Carbon Management, 14(1), Article 2275578. https://doi.org/10.1080/17583004.2023.2275578

Peatlands are a globally important carbon store, but peatland ecosystems from high latitudes to the tropics are highly degraded due to increasingly intensive anthropogenic activity, making them significant greenhouse gas (GHG) sources. Peatland resto... Read More about The three-peat challenge: business as usual, responsible agriculture, and conservation and restoration as management trajectories in global peatlands.

The contribution of natural burials to soil ecosystem services: Review and emergent research questions (2023)
Journal Article
Pawlett, M., Girkin, N. T., Deeks, L., Evans, D. L., Sakrabani, R., Masters, P., Garnett, K., & Márquez-Grant, N. (2024). The contribution of natural burials to soil ecosystem services: Review and emergent research questions. Applied Soil Ecology, 194, Article 105200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2023.105200

The modern funeral industry faces many environmental risks and challenges, such as the use of sustainable materials for coffins, the release of potentially damaging materials and organisms to the soil and groundwater, and reduced space available for... Read More about The contribution of natural burials to soil ecosystem services: Review and emergent research questions.

Simulating carbon accumulation and loss in the central Congo peatlands (2023)
Journal Article
Young, D. M., Baird, A. J., Morris, P. J., Dargie, G. C., Mampouya Wenina, Y. E., Mbemba, M., Boom, A., Cook, P., Betts, R., Burke, E., Bocko, Y. E., Chadburn, S., Crabtree, D. E., Crezee, B., Ewango, C. E. N., Garcin, Y., Georgiou, S., Girkin, N. T., Gulliver, P., Hawthorne, D., …Lewis, S. L. (2023). Simulating carbon accumulation and loss in the central Congo peatlands. Global Change Biology, 29(23), 6812-6827. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16966

Peatlands of the central Congo Basin have accumulated carbon over millennia. They currently store some 29 billion tonnes of carbon in peat. However, our understanding of the controls on peat carbon accumulation and loss and the vulnerability of this... Read More about Simulating carbon accumulation and loss in the central Congo peatlands.

Opportunities for enhancing the climate resilience of coffee production through improved crop, soil and water management (2023)
Journal Article
Bracken, P., Burgess, P. J., & Girkin, N. T. (2023). Opportunities for enhancing the climate resilience of coffee production through improved crop, soil and water management. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, 47(8), 1125-1157. https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2023.2225438

Climate change is adversely affecting coffee production, impacting both yields and quality. Coffee production is dominated by the cultivation of Arabica and Robusta coffee, species that represent 99% of production, but both will be affected by climat... Read More about Opportunities for enhancing the climate resilience of coffee production through improved crop, soil and water management.

Mapping Water Levels across a Region of the Cuvette Centrale Peatland Complex (2023)
Journal Article
Georgiou, S., Mitchard, E. T. A., Crezee, B., Dargie, G. C., Young, D. M., Jovani-Sancho, A. J., Kitambo, B., Papa, F., Bocko, Y. E., Bola, P., Crabtree, D. E., Emba, O. B., Ewango, C. E. N., Girkin, N. T., Ifo, S. A., Kanyama, J. T., Mampouya, Y. E. W., Mbemba, M., Ndjango, J.-B. N., Palmer, P. I., …Lewis, S. L. (2023). Mapping Water Levels across a Region of the Cuvette Centrale Peatland Complex. Remote Sensing, 15(12), Article 3099. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15123099

Inundation dynamics are the primary control on greenhouse gas emissions from peatlands. Situated in the central Congo Basin, the Cuvette Centrale is the largest tropical peatland complex. However, our knowledge of the spatial and temporal variations... Read More about Mapping Water Levels across a Region of the Cuvette Centrale Peatland Complex.

Towards net zero in agriculture: Future challenges and opportunities for arable, livestock and protected cropping systems in the UK (2023)
Journal Article
Sakrabani, R., Garnett, K., Knox, J. W., Rickson, J., Pawlett, M., Falagan, N., Girkin, N. T., Cain, M., Alamar, M. C., Burgess, P. J., Harris, J., Patchigolla, K., Sandars, D., Graves, A., Hannam, J., & W Simmons, R. (2023). Towards net zero in agriculture: Future challenges and opportunities for arable, livestock and protected cropping systems in the UK. Outlook On Agriculture, 52(2), 116-125. https://doi.org/10.1177/00307270231178889

The agricultural sector faces multiple challenges linked to increased climate uncertainty, causing severe shocks including increased frequency of extreme weather events, new pest and disease risks, soil degradation, and pre and postharvest food losse... Read More about Towards net zero in agriculture: Future challenges and opportunities for arable, livestock and protected cropping systems in the UK.

Estimated emissions from peat soils in the Broads (2023)
Report
Holman, I., Girkin, N., & Truckell, I. (2023). Estimated emissions from peat soils in the Broads. Broads Authority

This report describes work commissioned by the Broads Authority and carried out by Cranfield University to improve the accuracy of estimates of past wastage by installing rust rods and surface rods to monitor peat wastage and to estimate carbon dioxi... Read More about Estimated emissions from peat soils in the Broads.

Tropical peatlands in the Anthropocene: The present and the future (2022)
Journal Article
Girkin, N. T., Cooper, H. V., Ledger, M. J., O’Reilly, P., Thornton, S. A., Åkesson, C. M., Cole, L. E., Hapsari, K. A., Hawthorne, D., & Roucoux, K. H. (2022). Tropical peatlands in the Anthropocene: The present and the future. Anthropocene, 40, Article 100354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2022.100354

Tropical peatlands are a globally important carbon store. They host significant biodiversity and provide a range of other important ecosystem services, including food and medicines for local communities. Tropical peatlands are increasingly modified b... Read More about Tropical peatlands in the Anthropocene: The present and the future.

Hydroclimatic vulnerability of peat carbon in the central Congo Basin (2022)
Journal Article
Garcin, Y., Schefuß, E., Dargie, G. C., Hawthorne, D., Lawson, I. T., Sebag, D., Biddulph, G. E., Crezee, B., Bocko, Y. E., Ifo, S. A., Mampouya Wenina, Y. E., Mbemba, M., Ewango, C. E. N., Emba, O., Bola, P., Kanyama Tabu, J., Tyrrell, G., Young, D. M., Gassier, G., Girkin, N. T., …Lewis, S. L. (2022). Hydroclimatic vulnerability of peat carbon in the central Congo Basin. Nature, 612(7939), 277–282. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05389-3

The forested swamps of the central Congo Basin store approximately 30 billion metric tonnes of carbon in peat1,2. Little is known about the vulnerability of these carbon stocks. Here we investigate this vulnerability usingpeat cores from a large inte... Read More about Hydroclimatic vulnerability of peat carbon in the central Congo Basin.

Mapping peat thickness and carbon stocks of the central Congo Basin using field data (2022)
Journal Article
Crezee, B., Dargie, G. C., Ewango, C. E. N., Mitchard, E. T., Emba B., O., Kanyama T., J., Bola, P., Ndjango, J.-B. N., Girkin, N. T., Bocko, Y. E., Ifo, S. A., Hubau, W., Seidensticker, D., Batumike, R., Imani, G., Cuní-Sanchez, A., Kiahtipes, C. A., Lebamba, J., Wotzka, H. P., Bean, H., …Lewis, S. L. (2022). Mapping peat thickness and carbon stocks of the central Congo Basin using field data. Nature Geoscience, 15(8), 639-644. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00966-7

The world’s largest tropical peatland complex is found in the central Congo Basin. However, there is a lack of in situ measurements to understand the peatland’s distribution and the amount of carbon stored in it. So far, peat in this region has been... Read More about Mapping peat thickness and carbon stocks of the central Congo Basin using field data.

Immediate environmental impacts of transformation of an oil palm intercropping to a monocropping system in a tropical peatland (2022)
Journal Article
Dhandapani, S., Girkin, N. T., Evers, S., Ritz, K., & Sjögersten, S. (2022). Immediate environmental impacts of transformation of an oil palm intercropping to a monocropping system in a tropical peatland. Mires and Peat, 28, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.19189/MaP.2021.GDC.StA.2290

The expansion of oil palm plantations is one of the greatest threats to carbon-rich tropical peatlands in Southeast Asia. More than half of the oil palm plantations on tropical peatlands of Peninsular Malaysia are smallholder-based, which typically f... Read More about Immediate environmental impacts of transformation of an oil palm intercropping to a monocropping system in a tropical peatland.

Linking long-term soil phosphorus management to microbial communities involved in nitrogen reactions (2022)
Journal Article
O’Neill, R. M., Duff, A. M., Brennan, F. P., Gebremichael, A. W., Girkin, N. T., Lanigan, G. J., Krol, D. J., Wall, D. P., Renou-Wilson, F., Müller, C., Richards, K. G., & Deveautour, C. (2022). Linking long-term soil phosphorus management to microbial communities involved in nitrogen reactions. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 58(4), 389-402. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-022-01627-y

The influence of soil phosphorous (P) content on the N-cycling communities and subsequent effects on N2O emissions remains unclear. Two laboratory incubation experiments were conducted on soils collected from a long-term (est. 1995) P-addition field... Read More about Linking long-term soil phosphorus management to microbial communities involved in nitrogen reactions.

Tropical peatlands in the anthropocene: Lessons from the past (2022)
Journal Article
Cole, L. E., Åkesson, C. M., Hapsari, K. A., Hawthorne, D., Roucoux, K. H., Girkin, N. T., Cooper, H. V., Ledger, M. J., O'Reilly, P., & Thornton, S. A. (2022). Tropical peatlands in the anthropocene: Lessons from the past. Anthropocene, 37, 100324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2022.100324

The status of tropical peatlands, one of Earth's most efficient natural carbon stores, is of increasing international concern as they experience rising threat from deforestation and drainage. Peatlands form over thousands of years, where waterlogged... Read More about Tropical peatlands in the anthropocene: Lessons from the past.

Identifying Sustainable Nitrogen Management Practices for Tea Plantations (2022)
Journal Article
Rebello, R., Burgess, P. J., & Girkin, N. T. (2022). Identifying Sustainable Nitrogen Management Practices for Tea Plantations. Nitrogen, 3(1), 43-57. https://doi.org/10.3390/nitrogen3010003

Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) is the most widely consumed beverage in the world. It is mostly grown in the tropics with a heavy dependence on mineral nitrogen (N) fertilisers to maintain high yields while minimising the areas under cultivation. However,... Read More about Identifying Sustainable Nitrogen Management Practices for Tea Plantations.