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StomaGAN: Improving image-based analysis of stomata through Generative Adversarial Networks (2025)
Journal Article
Gibbs, J., & Gibbs, A. (2025). StomaGAN: Improving image-based analysis of stomata through Generative Adversarial Networks. in silico Plants, https://doi.org/10.1093/insilicoplants/diaf002

Stomata regulate gas exchange between plants and the atmosphere, but analysing their morphology is challenging due to anatomical variability and artifacts during image acquisition. Deep learning (DL) can address these challenges but often requires la... Read More about StomaGAN: Improving image-based analysis of stomata through Generative Adversarial Networks.

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.

Moisture-responsive root-branching pathways identified in diverse maize breeding germplasm (2025)
Journal Article
Kieber, J., Zheng, Z., Schnable, P. S., Dinneny, J. R., Banda, J., Sturrock, C. J., Pandey, B. K., Bennett, M., Scharwies, J. D., Clarke, T., Dinneny, A., Birkeland, S., Veltman, M. A., Torres-Martínez, H. H., Viana, W. G., & Khare, R. (2025). Moisture-responsive root-branching pathways identified in diverse maize breeding germplasm. Science, 387(6734), 666-673. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ads5999

Plants grow complex root systems to extract unevenly distributed resources from soils. Spatial differences in soil moisture are perceived by root tips, leading to the patterning of new root branches toward available water in a process called hydropat... Read More about Moisture-responsive root-branching pathways identified in diverse maize breeding germplasm.

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.

Private, non-profit, and plantation: Oil palm smallholders in management-assistance programs vary in socio-demographics, attitudes, and management practices (2025)
Journal Article
Reiss-Woolever, V. J., Wakhid, W., Ikhsan, M., Caliman, J.-P., Naim, M., Azmi, E. N., Shufiyan, S., Howes, J., Azmi, R., Lim, Y. Y., Abdul Jan, S. Z., Barrock, I., Azhar, B., Drewer, J., Ward, C., Jones, J. A., Luke, S. H., Turner, E. C., Hidayat, P., & Buchori, D. (2025). Private, non-profit, and plantation: Oil palm smallholders in management-assistance programs vary in socio-demographics, attitudes, and management practices. PLoS ONE, 20(1), Article e0304837. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304837

Smallholder farmers produce over 40% of global palm oil, the world’s most traded and controversial vegetable oil. Awareness of the effects of palm oil production on ecosystems and human communities has increased drastically in recent years, with ever... Read More about Private, non-profit, and plantation: Oil palm smallholders in management-assistance programs vary in socio-demographics, attitudes, and management practices.

Increasing Tephra Deposition in Northeastern North America Points to Atmospheric Circulation Changes at the Early Mid Holocene Transition (2025)
Journal Article
Monteath, A. J., Jensen, B. J. L., Davies, L. J., Bolton, M. S. M., Hughes, P. D. M., Mackay, H., Edwards, M. E., Finkenbinder, M., Booth, R. K., Cwynar, L. C., Harvey, J., Pyne‐O’Donnell, S., Papp, C. N., Froese, D. G., Mallon, G., Amesbury, M. J., & Mayfield, R. J. (2025). Increasing Tephra Deposition in Northeastern North America Points to Atmospheric Circulation Changes at the Early Mid Holocene Transition. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 130(1), Article e2024JD042135. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024jd042135

The number of cryptotephra (non-visible volcanic ash) records from northeastern North America is unique in the continent. The resulting tephrostratigraphic framework includes ash deposits sourced from volcanic arcs across the Northern Hemisphere and... Read More about Increasing Tephra Deposition in Northeastern North America Points to Atmospheric Circulation Changes at the Early Mid Holocene Transition.

Land use, hydroclimate and damming influence organic carbon sedimentation in a flood pulse wetland, Malaysia (2024)
Journal Article
McGowan, S., Lacey, J. H., Engels, S., Boyle, J., Briddon, C., Leng, M. J., Moorhouse, H. L., Panizzo, V., & Shafiq, M. (2024). Land use, hydroclimate and damming influence organic carbon sedimentation in a flood pulse wetland, Malaysia. Journal of Quaternary Science, https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3672

Water bodies located in floodplains and tropical forests are known to be important carbon stores, but many are subjected to intensive pressures from damming, land use and climate changes. Sedimentary records preserve long-term archives for understand... Read More about Land use, hydroclimate and damming influence organic carbon sedimentation in a flood pulse wetland, Malaysia.

Selenium Biofortification of Vegetables Grown in Calcareous Soil: A Pot Experiment Using 77Se as a Tracer (2024)
Journal Article
Baset, A. B. K., Hawrami, K. A. M., Bailey, E. H., & Young, S. D. (2024). Selenium Biofortification of Vegetables Grown in Calcareous Soil: A Pot Experiment Using 77Se as a Tracer. Biological Trace Element Research, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-024-04483-z

Dietary selenium (Se) is vital for human health and can be provided through consumption of Se-rich vegetables. Soil Se is often poorly available and so biofortification using Se-enriched fertilizers is used to enhance dietary intake. This study aimed... Read More about Selenium Biofortification of Vegetables Grown in Calcareous Soil: A Pot Experiment Using 77Se as a Tracer.

Root RADAR: how 'rhizocrine' signals allow roots to detect and respond to their soil environment and stresses (2024)
Journal Article
Pandey, B. K., George, T. S., Cooper, H. V., Sturrock, C. J., Bennett, T., & Bennett, M. J. (2024). Root RADAR: how 'rhizocrine' signals allow roots to detect and respond to their soil environment and stresses. Journal of Experimental Botany, Article erae490. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erae490

Agricultural intensification coupled with changing climate are causing soils to become increasingly vulnerable to stresses such as drought, soil erosion and compaction. The mechanisms by which roots detect and respond to soil stresses remains poorly... Read More about Root RADAR: how 'rhizocrine' signals allow roots to detect and respond to their soil environment and stresses.

Trialling floral-baited traps to survey flower-visiting insects in tropical crops: Findings from an oil palm case study (2024)
Journal Article
Popkin, M., Harianja, M. F., Luke, S. H., Setyawan, Y. P., Naim, M., Caliman, J., & Turner, E. C. (2025). Trialling floral-baited traps to survey flower-visiting insects in tropical crops: Findings from an oil palm case study. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 173(2), 140-155. https://doi.org/10.1111/eea.13525

Monitoring pollinating arthropods in crop systems can provide important information about pollinator populations and potential yield but can be hampered by accessibility to flowers in some systems, or by the timing of flowering and pollinator visits.... Read More about Trialling floral-baited traps to survey flower-visiting insects in tropical crops: Findings from an oil palm case study.

Opening up Responsible Research and Innovation: Learning from human and more-than-human knowledge-holders (2024)
Journal Article
Price, C., Burdett, M., & Bott, T. (2024). Opening up Responsible Research and Innovation: Learning from human and more-than-human knowledge-holders. Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 12(1), 91-101. https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v12i1.1720

Responsible research and innovation (RRI) is increasingly being implemented by researchers, and in the UK, its use is encouraged by funders such as UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The aim of RRI is to ensure that research and its impacts are opene... Read More about Opening up Responsible Research and Innovation: Learning from human and more-than-human knowledge-holders.

Holocene summer temperature reconstruction from plant sedaDNA and chironomids from the northern boreal forest (2024)
Journal Article
Mayfield, R. J., Rijal, D. P., Heintzman, P. D., Langdon, P. G., Karger, D. N., Brown, A. G., & Alsos, I. G. (2024). Holocene summer temperature reconstruction from plant sedaDNA and chironomids from the northern boreal forest. Quaternary Science Reviews, 345, Article 109045. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.109045

Climate-induced ecotonal shifts are expected to occur in the (sub)arctic and boreal zones in the coming decades. Understanding how these ecosystems have previously responded to climate change can provide greater insight into how ecosystems may develo... Read More about Holocene summer temperature reconstruction from plant sedaDNA and chironomids from the northern boreal forest.

Root Circumnutation Reduces Mechanical Resistance to Soil Penetration (2024)
Journal Article
Leuther, F., Iseskog, D., Keller, T., Larsbo, M., Pandey, B. K., & Colombi, T. (2025). Root Circumnutation Reduces Mechanical Resistance to Soil Penetration. Plant, Cell and Environment, 48(2), 1608-1620. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.15219

Root circumnutation, the helical movement of growing root tips, is a widely observed behaviour of plants. However, our mechanistic understanding of the impacts of root circumnutation on root growth and soil exploration is limited. Here, we deployed a... Read More about Root Circumnutation Reduces Mechanical Resistance to Soil Penetration.

FreshLanDiv: A Global Database of Freshwater Biodiversity Across Different Land Uses (2024)
Journal Article
Shen, M., van Klink, R., Sagouis, A., Petsch, D. K., Abong'o, D. A., Alahuhta, J., Al‐Shami, S. A., Armendáriz, L. C., Bae, M., Begot, T. O., Belliard, J., Benstead, J. P., Bomfim, F. F., Bredenhand, E., Budnick, W. R., Callisto, M., Calvão, L. B., Camacho‐Rozo, C. P., Cañedo‐Argüelles, M., Carvalho, F. G., …Chase, J. M. (2024). FreshLanDiv: A Global Database of Freshwater Biodiversity Across Different Land Uses. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 33(12), Article e13917. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13917

Motivation
Freshwater ecosystems have been heavily impacted by land-use changes, but data syntheses on these impacts are still limited. Here, we compiled a global database encompassing 241 studies with species abundance data (from multiple biologica... Read More about FreshLanDiv: A Global Database of Freshwater Biodiversity Across Different Land Uses.

Insecticide exposure can increase burrow network production and alter burrow network structure in soil dwelling insects (Agriotes spp.) (2024)
Journal Article
Booth, S. W., Kurtz, B., Heer, M. I., Mooney, S. J., & Sturrock, C. J. (2024). Insecticide exposure can increase burrow network production and alter burrow network structure in soil dwelling insects (Agriotes spp.). Pedobiologia, 107, Article 151000. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedobi.2024.151000

Insecticide treated seeds are commonly used to reduce yield losses from burrowing insect damage such as wireworms. Using temporal X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) of soil-filled bioassays, we aimed to quantify changes in burrow network production and s... Read More about Insecticide exposure can increase burrow network production and alter burrow network structure in soil dwelling insects (Agriotes spp.).

Microplastics pollution in sediments of the Thames and Medway estuaries, UK: Organic matter associations and predominance of polyethylene (2024)
Journal Article
Trusler, M. M., Moss-Hayes, V. L., Cook, S., Lomax, B. H., & Vane, C. H. (2024). Microplastics pollution in sediments of the Thames and Medway estuaries, UK: Organic matter associations and predominance of polyethylene. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 208, Article 116971. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116971

Microplastics at 10 sites along a 77 km transect of the river Thames estuary (UK) and 5 sites along 29 km of the Medway estuary were separated from sediment and analysed by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. Microplastics were observed at all sites. Highest Tham... Read More about Microplastics pollution in sediments of the Thames and Medway estuaries, UK: Organic matter associations and predominance of polyethylene.

Soil zinc surveillance frameworks can inform human nutrition studies: opportunities in India (2024)
Journal Article
Khokhar, J. S., Broadley, M. R., & Ander, E. L. (2024). Soil zinc surveillance frameworks can inform human nutrition studies: opportunities in India. Frontiers in Soil Science, 4, Article 1421652. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoil.2024.1421652

Mineral micronutrient deficiencies are widespread in global food systems and can affect plant growth, crop quality, and human and livestock health. The mapping of soils and soil properties linked to micronutrient supply in food systems is now enablin... Read More about Soil zinc surveillance frameworks can inform human nutrition studies: opportunities in India.