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Monthly Archives: January 2017

Strategies for reducing ozone and drought impacts on wheat yield

Strategies for reducing ozone and drought impacts on wheat yield 400 x 400 px

At the global scale, ozone pollution, formed from complex photochemical reactions involving pollutants formed from vehicle and industrial emissions has been predicted to pose as big a threat to food security as climate change by 2030. Many of the world’s most important crops such as wheat respond to ozone pollution by decreasing vegetative growth, seed […]

January 16, 2017 2015

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Scaling links between soil moisture and greenhouse gas emissions in grassland systems

Scaling links between soil moisture and greenhouse gas emissions in grassland systems 400 x 400 px

This studentship offers a unique opportunity to explore the key controls of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from hill and upland soils using state-of-the-art measurement equipment linked to national flagship projects, which allows fluxes of N2O, CO2 and CH4 to be quantified at the field-scale, alongside integrated soil moisture measurements at the same scale. This semi-continuous […]

January 16, 2017 2015

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Safe indoors? Monitoring and modelling personal exposure to air pollution

Safe indoors Monitoring and modelling personal exposure to air pollution 400 x 400 px

The adverse health effects of air pollution are the main drivers of policies to improve air quality both nationally and internationally. Although many pollutants have health effects, the clearest case has been made for particulate matter (PM), especially ultra-fine PM2.5. Whether air quality is acceptable is currently based on the use of measurements from a […]

January 16, 2017 2015

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Revealing hydrological and biogeochemical heterogeneity at the groundwater-surface water interface using geophysics

Revealing hydrological and biogeochemical heterogeneity at the groundwater-surface water interface using geophysics 400 x 400 px

It is now widely recognised that hydrological and biogeochemical processes that occur at the interface of groundwater (GW) and surface water (SW) can have a significant impact on catchment water quality and ecosystem health. Significant heterogeneity in the fabric of the subsurface at the GW-SW interface can lead to complex fluid flow pathways, both of […]

January 16, 2017 2015

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Remote sensing investigation of how oil palm cultivation is degrading Malaysia’s tropical peatland ecosystem services

Remote sensing investigation of how oil palm cultivation is degrading Malaysia’s tropical peatland ecosystem services 400 x 400 px

Malaysia’s North Selangor peat swamp forest is experiencing rapid and large-scale conversion of pristine swampland to oil palm agriculture, contrary to prevailing environmental guidelines. This peatland degradation is leading to the loss of valuable ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration, biodiversity, ground water recharge and surface water nutrient removal. This project aims to combine airborne remotely […]

January 16, 2017 2015

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Predicting climate change effects on Anolis lizards using physiological models and ecological traits

Predicting climate change effects on Anolis lizards using physiological models and ecological traits 400 x 400 px

This project will evaluate how incorporating interspecific ecological interactions into species distribution models affects predictions of species’ responses to climate change. Although ecological theory has long predicted that antagonistic interactions among species can limit species distributions, projections of how species will respond to climate change have generally focused solely on climatic factors. This project will […]

January 16, 2017 2015

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Plant-climate interactive feedbacks to peatland methane dynamics

Plant-climate interactive feedbacks to peatland methane dynamics 400 x 400 px

After remaining stable for almost a decade, methane (CH4) concentrations in the atmosphere have started to rise again since 2007. Increasing emissions from the warming high northern latitude wetlands are probably responsible for this observed rise in CH4. This is important since methane is a potent greenhouse gas, having a potential impact at least 25 […]

January 16, 2017 2015

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Optimal exploitation of multiple marine renewable energy resources

Optimal exploitation of multiple marine renewable energy resources 400 x 400 px

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and aid sustainable development, there is an urgent need to support our electricity generating capacity through the development of low carbon technologies, particularly those generated from renewable sources. The ocean represents a vast and largely untapped energy resource, which could be exploited as a form of low carbon electricity generation. […]

January 16, 2017 2015

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New geophysical approaches for monitoring landslides in safety-critical slopes

New geophysical approaches for monitoring landslides in safety-critical slopes 400 x 400 px

The spatial and temporal dynamics of soil moisture content can have a critical effect on slope stability in landslides and engineered earthworks. But measurement of soil moisture over large areas is not achievable using conventional soil physics techniques. Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) is the most widely applied geophysical technique used to investigate landslides. Due to […]

January 16, 2017 2015

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Measuring and modelling the effects of climate change on cyanobacteria in lakes

Measuring and Modelling the Effects of Climate Change on Cyanobacteria in Lakes 400 x 400 px

Toxic cyanobacterial blooms have a damaging effect on water quality in lakes. Hot summers typically enable formation of a shallow mixed layer at the surface of stratified lakes, providing a warm and light environment ideal for cyanobacterial growth. Future predictions are for such conditions to increase as climate changes, leading to the associated likely increase […]

January 16, 2017 2015

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