Dr Scott Davidson
Profiles

Dr Scott Davidson

Lecturer in Ecosystem Resilience

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (Faculty of Science and Engineering)

Biography

Biography

Lecturer in Ecosystem Resilience- University of Plymouth, UKAdjunct Assistant Professor- University of Waterloo, Canada

Qualifications

Education
2017 NERC PhD in Biogeosciences- University of Sheffield, UK/San Diego State University, USA. Thesis title: Scaling methane fluxes in spatially heterogeneous Arctic landscapes: the importance of vegetation
2013 MSc Polar and Alpine Change- University of Sheffield, UK
2012 MA (Hons) Geography- University of Dundee, UK
Employment
2018 - 2021 Postdoctoral Fellow- University of Waterloo, Canada

Professional membership

  • American Geophysical Union
  • European Geosciences Union
  • Canadian Geophysical Union
  • British Ecological Society
  • British Bryological Society

Roles on external bodies

Co-Chair: Peatlands and Wetlands Special Interest Group - British Ecological Society 
ACU British Council Commonwealth Future Climate Research Cohort Fellow

Key publications

Strack M, Davidson SJ, Hirano T & Dunn C (2022) 'The Potential of Peatlands as Nature-Based Climate Solutions' Current Climate Change Reports 8, (3) 71-82 , DOI Open access
Davidson SJ, Daze E, Byun E, Hiler D, Kangur M, Talbot J, Finkelstein S & Strack M (2022) 'The unrecognized importance of carbon stocks and fluxes from Swamps in Canada and the USA' Environmental Research Letters , DOI Open access
Harris LI, Richardson K, Bona KA, Davidson SJ, Finkelstein SA, Garneau M, McLaughlin J, Nwaishi F, Olefeldt D & Packalen M (2021) 'The essential carbon service provided by northern peatlands' Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 20, (4) 222-230 , DOI
Drever CR, Cook-Patton SC, Akhter F, Badiou PH, Chmura GL, Davidson SJ, Desjardins RL, Dyk A, Fargione JE & Fellows M (2021) 'Natural climate solutions for Canada' Science Advances 7, (23) , DOI
Davidson SJ, Van Beest C, Petrone R & Strack M (2019) 'Wildfire overrides hydrological controls on boreal peatland methane emissions' Biogeosciences 16, (13) 2651-2660 , DOI
Wilkinson SL, Andersen R, Moore PA, Davidson SJ, Granath G & Waddington JM (2023) 'Wildfire and degradation accelerate northern peatland carbon release' Nature Climate Change , DOI Open access
View all publications
Teaching

Teaching

Teaching interests

My teaching interests fall broadly within Environmental Science and Ecology. Specifically,
  • Ecosystem vulnerability, resilience and management
  • Climate Change
  • Ecohydrology
  • Science Communication
I am the Stage 1 Lead for the ENVS/ENVM programme
I currently teach on the following modules:
Environmental Science/Management and Sustainability
ENVS1009 Sustainability Science (module lead)
ENVS1003 The Biosphere
ENVS3012 The Environmental Professional (module lead)
ENVS/ENVM2002 Environmental Expedition and Environmental Management and Sustainability in Practice
ENVS2004 Environmental Issues and Communication
ENVS3011 Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation
Earth Science
GEOL1007 Sustainable Geosciences
Geography
GGX1206 Sustainable Futures
MSc programmes
GEES506 Climate Change: Science and Policy

Staff serving as external examiners

2024 External Examiner - University of Waterloo (MSc)
2023 External Examiner - Trinity College Dublin (PhD)
2022 External Examiner - Laval University (PhD)
2022 External Examiner - University of Southampton (PhD)
2021 External Examiner - University of Waterloo (MSc)
Research

Research

Research interests

My research investigates the resilience of wetland ecosystems to both climate change and disturbance regimes, as well as the roles these ecosystems can play as natural climate solutions.

I like to use a multi-scale approach, combining both field research and laboratory analysis with remote sensing and modelling approaches to better constrain spatio-temporal dynamics of wetland ecosystems. With my work, I aim to contribute to a better understanding of the complex feedbacks between ecosystem resilience and disturbance regimes under a rapidly changing climate.
Broadly, I am interested in identifying the key biotic and abiotic drivers of greenhouse gases, ecosystem processes and vegetation community change across northern latitude landscapes.
For more information: sjdavidsonecology.com

Research groups

Research degrees awarded to supervised students

Lead Supervisor (Director of Studies):
Emma Duley (PhD student) 2023 - 2027 The Wetter the Better? Understanding wet woodland carbon dynamics in the Anthropocene (ARIES DTP)
Co-Supervisor:
Georgie Freer-Carmichael (PhD student) 2023 - 2027 Assessment of the co-benefits of Natural Flood Management interventions (Lead supervisor: Dr Paul Lunt)
Izadora Kervin (PhD student) 2023 -2029 (PT) Developing capacity in ex situ conservation for threatened bryophytes (Lead supervisor: Dr Jennifer Rowntree)
Natasha Underwood (PhD student) 2021 -2024 Project: Wetland restoration on the Somerset Levels (Lead supervisor: Dr Paul Lunt)
Megan Schmidt (MRes student) 2019 – 2021 Project: Greenhouse gas exchange on restored peatland seismic lines (Lead supervisor: Dr Maria Strack)

Grants & contracts

2024 NSERC Applied Research and Development: Understanding the form and function of boreal swamps to assess early restoration outcomes ($ 563,611.67 CAD - Co-Investigator)
2022 Seale-Hayne Educational Trust: The Wetter the Better? The role of wet woodlands as a nature-based solution to climate change (£13,730 - Lead Investigator)
2022 Sustainable Earth Institute Small Collaborative Award: Understanding peatland carbon dynamics using low-cost flux sensors (£3000 - Lead Investigator)
2022 Anna and Gunnar Vidfelt Foundation for Biological Research Grant: Stability of peatlands under disturbance scenarios (300,000 SEK, approx. £25,000 - Co-Lead Investigator)
2021 Ducks Unlimited Canada: Understanding wetland phenology using smartphones ($2000 CAD - Lead Investigator)
2021 Interdisciplinary Centre for Climate Change: Peatland conservation and restoration: Managing Canadian peatlands as natural climate solutions ($9200 CAD - Co-Lead Investigator)
2020 Canadian Institute for Ecology and Evolution: Vulnerabilities of Canadian Wetlands in a Changing Climate ($10,280 CAD - Co-Lead Investigator)
2020 Boreal Water Futures: Modelling hydrological processes for wildfire and carbon management ($200,000 - Named HQP)
2019 International Peatland Society: Allan Robertson Research Grant (€800)
2015 EU-COST Action: Scaling CH4 fluxes using hyperspectral and multispectral data in Arctic tundra Ecosystems(£2000 - Lead Investigator)
Publications

Publications

Key publications

Strack M, Davidson SJ, Hirano T & Dunn C (2022) 'The Potential of Peatlands as Nature-Based Climate Solutions' Current Climate Change Reports 8, (3) 71-82 , DOI Open access
Davidson SJ, Daze E, Byun E, Hiler D, Kangur M, Talbot J, Finkelstein S & Strack M (2022) 'The unrecognized importance of carbon stocks and fluxes from Swamps in Canada and the USA' Environmental Research Letters , DOI Open access
Harris LI, Richardson K, Bona KA, Davidson SJ, Finkelstein SA, Garneau M, McLaughlin J, Nwaishi F, Olefeldt D & Packalen M (2021) 'The essential carbon service provided by northern peatlands' Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 20, (4) 222-230 , DOI
Drever CR, Cook-Patton SC, Akhter F, Badiou PH, Chmura GL, Davidson SJ, Desjardins RL, Dyk A, Fargione JE & Fellows M (2021) 'Natural climate solutions for Canada' Science Advances 7, (23) , DOI
Davidson SJ, Van Beest C, Petrone R & Strack M (2019) 'Wildfire overrides hydrological controls on boreal peatland methane emissions' Biogeosciences 16, (13) 2651-2660 , DOI
Wilkinson SL, Andersen R, Moore PA, Davidson SJ, Granath G & Waddington JM (2023) 'Wildfire and degradation accelerate northern peatland carbon release' Nature Climate Change , DOI Open access

Key publications are highlighted

Journals
Articles
Girkin NT & Davidson SJ (2024) 'Protect peatlands to achieve climate goals' Science 383, (6682) 490-490 , DOI
Best K, Zona D, Briant E, Lai C-T, Lipson DA, McEwing KR, Davidson SJ & Oechel WC (2023) 'Response of CO<sub>2</sub> and CH<sub>4</sub> emissions from Arctic tundra soils to a multifactorial manipulation of water table, temperature and thaw depth' Environmental Research: Ecology 2, (4) 045003-045003 , DOI
Girkin NT, Burgess PJ, Cole L, Cooper HV, Honorio Coronado E, Davidson SJ, Hannam J, Harris J, Holman I & McCloskey CS (2023) 'The three-peat challenge: business as usual, responsible agriculture, and conservation and restoration as management trajectories in global peatlands' Carbon Management 14, (1) , DOI Open access
Peacock M, Davidson SJ, Kothawala DN, Segersten J & Futter MN (2023) 'Spatial and Seasonal Variations in Dissolved Methane Across a Large Lake' Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 128, (8) , DOI Open access
McCarter CPR, Clay GD, Wilkinson SL, Page S, Shuttleworth EL, Davidson SJ, Taufik M, Sigmund G & Waddington JM (2023) 'Peat fires and the unknown risk of legacy metal and metalloid pollution' Environmental Research Letters 18, (7) , DOI Open access
Davidson SJ, Dazé E, Byun E, Hiler D, Kangur M, Talbot J, Finkelstein SA & Strack M (2023) 'Corrigendum: The unrecognized importance of carbon stocks and fluxes from swamps in Canada and the USA (Environ. Res. Lett. 17 053003)' Environmental Research Letters 18, (5) 059502-059502 , DOI
Wilkinson SL, Andersen R, Moore PA, Davidson SJ, Granath G & Waddington JM (2023) 'Wildfire and degradation accelerate northern peatland carbon release' Nature Climate Change , DOI Open access
Prystupa E, Davidson SJ, Price J & Strack M (2023) 'Response of dissolved organic carbon dynamics to salinity in a Constructed Fen Peatland in the Athabasca Oil Sands region' Hydrological Processes 37, (4) , DOI Open access
Foster AC, Wang JA, Frost GV, Davidson SJ, Hoy E, Turner KW, Sonnentag O, Epstein H, Berner LT & Armstrong AH (2022) 'Disturbances in North American boreal forest and Arctic tundra: impacts, interactions, and responses' Environmental Research Letters 17, (11) , DOI Open access
Strack M, Davidson SJ, Hirano T & Dunn C (2022) 'The Potential of Peatlands as Nature-Based Climate Solutions' Current Climate Change Reports 8, (3) 71-82 , DOI Open access
Davidson SJ, Daze E, Byun E, Hiler D, Kangur M, Talbot J, Finkelstein S & Strack M (2022) 'The unrecognized importance of carbon stocks and fluxes from Swamps in Canada and the USA' Environmental Research Letters , DOI Open access
Nelson PR, Maguire AJ, Pierrat Z, Orcutt EL, Yang D, Serbin S, Frost GV, Macander MJ, Magney TS & Thompson DR (2022) 'Remote Sensing of Tundra Ecosystems using High Spectral Resolution Reflectance: Opportunities and Challenges' Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences , DOI Open access
Schmidt M, Davidson SJ & Strack M (2022) 'CO2 uptake decreased and CH4 emissions increased in first two years of peatland seismic line restoration' Wetlands Ecology and Management 30, (2) 313-329 , DOI Open access
Kleinke K, Davidson SJ, Schmidt M, Xu B & Strack M (2022) 'How mounds are made matters: seismic line restoration techniques affect peat physical and chemical properties throughout the peat profile' CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH 52, (6) 963-976 , DOI
Harris LI, Richardson K, Bona KA, Davidson SJ, Finkelstein SA, Garneau M, McLaughlin J, Nwaishi F, Olefeldt D & Packalen M (2021) 'The essential carbon service provided by northern peatlands' Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 20, (4) 222-230 , DOI
Engering A, Davidson SJ, Xu B, Bird M, Rochefort L & Strack M (2021) 'Restoration of a boreal peatland impacted by an <scp>in‐situ</scp> oil sands w<scp>ell‐pad</scp> 2: Greenhouse gas exchange dynamics' Restoration Ecology 30, (3) , DOI
Elmes MC, Davidson SJ & Price JS (2021) 'Ecohydrological interactions in a boreal fen–swamp complex, Alberta, Canada' Ecohydrology 14, (7) , DOI Open access
Irvine S, Davidson SJ, Price JS & Strack M (2021) 'Dissolved organic carbon production and transport within a constructed fen watershed in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region, Alberta, Canada' Journal of Hydrology 599, 126493-126493 , DOI
Davidson SJ, Goud EM, Malhotra A, Estey CO, Korsah P & Strack M (2021) 'Linear Disturbances Shift Boreal Peatland Plant Communities Toward Earlier Peak Greenness' Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 126, (8) , DOI
Drever CR, Cook-Patton SC, Akhter F, Badiou PH, Chmura GL, Davidson SJ, Desjardins RL, Dyk A, Fargione JE & Fellows M (2021) 'Natural climate solutions for Canada' Science Advances 7, (23) , DOI
Davidson SJ, Smith M, Prystupa E, Murray K, Nwaishi FC, Petrone RM & Strack M (2021) 'High sulfate concentrations maintain low methane emissions at a constructed fen over the first seven years of ecosystem development' Science of The Total Environment 789, 148014-148014 , DOI
Davidson SJ, Goud EM, Franklin C, Nielsen SE & Strack M (2020) 'Seismic Line Disturbance Alters Soil Physical and Chemical Properties Across Boreal Forest and Peatland Soils' Frontiers in Earth Science 8, , DOI
Arndt KA, Santos MJ, Ustin S, Davidson SJ, Stow D, Oechel WC, Tran TTP, Graybill B & Zona D (2019) 'Arctic greening associated with lengthening growing seasons in Northern Alaska' Environmental Research Letters 14, (12) 125018-125018 , DOI
Davidson SJ, Strack M, Bourbonniere RA & Waddington JM (2019) 'Controls on soil carbon dioxide and methane fluxes from a peat swamp vary by hydrogeomorphic setting' Ecohydrology 12, (8) , DOI
Davidson SJ, Elmes MC, Rogers H, van Beest C, Petrone R, Price JS & Strack M (2019) 'Hydrogeologic setting overrides any influence of wildfire on pore water dissolved organic carbon concentration and quality at a boreal fen' Ecohydrology 12, (7) , DOI
Davidson SJ, Van Beest C, Petrone R & Strack M (2019) 'Wildfire overrides hydrological controls on boreal peatland methane emissions' Biogeosciences 16, (13) 2651-2660 , DOI
Davidson S, Santos M, Sloan V, Reuss-Schmidt K, Phoenix G, Oechel W & Zona D (2017) 'Upscaling CH4 Fluxes Using High-Resolution Imagery in Arctic Tundra Ecosystems' Remote Sensing 9, (12) 1227-1227 , DOI
Davidson S, Santos M, Sloan V, Watts J, Phoenix G, Oechel W & Zona D (2016) 'Mapping Arctic Tundra Vegetation Communities Using Field Spectroscopy and Multispectral Satellite Data in North Alaska, USA' Remote Sensing 8, (12) 978-978 , DOI
Walker DA, Breen AL, Druckenmiller LA, Wirth LW, Fisher W, Raynolds MK, Šibík J, Walker MD, Hennekens S & Boggs K (2016) 'The Alaska Arctic Vegetation Archive (AVA-AK)' Phytocoenologia 46, (2) 221-229 , DOI
Davidson SJ, Sloan VL, Phoenix GK, Wagner R, Fisher JP, Oechel WC & Zona D (2016) 'Vegetation Type Dominates the Spatial Variability in CH4 Emissions Across Multiple Arctic Tundra Landscapes' Ecosystems 19, (6) 1116-1132 , DOI
Chapters
Wilkinson S, McCarter C, Taufik M, Noble A, Nwaishi F & Davidson S (2023) 'Climate Impacts of Anthropogenic Disturbances: Understudied Anthropogenic Disturbances and Peatland Carbon Cycling' in Strack M Peatlands and Climate Change Finland International Peatland Society 112-150
Field KJ, Davidson SJ, Alghamdi SA & Cameron DD (2017) 'Magnitude, Dynamics, and Control of the Carbon Flow to Mycorrhizas' Mycorrhizal Mediation of Soil Elsevier 375-393 , DOI
Other Publications
Heffernan L, Peacock M, Mehrshad M, Papadopoulou S, Robroek BJM & Davidson SJ Compounding effect of fire history and freeze thaw cycles on ecosystem resilience in northern temperate peatlands. Publisher Site , DOI
Korsah P, Strack M, Davidson S & Xu B Geologic exploration activities increase methane emissions from boreal peatlands. Publisher Site , DOI
Personal

Personal

Reports & invited lectures

The value of northern swamps as natural climate solutions: University of Sheffield, UK - Nov 2023
Superheroes in the fight against climate change: the role of peatlands as natural climate solutions: Café Scientifique, Launceston - Sep 2023
No longer the Swamp of Sadness – an insight into the value of forested wetlands (swamps) as natural climate solutions: Wetland Knowledge Exchange, Virtual webinar - Jan 2023
Resilience of peatlands under a changing climate: Cranfield University, UK. Virtual seminar - Dec 2022
Drawing a line in the peat: Royal Geographical Society, Public Lecture - Feb 2021
Anthropogenic disturbances across Boreal Canada: Arctic Boreal Carbon Flux Upscaling Workshop, ABoVE Virtual Workshop - Oct 2020
Peatlands as Natural Climate Solutions: Nature-Based Climate Solutions Summit, Nature Canada, Ottawa, Canada - Feb 2020
Impact of anthropogenic and natural disturbances on Boreal Peatlands: McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada - Nov 2019
Upscaling CH4 emissions across contrasting arctic tundra landscapes: University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK - Sep 2016
Remote sensing of Arctic tundra landscapes: Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands - May 2016
Vegetation type dominates CH4 emissions across spatially heterogeneous arctic landscapes: University College London, London, UK - April 2015