- Room A501 Portland Square, Drakes Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA
- +44 1752 584585
- scott.davidson@plymouth.ac.uk
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, UK
Adjunct Assistant Professor - University of Waterloo, Canada
Qualifications
Education
2017 NERC funded 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
Science and Policy Advisory Board - Can-Peat: Canada's peatlands as nature-based climate solutions
ACU British Council Commonwealth Future Climate Research Cohort Fellow
Article Editor - Mires and Peat
Key publications
(2022) 'The Potential of Peatlands as Nature-Based Climate Solutions' Current Climate Change Reports 8, (3) 71-82 , DOI Open access
(2022) 'The unrecognized importance of carbon stocks and fluxes from Swamps in Canada and the USA' Environmental Research Letters , DOI Open access
(2021) 'The essential carbon service provided by northern peatlands' Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 20, (4) 222-230 , DOI
(2019) 'Wildfire overrides hydrological controls on boreal peatland methane emissions' Biogeosciences 16, (13) 2651-2660 , DOI
(2023) 'Wildfire and degradation accelerate northern peatland carbon release' Nature Climate Change , DOI Open access
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 currently teach on the following modules:
Environmental Science/Management and Sustainability
ENVS1003 The Biosphere (module lead)
ENVS3012 The Environmental Professional (module lead)
ENVS1009 Sustainability Science
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
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
Grants & contracts
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
(2022) 'The Potential of Peatlands as Nature-Based Climate Solutions' Current Climate Change Reports 8, (3) 71-82 , DOI Open access
(2022) 'The unrecognized importance of carbon stocks and fluxes from Swamps in Canada and the USA' Environmental Research Letters , DOI Open access
(2021) 'The essential carbon service provided by northern peatlands' Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 20, (4) 222-230 , DOI
(2019) 'Wildfire overrides hydrological controls on boreal peatland methane emissions' Biogeosciences 16, (13) 2651-2660 , DOI
(2023) 'Wildfire and degradation accelerate northern peatland carbon release' Nature Climate Change , DOI Open access
Key publications are highlighted
Journals
Articles
(2023) 'Spatial and Seasonal Variations in Dissolved Methane Across a Large Lake' Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 128, (8) , DOI
(2023) 'Peat fires and the unknown risk of legacy metal and metalloid pollution' Environmental Research Letters 18, (7) 071003-071003 , DOI
(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
(2023) 'Wildfire and degradation accelerate northern peatland carbon release' Nature Climate Change , DOI Open access
(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
(2022) 'Disturbances in North American boreal forest and Arctic tundra: impacts, interactions, and responses' Environmental Research Letters 17, (11) , DOI Open access
(2022) 'The Potential of Peatlands as Nature-Based Climate Solutions' Current Climate Change Reports 8, (3) 71-82 , DOI Open access
(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
(2022) 'The unrecognized importance of carbon stocks and fluxes from Swamps in Canada and the USA' Environmental Research Letters , DOI Open access
(2022) 'Remote Sensing of Tundra Ecosystems using High Spectral Resolution Reflectance: Opportunities and Challenges' Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences , DOI Open access
(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
(2021) 'The essential carbon service provided by northern peatlands' Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 20, (4) 222-230 , DOI
(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
(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
(2021) 'Ecohydrological interactions in a boreal fen–swamp complex, Alberta, Canada' Ecohydrology 14, (7) , DOI Open access
(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
(2021) 'Linear Disturbances Shift Boreal Peatland Plant Communities Toward Earlier Peak Greenness' Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 126, (8) , DOI
(2020) 'Seismic Line Disturbance Alters Soil Physical and Chemical Properties Across Boreal Forest and Peatland Soils' Frontiers in Earth Science 8, , DOI
(2019) 'Arctic greening associated with lengthening growing seasons in Northern Alaska' Environmental Research Letters 14, (12) 125018-125018 , DOI
(2019) 'Controls on soil carbon dioxide and methane fluxes from a peat swamp vary by hydrogeomorphic setting' Ecohydrology 12, (8) , DOI
(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
(2019) 'Wildfire overrides hydrological controls on boreal peatland methane emissions' Biogeosciences 16, (13) 2651-2660 , DOI
(2017) 'Upscaling CH4 Fluxes Using High-Resolution Imagery in Arctic Tundra Ecosystems' Remote Sensing 9, (12) 1227-1227 , DOI
(2016) 'Mapping Arctic Tundra Vegetation Communities Using Field Spectroscopy and Multispectral Satellite Data in North Alaska, USA' Remote Sensing 8, (12) 978-978 , DOI
(2016) 'Vegetation Type Dominates the Spatial Variability in CH4 Emissions Across Multiple Arctic Tundra Landscapes' Ecosystems 19, (6) 1116-1132 , DOI
Chapters
(2017) 'Magnitude, Dynamics, and Control of the Carbon Flow to Mycorrhizas' Mycorrhizal Mediation of Soil Elsevier 375-393 , DOI
Personal
Personal
Reports & invited lectures
“Drawing a line in the peat”: Royal Geographical Society, Public Lecture - Feb 2021
“The impact of linear disturbances on boreal peatlands”: Catchment and Wetland Sciences Research Group (CAWS) virtual seminar - Dec 2020
“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
“Effects of seismic line creation on soil characteristics across contrasting boreal soils” Waterloo Ecology Network, Waterloo, Canada - Sep 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