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Our research on soil organic matter focuses on how organic amendments become stable soil organic matter, the factors controlling soil respiration, and on the benefits provided by soil organisms when they use organic matter as a food source
Not all soil organic matter is the same. Some is present as free particulate organic matter (fPOM), some is physically protected from decomposition within macro-aggregates (iMacro) or micro-aggregates (iMicro), while some is chemically protected from decomposition due to sorption on soil mineral surfaces (MinOC).
Each of these pools of soil organic matter supports the delivery of different soil functions, and their proportions differ with soil depth.
Land use change and climate change can alter the vulnerability of soil organic matter to mineralisation. Our research is investigating how climate change and land use/land management alters soil microbial communities and soil carbon biogeochemistry.
Papers on Soil Organic Matter
Antony, D., Collins, C.D., Clark, J.M. and Sizmur, T., 2024. Conversion of forest to cinnamon plantation depletes soil carbon stocks in the top metre of the tropical highlands of Kerinci Regency, Jambi Province, Indonesia. Soil Use and Management, 40(1), p.e12974.
van Midden, C., Harris, J., Shaw, L., Sizmur, T., Morgan, H. and Pawlett, M., 2024. Immobilisation of anaerobic digestate supplied nitrogen into soil microbial biomass is dependent on lability of high organic carbon materials additives. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 8, p.1356469.
Adekanmbi, A.A., Dale, L., Shaw, L. and Sizmur, T., 2023. Differential temperature sensitivity of intracellular metabolic processes and extracellular soil enzyme activities. Biogeosciences, 20(11), pp.2207-2219.
Struijk, M., Whitmore, A.P., Mortimer, S., Shu, X. and Sizmur, T., 2023. Absence of a home-field advantage within a short-rotation arable cropping system. Plant and Soil, 488 (1-2). pp. 39-55.
Adekanmbi, A.A., Shu, X., Zou, Y. and Sizmur, T., 2022. Legacy effect of constant and diurnally oscillating temperatures on soil respiration and microbial community structure. European Journal of Soil Science, 73(6), p.e13319.
Adekanmbi, A.A. and Sizmur, T., 2022. Importance of Diurnal Temperature Range (DTR) for predicting the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration. Frontiers in Soil Science, 2:969077.
Antony, D., Collins, C.D., Clark, J.M. and Sizmur, T., 2022. Soil organic matter storage in temperate lowland arable, grassland and woodland topsoil and subsoil. Soil Use and Management. 38(2), 1532-1546.
Shu, X., Zou, Y., Shaw, L.J., Todman, L., Tibbett, M. and Sizmur, T., 2022. Applying cover crop residues as diverse mixtures increases initial microbial assimilation of crop residue‐derived carbon. European Journal of Soil Science, 73(2), p.e13232.
Amponsah-Doku, B., Daymond, A., Robinson, S., Atuah, L. and Sizmur, T., 2021. Improving soil health and closing the yield gap of cocoa production in Ghana–A review. Scientific African, p.e01075.
Shu, X., Zou, Y., Shaw, L.J., Todman, L., Tibbett, M., and Sizmur, T. 2021. Cover crop residue diversity enhances microbial activity and biomass with additive effects on microbial structure. Soil Research. 60 (4), 349-35
Struijk, M., Whitmore, A.P., Mortimer, S.R. and Sizmur, T., 2020. Obtaining more benefits from crop residues as soil amendments by application as chemically heterogeneous mixtures. Soil, 6(2), pp.467-481.
Duddigan, S., Gil-Martínez, M., Fraser, T., Green, I., Diaz, A., Sizmur, T., Pawlett, M., Raulund-Rasmussen, K. and Tibbett, M., 2020. Evaluating heathland restoration belowground using different quality indices of soil chemical and biological properties. Agronomy, 10(8), p.1140.
Adekanmbi A.A.A., Shaw, L.J., and Sizmur, T. 2020 Effect of Sieving on Ex Situ Soil Respiration of Soils from Three Land Use Types. Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition. 1-5.
Tibbett, M., Gil, M., Fraser, T., Green, I., Duddigan, S., De Oliveira, V., Raulund-Rasmussen, K., Sizmur, T. and Diaz, A. 2019 Experimental acidification of pasture: effects of long-term pH adjustment on soil biodiversity, fertility and function in comparison to heathland and acidic grassland. Catena. 180, 401-415
Sizmur, T., Martin, E., Wagner, K., Parmenteir, E., Watts, C. and Whitmore, A.P. 2017 Milled cereal straw accelerates earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris) growth more than selected organic amendments. Applied Soil Ecology. 113, 166-177.
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