Plant and Soil Interactions
Research Team
Dr Sacha Mooney
Dr Scott Young
Prof. Neil Crout
Prof George Shaw
Dr Helen West
Dr Sofie Sjogersten
Dr Barry Lomax
Research Overview
Soil is one of the earth’s most previous resources and is essential for global food production and security. However, as our climate changes the pressure on both soil and water resources will intensity and the need for sustainable management will increase. These challenges are currently being addressed at Nottingham in the wide variety of work we undertake in the general field of soil and plant interactions which spans across several scales (from the root hair to the whole catchment). Our interdisciplinary team comprises soil biologists, chemists and physicists who readily link with environmental modellers, climate change scientists and plant biologists. General research themes include:
• Linking Soil Structure to Soil Function
• Soil Pore Network Modelling
• Phytoremediation
• Plant Responses to CO2 and UV-B Radiation
• Soil Carbon and Nutrient Dynamics
• Plant Uptake of Heavy Metals
• Health Risks from Organic Contaminants in Soils
Current Projects:
Plant Response to Abiotic Stress 
This project is using the latest X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) system to examine the sensing ability of roots to grow in the best direction for the health of the plant through the soil. It aims to provide evidence of how the root reacts and adapts to soil stresses like drought and compaction by adjusting the genetic information in the tips of the root as it grows. As shown in the adjacent figure using X-ray CT we can follow the progress of the root growth and soil structural development for the first time without disturbing the sample of the plant growing in the soil.
Peri-urban agriculture in East African cities
Growing vegetables on contaminated sites in cities, and using wastewater for irrigation, are the inevitable consequences of expanding urbanisation in many developing countries. This project is investigating potential risks to human health from consumption of food grown on sites polluted by heavy metals and metalloids (Pb, Cd, As, Ni, Cu etc) within Kampala (Uganda). The objectives are not simply to highlight the risks of urban agriculture but to determine the soil and waste characteristics and the vegetable types which enable its safe practice.
Biofortification of maize with selenium in Malawi
Over 15% of the world population fall below recommended dietary intake levels for selenium; deficiency gives rise to impaired immune function, reduced fertility and, in severe cases, cardiomyopathies. This project is based in Malawi where dietary Se intakes are particularly low and there is therefore an urgent need to biofortify a staple food, such as maize flour. The objectives are to increase our understanding of Se dynamics in tropical soils and develop practical recommendations for Se fertilizer application.
Zinc deficiency in Peshawar, Pakistan
Zinc deficiency is endemic in parts of Pakistan because of low concentrations in parent material and the prevalence of calcareous soils which immobilize Zn2+. However, the increasing use of urban waste water for irrigation may have a beneficial side-effect in enhancing trace metal availability. This project aims to audit the trace metal status of irrigated soils in parts of Peshawar, Pakistan to determine the balance of hazard and benefit arising from trace metal inputs. The work involves some of the most sensitive approaches to determining metal status in soils, including isotopic dilution and Diffuse Gradient Technology (DGT).
Carbon and nutrient dynamics in tropical peatlands
Tropical wetlands provide a range of ecosystem services including ground water recharge, biodiversity, the removal of excess nutrients from surface waters, and the sequestration and storage of atmospheric carbon. Despite the importance and economic value assigned to intact ecosystem functioning of wetlands and tropical peatlands in particular, tropical peatlands are under increasing threat from both land use and climate change. In this study we are investigating the carbon dynamics of tropical peatlands by exploring how shifts in the above ground vegetation, water table and nutrient levels across an ombrotrophic semi forested wetland system control C storage and green house gas fluxes.