Richard D. Bardgett

Professor of Ecology

Go to  Soil & Ecosystem Ecology website for information on research, personnel, and publications.

Email: r.bardgett<(at)>lancaster.ac.uk

Lancaster University
Lancaster

LA1 4YQ

Tel: (44)1524 594856 (direct line) 
Fax: (44)1524 593192

Research Interests

Linkages between plant and soil biological communities, especially studying how soil organisms and their interactions influence soil nutrient cycling and the productivity and structure of plant communities. My research is mainly field-based and is carried out in a range of terrestrial ecosystems. Please follow link for more information on about the research, personnel and publications of the Soil and Ecosystem Ecology Group.

Education  

1987                       B.Sc. Soil and Land Resource Science, University of Newcastle

1991                       Ph.D. Soil Ecology, University of Lancaster    

Academic Posts

2002- present        Professor of Ecology, University of Lancaster

1999-2002             Senior Lecturer Ecology, University of Lancaster

1995-1999             Lecturer, University of Manchester

1991-1995             Soil Ecologist, Institute of Grassland & Environmental Research (IGER) 

1990-1991             Scientific Officer, Nature Conservancy Council, Windermere  

Other Activities

I am Editor of Journal of Ecology and a member of the editorial boards of Ecology Letters and Ecosystems. I am also Chairman of the BBSRC Agri-Food Committee, a member of the Rothamsted Board of Directors, and a member of the Steering Committee Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment (GMBA), DIVERSITAS.

Teaching

I teach in areas of biodiversity, global change ecology, and community and ecosystems ecology.

Books  

Bardgett, R.D. (2005) The Biology of Soil: A Community and Ecosystem Approach.   Oxford University Press. (Awarded Marsh Ecology Book of the Year Award 2006)

Bardgett, R.D., Usher, M.B. and Hopkins , D.W. (Editors) (2005) Biological Diversity and Function in Soils. Cambridge University Press. 

Selected papers  

De Deyn, G.B., Cornelissen, J.H.C. and Bardgett, R.D. (2008) Plant functional traits and soil carbon sequestration in contrasting biomes. Ecology Letters, 11, 516-531.

Van der Heijden, M.G.A., Bardgett, R.D. and van Straalen , N.M. (2008) The unseen majority: soil microbes as drivers of plant diversity and productivity in terrestrial ecosystems. Ecology Letters, 11, 296-310.  

Bardgett, R.D., Richter, A., Bol, R., Garnett, M.H., Bäumler, R., Xu^, X., Lopez-Capel, E., Manning^, D.,  Hobbs, P.J., Hartley, I.R. and Wanek, W. (2007) Heterotrophic microbial communities use ancient carbon following glacial retreat. Biology Letters,  3, 487-490. (Featured in New York Times)  

Harrison , K.A., Bol, R. and Bardgett, R.D. (2007) Preferences for uptake of different nitrogen forms by co-existing plant species and soil microbes in temperate grasslands. Ecology, 88, 989-999.

Ayres, E., Ostle , N.J. , Cook, R. and Bardgett, R.D. (2007). The influence of below-ground herbivory and defoliation of a legume on nitrogen transfer to neighbouring plants. Functional Ecology,  21, 256-263. (Awarded 2008 JBS Haldane prize for best paper by a young author in Functional Ecology)

Bardgett, R.D., Smith, R.S., Shiel, R.S., Peacock, S., Simkin, J.M., Quirk, H. and Hobbs , P.J. (2006) Parasitic plants indirectly regulate belowground properties in grassland ecosystems. Nature, 439, 969-972.

Bardgett, R.D., Bowman, W.D., Kaufmann, R. and Schmidt, S.K. (2005) A temporal to linking aboveground and belowground ecology. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 20, 634-641.  

Heath, J., Ayres, E., Possell, M., Bardgett, R.D., Black, H.I.J., Grant, H., Ineson, P. and Kersteins, G. (2005) Rising atmospheric CO₂ reduces soil carbon sequestration. Science,  309, 1711-1713.  

Johnson, D., Kresk, M., Stott, A.W., Cole, L., Bardgett, R.D., Read, D.J. and Leake, J.R. (2005) Soil invertebrates disrupt carbon flow through fungal networks. Science, 309, 1047-1047. 

Carline, K.A., Jones, H.E. and Bardgett, R.D. (2005) Large herbivores affect the stoichiometry of nutrients in a regenerating woodland ecosystem. Oikos, 110, 453-460.

Weigelt, A., Bol, R. and Bardgett, R.D. (2005) Preferential uptake of soil nitrogen forms by grassland plant species. Oecologia, 142, 627-635.  

Wardle, D.A., Walker , L.R. and Bardgett, R.D. (2004) Ecosystem properties and forest decline in contrasting long-term chronosequences. Science, 305, 509-513.

Wardle, D.A. Bardgett, R.D., Klironomos, J.N., Setälä, H., van der Putten, W.H. and Wall^, D.H. (2004) Ecological linkages between aboveground and belowground biota, Science 304, 1634-1637.    

Ayres, E., Heath, J., Possell, M., Black, H.I.J., Kerstiens, G. and Bardgett, R.D. (2004) Tree physiological responses to above-ground herbivory directly modify below-ground processes of soil carbon and nitrogen cycling. Ecology Letters, 7, 469-479. (Featured as Editors Choice in Science)  

Cole, L.C. , Staddon, P.L. Sleep^, D. and Bardgett^, R.D. (2004)  Soil animals influence microbial abundance, but not plant-microbial competition for soil organic. Functional Ecology, 18, 631-640.  

Bardgett, R.D. and Wardle, D.A. (2003) Herbivore mediated linkages between aboveground and belowground communities. Ecology, 84, 2258-2268.

Bardgett, R.D., Streeter, T. and Bol, R. (2003) Soil microbes compete effectively with plants for organic nitrogen inputs to temperate grasslands. Ecology, 84, 1277-1287.

Bardgett, R.D. (2002) Causes and consequences of biological diversity in soil. Zoology, 105, 367-374.

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