@andybairdj.bsky.social
Recently retired academic from University of Leeds. Consultant (ecohydrology, peatlands, computer modelling, soil and ground water). Live music, theatre, photography, art galleries, outdoor swimming, cycling.
Excited to see the DigiBog model, in this case DigiBog_Boreal, used by other research groups:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Sometimes it's good to take a day or two and immerse yourself in your data sets and think slowly and deeply about what they might mean. Too often our time is fragmented, our thoughts rushed - the enemy of understanding.
Pleased to see this new paper with Dylan Young published: "Understanding the Carbon Balance of Peatlands: A Comment on Heinemeyer et al. (2025)". See: www.mires-and-peat.net/article/1547...
Received an email from Wiley today about their new-ish journal River onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/2750.... Can't quite believe that, of 38 associate editors, only five are women. What were they thinking?
The McMaster Ecohydrology Lab presents the 2025 #NobelPeatPrize nominees! We encourage the #peatland community to give each of these wonderful papers a read.
The winner will be announced on December 11th. #PeatPaper
What has happened since 2023?
Our latest #PeatPaper published in Hydrological Processes and led by MSc student Maia Moore!
“Ecohydrological Controls on Post-Fire Sphagnum Moss Recovery in Boreal Shield Peatlands”
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Exciting 24-month Postdoc opportunity for a peatland palaeoecologist, working with Dr Jenna Sutherland at Leeds Beckett U. on the NERC-funded InSPIRE project. Investigating initiation of new peatlands in deglaciating parts of Alaska, including fieldwork vacancies.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/ce0984li_web...
New on Peatpedia - an attempt to demystify #peatland carbon stores, sinks, and other gassy issues!
open.substack.com/pub/peatpedi...
Just accepted a request from Hydrological Processes to review a paper. I am the *25th* person to be approached. The previous 24 have turned down the request to review. No wonder some papers are a long time 'in the system', much to our frustration. Peer review can't go on like this.
Many congratulations Paul! Very well deserved.
For over 15 years the McMaster Ecohydro Lab has awarded the #NobelPeatPrize to the authors of the best peatland or peat paper of the year.
It’s that time of year again where we review papers and finalize a list of nominees.
Do you have a fave paper for 2025 you would like us to consider?
Our Annual Reviews paper "Rewilding: Ten Years of Evolution and Development" is now available Open Access. www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Looking for a PhD in aquatic carbon/GHG cycling? Take a look at this fantastic opportunity. Led by @aquaticcarbon.bsky.social and with Amy Pickard, Jens-Arne Subke and me. Field + lab components, and lots of exciting science.
iapetus.ac.uk/studentships...
There seems to be one study at least that suggests that tick abundance on wet blanket bog is very low (doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.12141). I wonder if the part of the answer is to re-wet drained and damaged blanket bog? Have you considered tick surveys in your experimental plots?
Out of interest, who is the expert?
Has the expert published their research on ticks and burning? I am sure you can see my concern. You make strong statements based on a conversation with someone in the field. And you tag @naturalengland.bsky.social presumably in an attempt to influence policy, but where is the science?
Thanks for this.
Andreas, what is your "most likely" and "huge" assessment based on? I can only find apparently anecdotal information on the problem from the Moorland Association's website. Can you direct me to any papers on burning and ticks? There seem to be several possible causes of rises in tick numbers.
Andreas, what species of Sphagnum are you recording? Also, why aren't there any error bars for 2025?
Fab work by our PhD student Resti Salmayenti who has published her first thesis paper in Environmental Research Letters showing how drainage and land cover interact to affect fire occurrence in Indonesian peatlands. Our paper is open access here: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
It’s quite a stretch to say Heather (Calluna) 'thrives' in wet conditions. It doesn’t, and is usually outcompeted by other mire plant species. That has given rise to the concept of the ‘Calluna Limit’. If a site is wet enough and the ‘wetter’ mire species return, burning isn’t needed.
We have been described as "THE BEST NGO THAT NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT"
Please help by following us & reposting!!!
I quote: "In parts this will definitely be the case. But not in general, that is what peat cores tell us." So, in general, we can't say anything *yet* from peat cores because the analysis has not been done. I think we need to be clear on that, and should avoid drawing conclusions from a few cores.
Andreas: have you done a systematic review/analysis of the peat core evidence? If so, I'd be very interested in seeing it. I'm thinking multiple studies and many 10s or even 100s of cores across large areas. Also, what does heather dominance look like in a peat core?
Neither do I. 10 years is too neat a number anyway. Why not go back 8 years, 12, 17? Would it not make more sense to look first at the pattern of publishing on peatland restoration - how has the number of papers and reports on restoration varied over the last few decades?
Check out our new paper:
"Peatland pools are tightly coupled to the contemporary carbon cycle"
A short thread and some site photos!
doi.org/10.1111/gcb....
This week I examined a PhD. I was paid £210 for doing so. I estimate the true cost for my time is > £2000. The candidate is an overseas student who pays very high fees. Where does all the money go? (A rhetorical question!)
First or second, not the third!
‘Why are some peatlands resilient to climate change and others not?’ Fully-funded NERC PhD studentship with me and Paul Morris at the University of Leeds. Please re-post. Details: panorama-dtp.ac.uk/research/why...