Dr Sarah Woodin
Senior Lecturer
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+44 (0)1224 272688
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s.woodin@abdn.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer
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Personal Details
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Research Interests
My research interests are in the effects of drivers of change on native plant species, vegetation communities and ecosystem process in the British uplands and the Arctic. I am involved in projects investigating ecological impacts of climate change, herbivory, land management practices and atmospheric nitrogen deposition, often in interaction with each other. The processes studied range from the ecophysiology of individual species, through vegetation processes and inter-trophic interactions to ecosystem nutrient and carbon dynamics, and a common theme is the functional importance, and sensitivity, of bryophytes within the ecosystem. Much of my research in Scotland in conservation based, undertaken in collaboration with Scottish Natural Heritage, and seeks to provide a scientific basis for conservation policy and management.
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Current Research
Effects of herbivory and climate change on high Arctic tundra ecosystem processes.
Ecology and conservation of the rare plant, Melampyrum sylvaticum.
Potential for recovery of degraded montane heath.
50-years of change in Scottish upland vegetation: detecting drivers of past change and predicting future scenarios.
Effects of vegetation type and burning on colour release from upland catchments.
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Research Grants
Fifty years of vegetation change in the Scottish Highlands. SNH, 2007-2010 (with Dr A Hester, Prof J Birks)
Potential for recovery of degraded montane heath. SNH, 2006-2009 (with Dr A Britton, Dr I Pearce, Dr R van der Wal)
Do herbivores decrease tundra carbon sink strength by reducing the moss layer? NERC, 2005 (with Dr R van der Wal & Dr M Sommerkorn)
FRagility of Arctic Goose-dominated ecosystems: Impacts of Land management in Europe (FRAGILE). CEC, 2003-2006
Experimental investigation of management requirements for small cow wheat. SNH, 2002-2005 (with Dr W. Seel)
Biological exceedence of the critical load of nutrient nitrogen in the UK. DEFRA & SNH, 2001
Recovery of arctic heath from nitrogen deposition. BES, 2001
Recovery of arctic heath from nitrogen deposition. CEC TMR, 2000.
Terrestrial effects of Acid Pollutants: Impacts of N deposition on critical loads for deep peats. NERC, 1998-2001 (with Prof M Cresser)
Effects of acidic deposition on arctic bryophytes. NERC, 1998.
Effects of acidic deposition on arctic bryophytes. CEC TMR, 1998.
History, current status and genetic distinctiveness of dwarf juniper heath. SNH, 1997-2000.
N use by Salix and Dryas in the high Arctic: impact of atmospheric N deposition. NERC, 1994-1997 (with Prof I Alexander).
Interactions between organisms at community boundaries in the uplands in conditions of environmental change; importance of root competition, including mycorrhizal effects. NERC TIGER, 1993-1998, (with Prof I Alexander & Dr C Mullins).
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Teaching Responsibilities
Level 5 Plant Ecology (Course Coordinator)
Level 5 Climate Change (Course Coordinator)
Level 2 Conservation Biology (Course Coordinator)
Level 1 Ecology and Environmental Science
Honours Ecology Degree Coordinator and Advisor of Studies
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External Responsibilities
2007-2010: International Study of Arctic Change, Scientific Council member
2004, 2007: NERC Antarctic Funding Initiative Moderating Panel member.
2001-2002: UN ECE International Workshop on Critical Loads of Nitrogen: member of scientific review panel.
1999-2002: National Expert Group on Transboundary Air Pollution, member.
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PhD Studentship available - Managing upland heath for carbon sequestration
This is an SNH PhD Studentship to be held at the University of Aberdeen and Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, start date Oct 08. All UK and EU students are eligible to apply. Click on the link for all further details.
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Selected Publications
Speed JDM, Woodin SJ, Tømmervik H, Tamstorf MP, Van der Wal R (2009) Predicting habitat utilisation and extent of ecosystem disturbance by an increasing herbivore population. Ecosystems DOI: 10.1007/s10021-009-9227-7
Hughes J. Albon SD, Irvine RJ & Woodin S (2009) Is there a cost of parasites to caribou? Parasitology, 136, 253-265.
Sjögersten S, van der Wal R & Woodin SJ (2008) Habitat type determines herbivory controls over CO2 fluxes in a warmer Arctic. Ecology, 89, 2103–2116.
Littlewood NA, Pakeman RJ & Woodin SJ (2009) Isolation of habitat patches limits colonisation by moorland Hemiptera. Journal of Insect Conservation, 13, 29–36
van der Wal R., Sjogersten S., Woodin S.J., Cooper E., Jonsdottir I., Fox T.A.D., Huiskes A., Kuijper D. (2007) Spring feeding by pink-footed geese reduces carbon stocks and sink strength in tundra ecosystems. Global Change Biology, 13, 539-545.
Gornall JL, Jónsdóttir IS, Woodin SJ and Van der Wal R (2007) Arctic mosses govern belowground environment and ecosystem processes. Oecologia, 153, 931-941
Sjogersten S, van der Wal R & Woodin S (2006) Small-scale hydrological variation determines landscape CO2 fluxes in the high Arctic. Biogeochemistry, 80, 205-216.
Littlewood NA, Pakeman RJ & Woodin SJ (2006) A field assessment of the success of moorland restoration in the rehabilitation of whole plant assemblages. Applied Vegetation Science, 9, 295-306.
Littlewood NA, Dennis P, Pakeman RJ & Woodin SJ (2006) Moorland restoration aids the reassembly of associated phytophagus insects. Biological Conservation, 132, 395-404.
Littlewood NA, Pakeman RJ & Woodin SJ (2006) The response of plant and insect assemblages to the loss of Calluna vulgaris from upland vegetation. Biological Conservation 128, 335-345.
Stutter MI, Alam MS, Langan SJ, Woodin SJ, Smart RP & Cresser MS (2004) The effects of H2SO4 and (NH4)2SO4 treatments on the chemistry of soil drainage water and pine seedlings in forest soil microcosms. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 8, 392-408.
Dormann CF, Van der Wal R & Woodin SJ (2004) Neighbour identity modifies the effects of elevated temperature on plant performance in the high Arctic. Global Change Biology 10, 1587-1598.
Pearce ISK, Woodin SJ & van der Wal R (2003) Physiological and growth responses of the montane bryophyte Racomitrium lanuginosum to atmospheric nitrogen deposition. New Phytologist 160, 145-155.
van der Wal, R, Pearce I, Brooker R, Scott D, Welch D, Woodin S (2003) Interplay between nitrogen deposition and grazing accelerates habitat degradation. Ecology Letters 6, 141-146.
Hwangbo, JK, Seel W.E. & Woodin S.J. (2003). Short-term exposure to elevated atmospheric CO2 benefits the growth of a facultative annual root hemi-parasite, Rhinanthus minor (L.) more than that of its host, Poa pratensis (L.). Journal of Experimental Botany 54, 1-5.
Dormann, C.F. & Woodin S.J. (2002). Climate change in the Arctic: using plant functional types in a meta-analysis of field experiments. Functional Ecology, 16, 4-17.
Dormann, CF, Albon SD & Woodin SJ (2002). No evidence for adaptation of two Polygonum viviparum morphotypes of different bulbil characteristics to length of growing season: abundance, biomass and germination. Polar Biology 25, 884-890.
Gordon, C., Wynn, J.M. & Woodin, S.J. (2001). Impacts of increased nitrogen supply on high Arctic heath: The importance of bryophytes and phosphorus availability. New Phytologist 149, 461-471.
Hicks, W.K., Leith I.D., Woodin, S.J., & Fowler, D. (2000). Can the foliar nitrogen concentration of upland vegetation be used for predicting atmospheric nitrogen deposition? Evidence from field studies. Environmental Pollution, 107 (3), 367-376.
Leith I.D., Hicks, W.K., Fowler, D. & Woodin, S.J. (1999). Differential responses of UK upland plants to nitrogen deposition. New Phytologist, 141, 277-289.
Gordon, C., Woodin, S.J., Alexander, I.J. & Mullins, C.E. (1999). Effects of increased temperature, drought and increased nitrogen supply on two upland perennials of contrasting functional type: Calluna vulgaris and Pteridium aquilinum. New Phytologist, 142, 243-258.
Gordon, C., Woodin, S.J., Mullins, C.E. & Alexander I.J. (1999) Effects of environmental change, including drought on water use by competing Calluna vulgaris (heather) and Pteridium aquilinum (bracken). Functional Ecology 13 (S1) 97-106.
Kerslake, J.E., Woodin, S.J. & Hartley, S.E. (1998). Effects of CO2 and nitrogen enrichment on a plant-insect interaction: the quality of Calluna vulgaris as a host for Opheroptera brumata. New Phytologist, 140, 43-53.
Woodin, S.J. (1997). Effects of acid deposition on arctic vegetation. In: Ecology of Arctic Environments (ed by Woodin, S.J. & Marquiss, M.). Blackwell Science.
Kerslake, J.E., Kruuk, L.E.B., Hartley, S.E. & Woodin, S.J. (1996). Winter moth outbreaks on Scottish heather moorlands: effects of host plant and parasitoids on larval survival and development. Bulletin of Entomological Research, 86, 155-164.
Woolgrove, C.E. & Woodin, S.J. (1996). Current and historical relationships between the tissue nitrogen content of a snowbed bryophyte and nitrogenous air pollution. Environmental Pollution, 91, 283-288.
Woolgrove C.E. & Woodin, S.J. (1996). Effects of pollutants in snowmelt on Kiaeria starkei, a characteristic species of late snowbed bryophyte dominated vegetation. New Phytologist, 133, 519-529.
Woolgrove, C.E. & Woodin, S.J. (1996). Ecophysiology of a snow-bed bryophyte Kiaeria starkei during snowmelt and uptake of nitrate from meltwater. Canadian Journal of Botany, 74, 1095-1103.
Baddeley, J.A., Woodin, S.J. & Alexander, I.J. (1994). Effects of increased nitrogen and phosphorus availability on the photosynthesis and nutrient relations of three arctic dwarf shrubs from Svalbard. Functional Ecology, 8, 676-685.
Woodin, S.J. & Farmer (1993). Effects of acidic deposition on sites and species of conservation importance in Great Britain. Biological Conservation, 10, 23-30.
Woodin S J, Graham B, Killick A, Skiba U & Cresser M (1992). Nutrient limitation of the long term response of heather (Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull) to CO2 enrichment. New Phytologist, 122, 635-642.
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