Plant pathogens trigger changes in host plants that allow them to cause disease. Understanding which molecules pathogens use to do this (termed effectors), how they allow infection to take place, and how they are detected by plants has important implications for our understanding of plant disease.
The Centre for Sustainable Cropping (CSC) is a long-term experimental platform established to integrate all aspects of sustainability research on arable ecosystems. The CSC allows us to study crop management at a more integrated and system wide level and compare this to conventional crop husbandry practices. We have been using the CSC platform to study the impact of sustainable soil management practices on soil-borne pathogens. Here, we focus on the detection, quantification and impact of Rhizotonia solani: specifically, the sub-group known as R. solani AG3.
Improving the management of Scotland’s natural assets at a landscape-level for ecological, economic, and social outcomes is a priority for the Scottish Government and its partners. Adaptive management is one way to achieve this objective and is about connecting the ‘doing’ of natural resource management with ‘learning’ about the context of the management situation, and the responses and effects of the management actions. We provide a series of lessons learned from five studies that cover a range of landscape-level management situations, including upland and lowland areas.
Debbie is a community ecologist with experience of working in a range of habitats including upland and lowland grasslands, moorland and arable landscapes. She is interested in how land management choices, particularly in the uplands influence biodiversity and other ecosystem services. Recent work has involved studying the interactions between heather burning and grazing by deer and sheep and the subsequent recovery of vegetation after burning.
The James Hutton Institute
Craigiebuckler
Aberdeen AB15 8QH
Scotland UK
The concept for this project began when her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal, attended a special event held on Monday 21st October 2019 at Pentlands Science Park, Midlothian, to celebrate Moredun’s commitment to the contribution of livestock to food production, biodiversity and the environment. Discussions included working in collaboration with partner organisations to help promote the wider benefits of livestock in sustainable food production, promoting biodiversity and minimising any impact on the environment.
Electronic identification (EID) tags have been compulsory in UK sheep flocks since 2010, and a decade after their introduction, can still be a controversial topic. But these tags, rather than just identifying individual animals, also offer a huge opportunity to improve efficiency and productivity on-farm; allowing a greater understanding of production rates on the farm, and perhaps even in particular fields, providing an early warning of potential problems.
We invite all SAGES and SEFARI members – student, professor and everyone in between, individually or in groups – to showcase a highlight of their work for the SAGES/SEFARI community online. Highlights could be about a research project, a scientific or technical breakthrough, a report on a recently published paper, a collaborative initiative between SAGES and other partners, a creative interdisciplinary project, an industry placement, an outreach or public engagement activity, or a research visit.
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I am a molecular microbiologist.
The James Hutton Institute
Craigiebuckler
Aberdeen AB15 8QH
Scotland UK
Peatland restoration could make a considerable contribution in achieving national emission targets and is a vital part of Scotland’s strategy in moving towards net zero emissions.
To meet many local, national and international policy and business requirements there is a need to monitor the state of Scotland’s natural resources. These commitments span from day to day monitoring of Scotland’s freshwater bodies, so ensuring enough water of the right quality is available for a range of individuals, communities and wildlife; to longer-term monitoring of legally protected and iconic terrestrial and marine habitats and species e.g. Caledonian pinewoods and Capercaillie. A range of policy and management commitments e.g.