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Interview with Dave
Reay who recently used the findings of the Crutzen paper to calculate that with the US
Senate aiming to increase maize ethanol production sevenfold by 2022,
greenhouse gas emissions from transport will rise by 6 per cent (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article2507851.ece)
on nitrogen pollution.
http://www.fcrn.org.uk/featuredOrgs/features/index.htm
Where are you based and what is your role?
I'm a Natural Environment Research Fellow in the
How did you get into food/climate research?
It all stems from Sir David Attenborough really - he
inspired in me a passion to better understand the natural world. My PhD in the
mid-1990's investigated the effects of warming in the
What are the aims of your research/project as they
relate to food and the climate?
Does intercepting leached nitrate swap a water
pollution issue for a climate change problem? We aim to assess how we might
better intercept leached nitrate from agricultural systems using wetlands and
buffer strips, and to quantify what costs are incurred in terms of elevated
nitrous oxide and methane emissions.
Describe your work - what stage it is at, when it is
expected to be completed?
The work on nitrate leaching and indirect nitrous
oxide emissions from agriculture (in collaboration with the Macaulay Institute,
Reay DS , Smith KA, Edwards
AC, Hiscock K, Dong L and Nedwell DB (2005) Indirect
nitrous oxide emissions: revised emission factors. Environmental Sciences. 2(2-3), 153-158.
Reay DS , Smith KA and
Edwards AC (2004) Leached
N and the nitrous oxide emission factor. In: Controlling nitrogen flows and losses.
Hatch DJ,
Reay DS , Edwards AC and
Smith KA (2004) Determinants
of nitrous oxide emission from agricultural drainage waters. Water, Air and Soil Pollution: Focus. 4
(6), 107-115.
Reay DS , Smith KA and
Edwards AC (2004) Nitrous
oxide in agricultural drainage waters followingfield fertilisation. Water, Air and Soil Pollution: Focus. 4
(2-3), 437-451.
Reay DS , Smith KA and
Edwards AC (2003) Nitrous
oxide in agricultural drainage waters. Global
Change Biology. 9(2), 195-203
Work on nitrogen pollution swapping is on-going,
with my group continuing measurements of interception and greenhouse gas
emissions from various wetlands and buffer strips in the
At our site near
We've also developed some exciting and novel
techniques for measuring greenhouse gas fluxes from wetlands using large flux
chambers coupled to a Tunable Diode Laser (TDL) system (see picture [shiny
tunnel]). Over the last 2 years we've been measuring nitrate interception and
greenhouse gas emissions in a constructed wetland in the Scottish Borders. The
megachamber-TDL technique has allowed us to derive flux estimates at a very
high time resolution of over large areas and so better assess any pollution
swapping. A new project at this site by one of my research students aims to
continue this work and investigate the impact of adding potential inhibitors of
denitrification and methanogenesis (the main processes responsible for nitrous
oxide and methane production at this site) on pollutant interception and
greenhouse gas fluxes.
What do you see as the big questions for the food
climate research community at the moment?
One of the greatest challenges remains that of
nitrogen use efficiency. How can we maintain yields, or expand production of
biofuels, without exacerbating the serious negative consequences of reactive
nitrogen pollution (eutrophication, climate-forcing, biodiversity loss,
human-health risks) we have already seen?
What are the big questions you feel you are seeking to answer at the moment?
Is nitrogen pollution swapping a significant problem?
How important a role does reactive nitrogen play in
global climate change now, and how might this role change in the future?
Is there any expertise you feel you lack and would you
welcome help/collaboration with others?
All of our field studies require better upscaling to
provide regional and national projections. Such modelling can be greatly
strengthened by collaboration between research groups in different areas with
data sets covering alternative management regimes and climates. So, any data
sharing offers with a view to developing regional or global estimations of
nitrate interception and associated greenhouse gas fluxes would be very
welcome.
What are your plans for the immediate future as
regards this work?
We have another year or so to run on most of our field
sites to derive good flux estimates and establish any seasonalities. In the lab
we are exploring the underlying drivers of greenhouse gas production and
consumption in agricultural systems and this novel experimentation is yielding
some very interesting data. Data from all our field sites are being published
in one form or another over the next 6 months or so, with the modelling and
upscaling component being a key focus in 2008-09.
What are the milestones might we
look out for?
I'll be presenting some of our work in this area at
the NitroEurope meeting in
What are the big insights / skills / data you can
offer to the rest of the research world on food and climate change?
In terms of direct and indirect nitrous oxide
emissions from agriculture, our group has a wealth of experience and expertise.
Our knowledge of the global N cycle and its interaction with the global C cycle
means that we can help inform and, hopefully, improve land management practices
and projections of greenhouse gas fluxes.
Some key publications this year:
Reay DS (2007) Does
heavier rain mean a bigger sink? Changing nitrogen deposition rates and carbon
sink strengths. Nature Reports Climate
Change, 4, 54-56.
Reay DS , Smith P, Hymus G
and Sabine C (2007) The
Changing Role of the Terrestrial Carbon Sink in Determining Atmospheric CO2
Concentrations. Atmospheric Environment
41, 5813-5815.
Reay DS , Sabine C, Smith P
and Hymus G (2007) Spring-time
for sinks: Impacts of climate change and land-use on terrestrial and oceanic
carbon sinks . Nature,
446 (7137), 727-728.
Reay DS , Hewitt CN, Smith
KA and Grace J (Eds.) (2007) Greenhouse
Gas Sinks . CABI Publishing.
Contact
details
Dr Dave Reay
Tel: +44(0)131 6507723
Fax: +44(0)131 6620478
E-Mail: David.Reay@...
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