Dr Andrew Thomas
Senior Lecturer (Room E410)E-mail: a.d.thomas@mmu.ac.uk; Tel:+44 (0)161-247 1568
Academic Interests
- Land degradation in drylands
- Cyanobacterial soil crusts
- Soil respiration and organic carbon in dryland soils
- The Kalahari
- Dryland Environments
- Soils and land degradation
- LTSN affiliated workshop co-ordinator specialising in “Independent Learning” and “Teaching in the Field”
- Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
- International Reviewer Panel Member African Journal of Ecology
- http://www.drylands-research.net
NERC Life Sciences Mass Spectrometry Facility (LSMSF) grant for δ13C isotope analysis. Carbon sources contributing to pulses of soil respiration after rainfall in the Kalahari Principal Investigator with Hoon (MMU) and Stott (Lancaster CEH). 2009-2010
The Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship Resilience of desert biological soil crusts. 2010-2012
NERC Field Spectroscopy Facilities Grant Field spectroscopy of cyanobacterial soil crusts from the Kalahari Co-Investigator with Trodd (Coventry) and Co-Is Dougill (Leeds) and Hoon (MMU). 2009-10
The Royal Geographical Society Peter Fleming Award CO2 and N2O fluxes along a Kalahari rainfall gradient. Principal Investigator with Hoon (MMU) and Dougill (Leeds). 2008-09
NERC Life Sciences Mass Spectrometry Facility (LSMSF) grant for δ13C isotope and PLFA analysis Cyanobacterial-driven carbon cycling in Kalahari Sand soils. Principal Investigator with Hoon (MMU), Stott (Lancaster CEH) and Bull (Bristol). 2007-08.
Selected ReferencesThomas, A.D. and Hoon, S.R. 2009. Simulated rainfall pulses and carbon dioxide fluxes from Kalahari Sands. Journal of Arid Environments. In press and available on-line.
Hoon, S. R., Thomas, A.D., and Linton, P.E., 2009. Design and development of an in-situ closed chamber for quantification of soil photosynthesis and respiration. Geographical Research, 47(1)
Thomas, A.D., Hoon, S. R., and Linton, P.E. 2008. Carbon dioxide fluxes from cyanobacteria crusted soils in the Kalahari. Applied Soil Ecology, 39, 254-263
Chappell, A., Warren, A., O’Donoghue, A., Robinson, A., Thomas, A.D. and Bristow, C. 2008. The implications for dust emission modelling of spatial and vertical variation in horizontal dust flux and particle size in the Bodélé Depression, Northern Chad. Journal of Geophysical Research, 113, D04214
Linton, P.E., Shotbolt, L. and Thomas, A.D., 2007. Microbial communities in long-term heavy metal contaminated ombrotrophic peats. Water Air and Soil Pollution, 186, 97-113.
Thomas, A.D. and Dougill, A.J., 2007. Spatial and temporal distribution of cyanobacterial soil crusts in the Kalahari: implications for soil surface properties. Geomorphology, 85, 17-29.
Thomas, A. D. and Dougill, A. J., 2006, Distribution and characteristics of cyanobacterial soil crusts in the Molopo Basin, southern Africa. Journal of Arid Environments, 64, 270-283.
Shotbolt, L.A. and Thomas, A.D., 2006, Heavy metal pollution. Geography Review, 19(5), 32 - 36.
Shotbolt, L.A., Hutchinson, S.M., and Thomas, A.D., 2006, Sediment stratigraphy in small reservoirs in the Southern Pennine uplands, UK and their use for reconstructing catchment and atmospheric heavy metal fluxes. Journal of Paleolimnology, 35, 305-322.
Berkeley, A., Thomas, A.D. and Dougill, A.J., 2005, Cyanobacterial soil crusts and woody shrub canopies in Kalahari rangelands. African Journal of Ecology, 43, 137-145.
Shotbolt, L.A., Thomas A.D. and Hutchinson, S.M., 2005, The use of reservoir sediments as environmental archives of catchment inputs and atmospheric pollution. Progress in Physical Geography, 29(3), 337-361.
Dougill, A.J., and Thomas, A.D., 2004, Kalahari Sand Soils: Spatial Heterogeneity and Land Degradation. Land Degradation and Development, 15, 233-242.
Doerr, S.H. & Thomas, A.D., 2003, Soil moisture: a controlling factor in water repellency. In: Ritsema C.J. & Dekker L.W. (Eds) Soil Water Repellency: Occurrence, Consequences and Amelioration. Elsevier Science, Amsterdam, Chapter 14, 137-149.