Staff Profile

Dr Robert Baxter, BSc Botany (HONS) (Manchester), PhD (Manchester)

Contact Dr Robert Baxter (email at robert.baxter@durham.ac.uk)

Biography

Dr Baxter studied Botany at the University of Manchester (1982-85). Thereafter he undertook a PhD (1985-88)in Manchester ("Responses of the moss Sphagnum cuspidatum to acid deposition")under the supervision of JA Lee and MJ Emes.

Following his PhD training, Dr Baxter spent 18 months working as a regional coordinator within the ACME (Applications of Computing to Manufacturing Engineering) Directorate of the then Science and Engineering Research Council.
In 1990 Dr Baxter joined the research groups of Prof. John Farrar (University of Wales, Bangor)and Prof. Trevor Ashenden (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bangor Research Unit)as one of two postdoctoral fellowships awarded to the newly established joint University/CEH partnership in Bangor. Here Dr Baxter studied the impacts of altered concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide and soil nutrient conditions upon photosynthetic metabolism and post-photosynthetic carbon partitioning in native upland and montane grassland species. During this period Dr Baxter also worked in collaboration with CEH upon an EU-funded Framework 3 project ("An investigation of the effects of increasing concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide and changing climate on natural and managed grassland communities in Europe using open-top and closed chambers"; Contract: EPOC-CT90-0022), coordinated by Prof. MB Jones, School of Botany, Trinity College, Dublin, Eire.
In 1993 Dr Baxter contininued his work in this field as a postdoctoral fellow at Trinity College, Dublin.

In 1994 Dr Baxter was appointed as lecturer in Ecology in the then Department of Biological Sciences (now School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences)at the University of Durham. In 2002 he was promoted to a Senior Lectureship in Ecology, a post he holds at the present time.

Related Links

• ABACUS (Assessing Biodiversity Across Multiple Scales)
• CLASSIC (Climate and Land-Surface Systems Interaction Centre) home page (Co-Investigator)
• DART (Dynamics of the Arctic Tree Line) home page (Co-investigator)
• NCEO - National Centre for Earth Observation
• STEPPS (Snow in Tundra Environments: Patterns, Processes and Scaling Issues) Home Page

Research Groups

• Adaptation & Environment

Supervises

• Miss Chantelle Kerr
• Miss Rachael Oakenfull
• Ms Alice Rowland

Research Interests

• Arctic Plant Ecology
• Carbon partitioning in plants
• Climate change and plant ecophysiology
• Land-Atmosphere interactions
• Montane plant ecology
• Pollution ecology
• Snow-vegetation-atmosphere interactions
• Stress physiology in plants

Selected Publications

Books: sections

• B Huntley & R Baxter (2004). vegetation ecology and global change. In Vegetation Ecology. E van der Maarel Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. 356-372.
• B Huntley & R Baxter (2003). Insights on Synergies: Models and Methods. In Climate Change and Biodiversity: Synergistic Impacts. L Hannah & TE Lovejoy Washington: CABS. 4: 15-23.
• Barnsley MJ, Los SO, Luckman AJ, North PRJ Harding RJ, Taylor C, Huntley B, Baxter R, Thomas CJ, Baltzer H & Wyatt B (2003). The role of Earth observation in land-surface-climate feedback studies. In Geoinformation for European-wide Integration. Benes T Rotterdam: Millpress. 3-10.

Journal papers: academic

• Hancock,S, Baxter,R, Evans,J & Huntley,B (2012). Evaluating global snow water equivalent products for testing land surface models. Remote Sensing of Environment 128: 107-117.
• Subke, J-A, Vallack, HW, Leronni V, Baxter, R & Ineson, P (2012). Fast assimilate turnover revealed by in situ 13CO2 pulse labelling in Subarctic tundra. Polar Biology
• B.J. Fletcher, J.L. Gornall, R. Poyatos, M.C. Press, P.C. Stoy, B. Huntley, R. Baxter & G.K. Phoenix (2012). Photosynthesis and productivity in heterogeneous arctic tundra: consequences for ecosystem function of mixing vegetation types at stand edges. Journal of Ecology 100(2): 441-451.
• Poyatos, R, Gornall, J, Mencuccini M, Huntley B & Baxter, R. (2012). Seasonal controls on net branch CO2 assimilation in sub-Arctic Mountain Birch (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii (Orlova) Hamet-Ahti). Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 158-159: 90.
• J. Olofsson, L. Ericson, M. Torp, S. Stark & R. Baxter (2011). Carbon balance of Arctic tundra under increased snow cover mediated by a plant pathogen. Nature Climate Change 1(4): 220-223.
• A. Heinemeyer, C. Di Bene, A.R. Lloyd, D. Tortorella, R. Baxter, B. Huntley, A. Gelsomino & P. Ineson (2011). Soil respiration: implications of the plant-soil continuum and respiration chamber collar-insertion depth on measurement and modelling of soil CO2 efflux rates in three ecosystems. European Journal of Soil Science 62(1): 82-94.
• Bennie, JJ, Wiltshire, AJ, Joyce, AN, Clark, D, Lloyd, AR, Adamson, J, Parr, T, Baxter, R & Huntley, B (2010). Characterising inter-annual variation in the spatial pattern of thermal microclimate in a UK upland using a combined empirical-physical model. Agricultural And Forest Meteorology 150(1): 12-19.
• Bennie, J, Kubin, E, Wiltshire, A, Huntley, B & Baxter, R (2010). Predicting spatial and temporal patterns of bud-burst and spring frost risk in north-west Europe: the implications of local adaptation to climate. Global Change Biology 16(5): 1503-1514.
• Torp, M, Olofsson, J, Witzell, J & Baxter, R (2010). Snow-induced changes in dwarf birch chemistry increase moth larval growth rate and level of herbivory. Polar Biology 33(5): 693-702.
• Torp, M, Witzell, J, Baxter, R & Olofsson, J (2010). The Effect of Snow on Plant Chemistry and Invertebrate Herbivory: Experimental Manipulations Along a Natural Snow Gradient. Ecosystems 13(5): 741-751.
• Fletcher, BJ, Press, MC, Baxter, R & Phoenix, GK (2010). Transition zones between vegetation patches in a heterogeneous Arctic landscape: how plant growth and photosynthesis change with abundance at small scales. Oecologia 163(1): 47-56.
• Essery, R, Rutter, N, Pomeroy, J, Baxter, R, Stahli, M, Gustafsson, D, Barr, A, Bartlett, P & Elder, K (2009). An Evaluation of Forest Snow Process Simulations. Bulletin Of The American Meteorological Society 90(8): 1120-+.
• Campioli, M., Samson, R., Michelsen, A., Jonasson, S., Baxter, R. & Lemeur, R. (2009). Nonvascular contribution to ecosystem NPP in a subarctic heath during early and late growing season. Plant Ecology 202(1): 41-53.
• Essery, R.H.L., Rutter, N.J., Pomeroy, J., Baxter, R., Stähli, M., Gustaffson, D., Barr, A., Bartlett, P. & Elder, K. (2009). SnowMIP2: An evaluation of forest snow process simulations. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
• Stoy, PC, Williams, M, Disney, M, Prieto-Blanco, A, Huntley, B, Baxter, R & Lewis, P (2009). Upscaling as ecological information transfer: a simple framework with application to Arctic ecosystem carbon exchange. Landscape Ecology 24(7): 971-986.
• Fox, A.M., Huntley, B., Lloyd, C.R., Williams, M. & Baxter, R. (2008). Net ecosystem exchange over heterogeneous Arctic tundra: Scaling between chamber and eddy covariance measurements. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 22(GB2027): 1-15.
• Bennie, J., Huntley, B., Wiltshire, A., Hill, M.O. & Baxter, R. (2008). Slope, aspect and climate: Spatially explicit and implicit models of topographic microclimate in chalk grassland. Ecological Modelling 216(1): 47-59.
• Davey, M.P., Harmens, H., Ashenden, T.W., Edwards, R. & Baxter, R. (2007). Species-specific effects of elevated CO2 on resource allocation in Plantago maritima and Armeria maritima. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 35(3): 121-129.
• Davey MP, Bryant DN, Cummins I, Ashenden TW, Gates PJ, Baxter R & Edwards R (2004). Effects of elevated CO2 on the vasculature and phenolic secondary metabolism of Plantago maritima. Phytochemistry 65: 2197-2204.
• Turner BL, Baxter R, Mahieu R, Sjorgersten S & Whitton BA (2004). Phosphorus compounds in sub-Arctic Fennoscandian soils at the mountain birch (Betula pubescens) – tundra ecotone. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 36: 815-823.
• Turner BL, Baxter R, Ellwood NTW & Whitton BA (2003). Characterisation of the phosphatase activities of mosses in relation to their environment. Plant, Cell and Environment 24: 1165-1176.
• Turner BA, Baxter R & Whitton BA (2003). Nitrogen and phosphorus in soil solutions and drainage streams in Upper Teesdale, northern England: implications of organic compounds for biological nutrient limitation. Science of the Total Environment 314-316: 153-170.
• Turner,BL, Chudek,JA, Whitton,BA & Baxter,R (2003). Phosphorus composition of upland soils polluted by long-term atmospheric nitrogen deposition. Biogeochemistry 65(2): 259-274.
• Pierce,S., Stirling,CM. & Baxter,R. (2003). Pseudoviviparous reproduction of Poa alpina var. vivipara L. (Poaceae) during long-term exposure to elevated atmospheric CO2. Annals of Botany 91(6): 613-622.
• Turner BL, Baxter R, Ellwood NTW & Whitton BA (2003). Seasonal phosphatase activities of mosses from Upper Teesdale, northern England. Journal of Bryology 25: 189-200.
• Skre, O., Baxter, R., Crawford, R.R.M., Callaghan, TV. & Fedorokov, A. (2002). How will the tundra-taiga interface respond to climate change? Ambio 12: 37-46.
• Turner BL, Baxter R & Whitton BA (2002). Seasonal phosphatase activity in three characteristic soils of the English uplands. Environmental Pollution 120: 313-317.
• Hodkinson,ID, Bird,JM, Hill,JK & Baxter,R (2001). Host plant growth characteristics as determinants of abundance and phenology in jumping plant-lice on downy willow. Ecological Entomology 26(4): 376-387.
• Joyce,AN, Adamson,J, Huntley,B, Parr,T & Baxter,R (2001). Standardisation of temperature observed by automatic weather stations. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 68(2): 127-136.
• Pierce, S, Stirling, CM & Baxter R (2000). Architectural and physiological heterogeneity within the synflorescence of the pseudoviviparous grass Poa alpina var. vivipara L. Journal of Experimental Botany 51(351): 1705-1712.
• Pierce, S, Stirling, CM & Baxter R (2000). The influence of secondary senescence processes within the culm of a pseudoviviparous grass (Poa alpina var. vivipara L.) on the supply of water to propagules. Journal of Experimental Botany 51 (347) 1067-1075
• Baxter R & Farrar, JF (1999). Export of carbon from leaf blades of Poa alpina L. at elevated CO2 and two nutrient regimes. Journal of Experimental Botany 50 (336) 1215-1221
• Baxter R, Ashenden, TW & Farrar, JF (1997). Effect of elevated CO2 and nutrient status on growth, dry matter partitioning and nutrient content of Poa alpina var. vivipara L. Journal of Experimental Botany 48 (312) 1477-1486

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