Publications by category
Journal articles
Patterson C, Laing C, Early R (In Press). The range expansion of Clibanarius erythropus to the UK suggests that other range-shifting intertidal species may not follow. Marine Biology
Walker D, Shutler JD, Morrison EHJ, Harper DM, Hoedjes JCB, Laing CG (2022). Quantifying water storage within the north of Lake Naivasha using sonar remote sensing and Landsat satellite data.
Ecohydrology and Hydrobiology,
22(1), 12-20.
Abstract:
Quantifying water storage within the north of Lake Naivasha using sonar remote sensing and Landsat satellite data
Endorheic freshwater lakes can be vital water resources for sustaining large populations. However, their land-locked nature can lead to overexploitation and long-term sediment accumulation, reducing water storage and quality. Lake Naivasha supports a rapidly expanding population and agricultural industry. Therefore, maintaining good water storage and quality within this endorheic lake is crucial for the Kenyan economy and population. The lake has a long history of level fluctuations and the region is considered to be suffering from a chronic imbalance between water supply and demand. This study quantifies the sediment deposition rate and its impact on Lake Naivasha's water levels and volume, using inexpensive remote sensing techniques that could be easily replicated for future monitoring. Evidence of sedimentation in the northern area averaging 23 mm yr−1 was identified, which is likely annually displacing between 40.2 – 576 × 103 m³ of water. The volume displaced each year is equivalent to the water required to sustain between 40 – 1152 people. These results imply that current abstraction management, based purely upon lake level readings that govern a ‘traffic lights’ system, are detrimental to the long-term survival of the lake. The results also imply that lake health is decreasing. We recommend that future monitoring of this water resource and all endorheic lakes consider measurements of available water volume in combination with lake level data using the remote sensing methods we describe.
Abstract.
Patterson C, Slater M, Early R, Laing C (2020). The status of Clibanarius erythropus after a recent range expansion to Great Britain, with the highest latitude recording of a gravid individual.
Marine Biodiversity Records,
13(1).
Abstract:
The status of Clibanarius erythropus after a recent range expansion to Great Britain, with the highest latitude recording of a gravid individual
Abstract
Background
In 2016, the range of the hermit crab Clibanarius erythropus expanded to South West Britain for the second time. C. erythropus primarily lives in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic coast of Europe from the Bay of Biscay to Morocco. The species has now been recorded on both the north and south coast of the South West peninsula of the UK from Newtrain Bay, on the north coast of Cornwall, to Wembury, on the south coast of Devon. It is unknown if the crab’s reappearance in the UK has been caused by a one-off colonisation event or by a continued influx of larvae.
Results
The population in the UK is made up of individual within a narrow size bracket, indicating a single colonisation event took place, and that the population is an ageing one. However, we also report the highest latitude recording of a gravid individual for the species.
Conclusion
A lack of gravid individuals was suggested to be why the species was unable to sustain its presence in the UK following a previous colonisation in 1960. This discovery hints that rising water temperatures may allow C. erythropus and other warm-water species to expand and sustain themselves in the UK. We also found crossover in shell utilisation between C. erythropus and the native hermit crab Pagurus bernhardus, suggesting that competition might occur between the two species.
Abstract.
Laing CG, Granath G, Belyea LR, Allton KE, Rydin H (2014). Tradeoffs and scaling of functional traits in Sphagnum as drivers of carbon cycling in peatlands.
Oikos,
123(7), 817-828.
Abstract:
Tradeoffs and scaling of functional traits in Sphagnum as drivers of carbon cycling in peatlands
Growth and decomposition of Sphagnum controls turnover of a large global store of soil organic carbon. We investigated variation in morphological and physiological traits of Sphagnum shoots, and related this variation to canopy variables relevant to peatland carbon cycling. We sampled Sphagnum along a bog plateau-swamp forest gradient and measured a suite of shoot traits and canopy variables. Major axes of variation were identified using principal component analysis and correlated with canopy variables such as growth, biomass and decomposition. We also examined scaling of shoot traits with one another and with canopy variables. Two distinct tradeoffs in shoot traits emerged. From dry to wet habitats, individual metabolic rates and capitulum size increased while numerical density decreased, leading to faster growth and elongation on an individual basis. From treed to open habitats, photosynthetic efficiency decreased and photosynthetic biomass increased, driving faster growth on an area basis and slower litter mass loss. The tradeoffs identified have important implications for peatlands undergoing climate-related changes in water and light availability. Sphagnum trait comparisons, combined with scaling analyses, offer a promising approach to understanding and predicting the effects of environmental change on peatland carbon cycling. © 2014 the Authors.
Abstract.
Abbott GD, Swain EY, Muhammad A, Allton KA, Belyea LR, Laing CG, Cowie GR (2013). Effect of water-table fluctuations on the degradation of Sphagnum phenols in surficial peats. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 106, 177-191.
Laing CG, Shreeve TG, Pearce DME (2010). The fine scale variability of dissolved methane in surface peat cores. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 42, 1320-1328.
Laing CG, Shreeve TG, Pearce DME (2008). Methane bubbles in surface peat cores: in situ measurements. Global Change Biology, 14, 1-9.
Publications by year
In Press
Patterson C, Laing C, Early R (In Press). The range expansion of Clibanarius erythropus to the UK suggests that other range-shifting intertidal species may not follow. Marine Biology
2022
Walker D, Shutler JD, Morrison EHJ, Harper DM, Hoedjes JCB, Laing CG (2022). Quantifying water storage within the north of Lake Naivasha using sonar remote sensing and Landsat satellite data.
Ecohydrology and Hydrobiology,
22(1), 12-20.
Abstract:
Quantifying water storage within the north of Lake Naivasha using sonar remote sensing and Landsat satellite data
Endorheic freshwater lakes can be vital water resources for sustaining large populations. However, their land-locked nature can lead to overexploitation and long-term sediment accumulation, reducing water storage and quality. Lake Naivasha supports a rapidly expanding population and agricultural industry. Therefore, maintaining good water storage and quality within this endorheic lake is crucial for the Kenyan economy and population. The lake has a long history of level fluctuations and the region is considered to be suffering from a chronic imbalance between water supply and demand. This study quantifies the sediment deposition rate and its impact on Lake Naivasha's water levels and volume, using inexpensive remote sensing techniques that could be easily replicated for future monitoring. Evidence of sedimentation in the northern area averaging 23 mm yr−1 was identified, which is likely annually displacing between 40.2 – 576 × 103 m³ of water. The volume displaced each year is equivalent to the water required to sustain between 40 – 1152 people. These results imply that current abstraction management, based purely upon lake level readings that govern a ‘traffic lights’ system, are detrimental to the long-term survival of the lake. The results also imply that lake health is decreasing. We recommend that future monitoring of this water resource and all endorheic lakes consider measurements of available water volume in combination with lake level data using the remote sensing methods we describe.
Abstract.
2020
Patterson C, Slater M, Early R, Laing C (2020). The status of Clibanarius erythropus after a recent range expansion to Great Britain, with the highest latitude recording of a gravid individual.
Marine Biodiversity Records,
13(1).
Abstract:
The status of Clibanarius erythropus after a recent range expansion to Great Britain, with the highest latitude recording of a gravid individual
Abstract
Background
In 2016, the range of the hermit crab Clibanarius erythropus expanded to South West Britain for the second time. C. erythropus primarily lives in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic coast of Europe from the Bay of Biscay to Morocco. The species has now been recorded on both the north and south coast of the South West peninsula of the UK from Newtrain Bay, on the north coast of Cornwall, to Wembury, on the south coast of Devon. It is unknown if the crab’s reappearance in the UK has been caused by a one-off colonisation event or by a continued influx of larvae.
Results
The population in the UK is made up of individual within a narrow size bracket, indicating a single colonisation event took place, and that the population is an ageing one. However, we also report the highest latitude recording of a gravid individual for the species.
Conclusion
A lack of gravid individuals was suggested to be why the species was unable to sustain its presence in the UK following a previous colonisation in 1960. This discovery hints that rising water temperatures may allow C. erythropus and other warm-water species to expand and sustain themselves in the UK. We also found crossover in shell utilisation between C. erythropus and the native hermit crab Pagurus bernhardus, suggesting that competition might occur between the two species.
Abstract.
2014
Laing CG, Granath G, Belyea LR, Allton KE, Rydin H (2014). Tradeoffs and scaling of functional traits in Sphagnum as drivers of carbon cycling in peatlands.
Oikos,
123(7), 817-828.
Abstract:
Tradeoffs and scaling of functional traits in Sphagnum as drivers of carbon cycling in peatlands
Growth and decomposition of Sphagnum controls turnover of a large global store of soil organic carbon. We investigated variation in morphological and physiological traits of Sphagnum shoots, and related this variation to canopy variables relevant to peatland carbon cycling. We sampled Sphagnum along a bog plateau-swamp forest gradient and measured a suite of shoot traits and canopy variables. Major axes of variation were identified using principal component analysis and correlated with canopy variables such as growth, biomass and decomposition. We also examined scaling of shoot traits with one another and with canopy variables. Two distinct tradeoffs in shoot traits emerged. From dry to wet habitats, individual metabolic rates and capitulum size increased while numerical density decreased, leading to faster growth and elongation on an individual basis. From treed to open habitats, photosynthetic efficiency decreased and photosynthetic biomass increased, driving faster growth on an area basis and slower litter mass loss. The tradeoffs identified have important implications for peatlands undergoing climate-related changes in water and light availability. Sphagnum trait comparisons, combined with scaling analyses, offer a promising approach to understanding and predicting the effects of environmental change on peatland carbon cycling. © 2014 the Authors.
Abstract.
2013
Abbott GD, Swain EY, Muhammad A, Allton KA, Belyea LR, Laing CG, Cowie GR (2013). Effect of water-table fluctuations on the degradation of Sphagnum phenols in surficial peats. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 106, 177-191.
2010
Laing CG, Shreeve TG, Pearce DME (2010). The fine scale variability of dissolved methane in surface peat cores. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 42, 1320-1328.
2008
Laing CG, Shreeve TG, Pearce DME (2008). Methane bubbles in surface peat cores: in situ measurements. Global Change Biology, 14, 1-9.
