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Dr. Ian C. GrieveSenior
Lecturer
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Research Interests
My current research interests lie in two fields, the chemical composition of stream and soil waters with particular reference to dissolved organic carbon and the controls of organic matter, soil structure and soil erosion with particular reference to upland soils.
(a) Stream and soil water
chemistry
Work over the last few years has demonstrated
the control which land use and altitude have on dissolved organic carbon in
soil solutions. Concentrations increase significantly with altitude and are
also larger by about 50% in a forested area compared to moorland. A study of
the effects of different soil materials on neutralisation of acid rain using
laboratory simulation experiments has also been published recently. Under a
studentship funded through a grant from the Mining Trust of Scotland we are
investigating how mine drainage water contaminated with oil can be treated
and on the capability of peat columns to adsorb oil from contaminated water.
(b) Soil organic matter,
structure and erosion
The two largest projects here are funded under
the NERC Soil Biodiversity thematic programme, where I have responsibility
for assessing the links between soil biodiversity and soil structural properties.
In one project, we are measuring changes in soil aggregate stability and pore
size following liming of plots in an upland grassland in southern Scotland.
The other project is based on a field experiment where we have treated large
blocks of soil by liming and by inoculation with earthworms. Here we are measuring
effects of the treatments on aggregate stability and hydraulic conductivity.
We have been developing a new method of assessing the stability of soil aggregates
by using laser granulometry to measure the change in the size distribution
of soil aggregates following ultrasonic dispersion.
Other work in this area is concerned with
(i) calculating soil erosion rates over buried
archaeological sites from 137Cs budgets and developing a simple predictive
model to predict the threat to such sites (funded by a NERC Case studentship
with Historic Scotland) and
(ii) assessing the effects of disturbance on chemical
and microbial properties and organic matter distribution in soils on the Cairngorm
plateau and predicting their susceptibility to changes in climate and in patterns
of human disturbance.
Teaching
- Biosphere (36S3)
- Soil Resources (36D6)
- Soils and Environment (36SE)
- Soil Conservation (MSc).
Recent Publications
Grieve, I.C., Gilvear, D.J. and Bryant, R.G. Hydrochemical and water source variations across a floodplain mire, Insh Marshes, Scotland. Hydrological Processes 9, 99-110 (1995).
Grieve, I.C., Davidson, D.A. and Gordon, J.E. Nature, extent and severity of soil erosion in upland Scotland. Land Degradation and Rehabilitation 6, 41-55 (1995).
Grieve, I.C. Effects of the centrifuge drainage method on total organic carbon concentrations in soil solutions from peaty soils. Geoderma 74, 115-123 (1996).
Grieve, IC & Hipkin JA Soil erosion and sustainability. In Taylor, AG, Gordon, JE & Usher, MB (ed) Soils, Sustainability and the Natural Heritage. Edinburgh, HMSO, 236-248 (1996).
Davidson, DA, Grieve, IC, Tyler, AN, Barclay, GJ & Maxwell, GS Archaeological sites: assessment of risk. Journal of Archaeological Science 25, 857-860 (1998)
Tyler, A.N., Davidson, D.A., & Grieve, I.C. Estimating Soil Loss at Littleour, Perthshire: Using the 137Cs Methodology. In Barclay, G J and Maxwell, G S (eds.). The Cleaven Dyke: a Perthshire cursus monument in its context. Historic Scotland (1998).
Heal, K.V., Salt, C.A., Grieve, I.C. & Hipkin, J.A. Monitoring the reclamation of acidic spoil for amenity woodland. In: Contaminated Soil '98, Thomas Telford, London,1223-1224 (1998).
Tyler, A.N., Davidson, D.A. and Grieve, I.C. Estimating soil loss from cropmark sites: using the Caesium 137 methodology at Littleour. In The Cleaven Dyke and Littleour: Monuments in the Neolithic of Tayside, G.J. Barclay and G.S. Maxwell (eds), Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Monograph Series Number 13, 83-91 (1998).
Grieve, IC Effects of parent material on the chemical composition of soil drainage waters. Geoderma. 90, 49-64 (1999).
Grieve, I.C. Effects of disturbance on soil iron and organic matter distributions and on carbon storage at high elevations in the Cairngorm Mountains, Scotland. Geoderma 95, 1-14 (2000).
Grieve, I.C. and Marsden, R.L. Effects of forest cover and topographic factors on TOC and associated metals at various scales in western Scotland. Science of the Total Environment 265, 143-151 (2001).
Grieve, I.C. Human impacts on soil properties and their implications for the sensitivity of soil systems. Catena 42, 361-374 (2001).
Davidson, D.A., Grieve, I.C. and Tyler, A.N. As assessment of soil erosion in Scotland. In A J. Connacher (ed.) Land Degradation, Kluwer, 93-108. (2001).
