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Dr Clare Lawson

Senior Lecturer In Ecology

School of Environment, Earth & Ecosystem Sciences

clare.lawson@open.ac.uk

Biography

Professional biography

2022-       :  Senior Lecturer in Ecology, School of Environment, Earth & Ecosystem Sciences, The Open University.

2017-2022:  Lecturer in Ecology, School of Environment, Earth & Ecosystem Sciences, The Open University.

2014-2017:  Daphne Jackson Research Fellow, School of Environment, Earth & Ecosystem Sciences, The Open University.

2008-2010:  Research Project Officer, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development & Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning, University of Reading.

2002-2006:  Research Fellow, Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, University of Reading.

1998-2002:  Research Officer, Cranfield University.

1997:  Research Fellow, University of London, Wye.

1994-1997:  PhD University of London, Wye.

1989-1993:  BSc University of Edinburgh.

Research interests

  • Plant community ecology, vegetation dynamics and the ecology of species-rich meadows.
  • Habitat restoration and ecosystem processes within the farmed landscape.
  • Impact of management practices on farmland biodiversity.
  • The importance of plant-soil interactions in grassland ecosystems.

Projects

Windrush Floodplain Meadows Restoration Plan

Engage a contiguous stretch of landowners on the River Windrush floodzone; Gather existing and collect missing data to inform habitat restoration; Publish a 20 year plan to restore, enlarge and connect floodplain meadows on the River Windrush .

Publications

Book

The Agri-Environment (2007)

Book Chapter

Chapter 10 Restoration and creation of floodplain meadows (2016)

Chapter 9 Management (2016)

Journal Article

Experimental drought reduces the productivity and stability of a calcareous grassland (2024)

Water table depth and plant species determine the direction and magnitude of methane fluxes in floodplain meadow soils (2024)

Differential responses of community‐level functional traits to mid‐ and late‐season experimental drought in a temperate grassland (2024)

Short‐range multispectral imaging is an inexpensive, fast, and accurate approach to estimate biodiversity in a temperate calcareous grassland (2022)

Plant, soil and microbial controls on grassland diversity restoration: a long-term, multi-site mesocosm experiment (2017)

Effects of seed addition on beetle assemblages during the re-creation of species-rich lowland hay meadows (2012)

The combined effect of waterlogging, extractable P and soil pH on α-diversity: a case study on mesotrophic grasslands in the UK. (2011)

The restoration of phytophagous beetles in species-rich chalk grassland. (2010)

The role of management and landscape context in the restoration of grassland phytophagous beetles. (2010)

Determining the important environmental variables controlling plant species community composition in mesotrophic grasslands in Great Britain (2009)

Potential contribution of natural enemies to patterns of local adaptation in plants. (2008)

The economic dimensions of integrating flood management and agri-environment through washland creation: a case from Somerset, England (2008)

Contrasting success in the restoration of plant and phytophagous beetle assemblages of species rich mesotrophic grasslands (2008)

Climate vs. soil factors in local adaptation of two common plant species (2007)

Long-term effectiveness of sowing high and low diverse seed mixtures to enhance plant community development on ex-arable fields (2007)

Carbon addition alters early succession on ex-arable fields. (2007)

Hay strewing, brush harvesting of seed and soil disturbance as tools for the enhancement of botanical diversity in grasslands. (2007)

Effects of grazing management on beetle and plant assemblages during the re-creation of a flood-plain meadow (2006)

Phylogeny and the hierarchical organization of plant diversity (2006)

Plant species and fuctional group effects on abiotic and microbial soil properties and plant-soil feedback responses in two grasslands. (2006)

Detecting local adaptation in widespread grassland species - the importance of scale and local plant community (2006)

The influence of seed addition and cutting regime on the success of grassland restoration on former arable land. (2004)

The establishment of heathland vegetation on ex-arable land: The response of Calluna vulgaris to soil acidification (2004)

Soil aeration status in a lowland wet grassland (2004)

Report

The natural capital of floodplains: management, protection and restoration to deliver greater benefits (2018)