Ruth Mitchell(Staff Member) Ruth Mitchell is a plant/soil research scientist within the Ecology Sciences Group at the Institute with 15 years experience of working on a wide range of applied ecological research projects. Her research focuses on the impact of ... Read more

Ruth Mitchell ruth.mitchell@hutton.ac.uk +44 (0)844 928 5428 (*)

Photograph of BES Council Member Ruth Mitchell Council Member: Ruth Mitchell, The Macaulay Landuse Institute, Aberdeen Ruth is an applied plant ecologist with long standing interests in the impact of a wide range of pressures (grazing, pollution and land use change) on biodiversity, particularly lower and higher plants. Ruth currently works at the Macaulay Institute on changes in plant and soil communities as a result of land-use change. Email Ruth Mitchell Find out more about Ruth Mitchell via The Macaulay Institute website

Ruth Mitchell is a plant/soil research scientist within the Ecology Group at the Macaulay Institute with 15 years experience of working on a wide range of applied ecological research projects. Her research focuses on the impact of pressures on above and below ground biodiversity and habitat restoration. Image showing research Interests of Dr Ruth Mitchell Dr Ruth Mitchell Ruth Mitchell is a plant/soil research scientist within the Ecology Group at the Macaulay Institute with 15 years experience of working on a wide range of applied ecological research projects. Her research focuses on the impact of pressures on above and below ground biodiversity and habitat restoration. Research Interests Ruth's research focuses on the impact of abiotic and anthropogenic factors on above and below-ground biodiversity and habitat restoration. Ruth has a long standing interested in successional processes and her work on plant-soil interactions studies how changes in land-use (principally tree colonisation on moorland) affects the vegetation, soil chemistry, soil fauna and ecosystem functioning. She co-ordinates a large, long-term experiment studying the impact of tree colonisation on moorland biodiversity and ecosystem processes (MOORCO). Ruth's research on the impact of pressures on biodiversity has focussed on grazing, pollution and climate change. She has worked on over-grazing issues in both moorlands and Atlantic oakwoods and assessed the impact of nitrogen deposition on heather-dominated moorland and on epiphytic lichens and bryophytes in Atlantic oakwoods. Ruth has carried out research on the restoration of a range of habitats resulting in techniques for re-establishment of heathland (both soils and vegetation) following scrub invasion, the establishment of heather on over-grazed moorlands, the restoration of Atlantic Oakwoods and the recovery of epiphytic bryophytes following a reduction in nitrogen pollution. Ruth's most recent publications The ecological engineering impact of a single tree species on the soil microbial community., Mitchell, R.J.; Campbell, C.D.; Chapman, S.J.; Cameron, C.M., (2010) Journal of Ecology, 98, 50-61. Is vegetation composition or soil chemistry the best predictor of the soil microbe community?, Mitchell, R.J.; Hester, A.J.; Campbell, C.D.; Chapman, S.J.; Cameron, C.M.; Hewison, R.L.; Potts, J.M., (2010) Plant and Soil, 333, 417-430. The effect of restoration techniques on non-target species: case studies in moorland systems., Mitchell, R.J.; Rose, R.J.; Palmer, S.C.F., (2009) Applied Vegetation Science, 12, 81-91. The cascading effects of birch on heather moorland: a test for the top-down control of an ecosystem engineer., Mitchell, R.J.; Campbell, C.D.; Chapman, S.J.; Osler, G.H.R.; Vanbergen, A.J.; Ross, L.C.; Cameron, C.M.; Cole, L., (2007) Journal of Ecology, 95, 540-554. All publications for Ruth Mitchell

Ruth Mitchell PhD Ruth has had a life long interest in natural history which developed into a botanical research career assessing the impacts of human pressures (eg pollution and over-grazing) on plants and methods to restore degraded habitats. Ruth's PhD on studied changes in vegetation and soil nutrients following invasion of the heathland by trees and methods to restore heathland. She then worked for the RSPB for two years as a reserves ecologist before moving to Scotland where she worked for the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. Here she specialized in assessing the impact of pressures (pollution, climate change, land-use and grazing) on biodiversity, particularly lower and higher plants, and developing techniques for promoting ecosystem recovery from these impacts. Her research has encompassed the impact of nitrogen deposition on heather-dominated moorland and on epiphytic lichens and bryophytes in Atlantic oakwoods. She has worked on over-grazing issues in both moorland and Atlantic oakwoods and on the impact of increased fire frequency due to climate change in the Mediterranean. Ruth has a long-standing interest in successional processes, and led research that tests the cascading effects of single successional species on vegetation, soil chemistry, ecosystem processes and soil fauna. Her research also covers ecosystem restoration, and she has studied the re-establishment of heathland and moorlands (both soils and vegetation) following scrub invasion or over-grazing, the restoration of Atlantic Oakwoods and the recovery of epiphytes following a reduction in nitrogen pollution. Ruth joined NRP in March 2009 as a senior research ecologist. When not working Ruth enjoys hill walking, reading and craft work as well as botanizing and birding.