RefNo | EC/1991/15 |
Level | Item |
Title | Jenkinson, David Stewart: certificate of election to the Royal Society |
Date | 1988 |
Description | Citation typed |
Citation | Distinguished for his outstanding contributions to elucidating the carbon and nitrogen cycles in soil. Devised a range of ingenious biological, chemical and isotopic techniques that provided the first measurements in field soil of the total weight of micro-organisms, the annual inputs of C (from root debris etc) and the breakdown of freshly incorporated, as distinct from existing, organic matter. Formulated quantitative rules for the breakdown of organic materials in soil (as an aid to N-fertilizer advice), and derived (with the late J.H. Rayner) an important mechanistic model for the effects of farm practice on the turn-over and amounts of the various components of soil organic matter. Provided the first detailed quantification of the various N-pools and fluxes in a fertilized arable soil and discovered that most of the N leached from U.K. arable soils is derived not from fertilizer, but from the breakdown of soil organic matter; a finding of considerable importance in controlling pollution. He has also unravelled the role of microbial immobilization of N in the interpretation of 15-N labelled fertilizer experiments and the effects of soil stresses (e.g. fumigation, drying and freezing) on the short-term release of nutrients. Earlier he provided definitive refutation of the widely-held contention that ligno-protein was a major constituent of soil. His research has had a profound impact on international research in soil microbiology and is of considerable importance in increasing the efficiency of agricultural systems and in diminishing environmental pollution by nitrogen. |
AccessStatus | Closed |
Fellows associated with this archive
Code | PersonName | Dates |
NA3881 | Jenkinson; David Stewart (1928 - 2011) | 1928 - 2011 |