Joshua Ratcliffe

I am foremost a Peatland researcher and Field Scientist. My main interest is in the carbon and geochemical aspects of peatland ecosystems. I work mostly with tree covered peatlands, but I have also conducted research on saltmarsh ecosystems and boreal forests. In addition to my role as a researcher, I have a permanent position as a Research Engineer with shared responsiblity for between 8-12 different Eddy Covariance gas measurement systems, including everything from instrument upkeep to data processing and delivery. My PhD was in Eddy Covariance in drained and natural peatlands which I obtained in 2020 from the University of Waikato in New Zealand. 

I seek to understand ecosystems using different approaches. Thus I started out primarilly as a paleoecologist, looking at Holocene carbon accumulation rates in peatlands. Since 2015 my interests have also shifted into into contemporary carbon flux, measured using Eddy Covariance. My most recent interest is related to the climate-nutrients-carbon interacting effects in peatland ecosystems, particuarly the limits to C uptake in high-latitude peatlands

• Ratcliffe, J.L., Peng, H., Nijp, J.J. and Nilsson, M.B., 2021. Lateral expansion of northern peatlands calls into question a 1,055 GtC estimate of carbon storage. Nature Geoscience, 14(7), pp.468-469. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00770-9
• Ratcliffe, J.L., Creevy, A., Andersen, R., Zarov, E., Gaffney, P.P., Taggart, M.A., Mazei, Y., Tsyganov, A.N., Rowson, J.G., Lapshina, E.D. and Payne, R.J., 2017. Ecological and environmental transition across the forested-to-open bog ecotone in a west Siberian peatland. Science of the Total Environment, 607, pp.816-828. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.06.276
• Payne, R.J., Anderson, A.R., Sloan, T., Gilbert, P., Newton, A., Ratcliffe, J., Mauquoy, D., Jessop, W. and Andersen, R., 2018. The future of peatland forestry in Scotland: balancing economics, carbon and biodiversity. Scottish Forestry, pp.34-40 
• Payne, R.J., Creevy, A., Malysheva, E., Ratcliffe, J., Andersen, R., Tsyganov, A.N., Rowson, J.G., Marcisz, K., Zielińska, M., Lamentowicz, M. and Lapshina, E.D., 2016. Tree encroachment may lead to functionally-significant changes in peatland testate amoeba communities. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 98, pp.18-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2016.04.002
• Ehnvall, B., Ratcliffe, J.L., Bohlin, E., Nilsson, M.B., Öquist, M.G., Sponseller, R.A. and Grabs, T., 2023. Landscape constraints on mire lateral expansion. Quaternary Science Reviews, 302, p.107961. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.107961 
• Ratcliffe, J., Andersen, R., Anderson, R., Newton, A., Campbell, D., Mauquoy, D. and Payne, R., 2018. Contemporary carbon fluxes do not reflect the long-term carbon balance for an Atlantic blanket bog. The Holocene, 28(1), pp.140-149. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683617715689
• Zhao, P., Chi, J., Nilsson, M.B., Löfvenius, M.O., Högberg, P., Jocher, G., Lim, H., Mäkelä, A., Marshall, J., Ratcliffe, J. and Tian, X., 2022. Long-term nitrogen addition raises the annual carbon sink of a boreal forest to a new steady-state. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 324, p.109112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2022.109112
• Ratcliffe, J.L., Campbell, D.I., Clarkson, B.R., Wall, A.M. and Schipper, L.A., 2019. Water table fluctuations control CO2 exchange in wet and dry bogs through different mechanisms. Science of The Total Environment, 655, pp.1037-1046. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.151
• Ratcliffe, J.L., Lowe, D.J., Schipper, L.A., Gehrels, M.J., French, A.D. and Campbell, D.I., 2020. Rapid carbon accumulation in a peatland following Late Holocene tephra deposition, New Zealand. Quaternary Science Reviews, 246, p.106505. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106505
• Payne, R.J., Ratcliffe, J., Andersen, R. and Flitcroft, C.E., 2016. A meta-database of peatland palaeoecology in Great Britain. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 457, pp.389-395. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.05.02