Sayer, E.J.

About

I'm an Ecosystem Ecologist with a special interest in plant-soil interactions and their role in ecosystem carbon and nutrient dynamics under climate change.

Employment

• University of Ulm Professor in Ecophysiology
  2023 - Present
• Lancaster University Professor in Ecosystem Ecology
  2014 - Present
• Open University Lecturer in Environmental Sciences
  2012 - 2014
• Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
  2009 - 2012
• Lancaster University

Education

Education history is unavailable.

Projects & Funding

• Refining Estimates of Tropical Forest Greenhouse Gas Exchange using Plant Traits Natural Environment Research Council
  2022 - 2025
• FACE underground:can trees in mature forests gain greater access to soil nutrients under elevated atmospheric CO2? Natural Environment Research Council
  2020 - 2023
• Evolutionary resistance: Does adaptation stabilise plant community structure and function under climate change? Natural Environment Research Council
  2018 - 2022
• Impacts of climate-driven evolution on plant-soil interactions and ecosystem functioning Natural Environment Research Council
  2017 - 2020
• Live better with biodiversity! Swiss National Science Foundation
  2017 - 2021
• The role of soil fertility in the function of mycorrhizal associations Natural Environment Research Council
  2017 - 2021
• Biodiversity, ecosystem functions and policy across a tropical forest modification gradient NERC, ESRC & DFID
  2014 - 2018
• Predicting carbon release from forest soils through priming effects: a new approach to reconcile results across multiple scales European Research Council
  2012 - 2017

Publications (105)

• Faster-and-tighter nitrogen cycle supports mature forest productivity under elevated CO2
  Science Advances 2026 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aed2732
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• Leaf Litter Decomposition in the Tropics Dynamically Recovers Following Experimental Disturbance Across Temporal Scales
  Biotropica 2026 DOI: 10.1111/btp.70198
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• Datasets used in: Sayer EJ, Baxendale C, Birkett AJ, Bréchet LM, Castro B, Kerdraon-Byrne D, Lopez-Sangil L, Rodtassana C (2021) Altered litter inputs modify carbon and nitrogen storage in soil organic matter in a lowland tropical forest. Biogeochemistry…
  2026 DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.31440067
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• A global database of soil microbial phospholipid fatty acids and enzyme activities
  Scientific Data 2025 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-025-05759-2
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• Root exudate stoichiometry is a key driver of soil N cycling: implications for forest responses to global change
  Soil Biology and Biochemistry 2025 DOI: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109856
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• Elevated CO 2 alters relative belowground carbon investment for nutrient acquisition in a mature temperate forest
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2025 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2503595122
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• Tree mycorrhizal associations regulate relationships between plant and microbial communities and soil organic carbon stocks at local scales in a temperate forest
  Functional Ecology 2025 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.70035
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• Variation in leaf phosphorus fractions reflects plant adaptations and distribution in low‐phosphorus tropical forests
  Functional Ecology 2025 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.14721
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• Salutogenic Effects of Greenspace Exposure: An Integrated Biopsychological Perspective on Stress Regulation, Mental and Physical Health in the Urban Population
  Open Psychology 2025 DOI: 10.1515/psych-2024-0003
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• Nutrient availability explains distinct soil fungal colonization of angiosperm versus gymnosperm wood
  Journal of Ecology 2025 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2745.14458
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• The Gigante Litter Manipulation Experiment
  2024 DOI: 10.5479/si.26880811
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• Global atmospheric methane uptake by upland tree woody surfaces
  Nature 2024 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07592-w
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• Understanding distribution and survey gaps of Mammals from the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado Biomes
  Biota Neotropica 2024 DOI: 10.1590/1676-0611-BN-2023-1569
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• Functional Ecology is moving to open access
  Functional Ecology 2024 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.14604
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• Precipitation change affects forest soil carbon inputs and pools
  Science of the Total Environment 2024 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168171
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• Tropical forest above‐ground productivity is maintained by nutrients cycled in litter
  Journal of Ecology 2024 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2745.14251
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• Global fine-resolution data on springtail abundance and community structure
  Scientific Data 2024 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-023-02784-x
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• Datasets from: Tropical forest aboveground productivity is maintained by nutrients cycled in litter
  2023 DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.24746235
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• Demonstrating a significant advance to the field: An essential criterion for publication in Functional Ecology
  Functional Ecology 2023 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.14458
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• Soils are a non-negligible source of NO in a UK suburban greenspace and SE Australian Eucalyptus forest
  Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 2023 DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2023.109726
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