Sue Benham, BSc

Research Scientist, Centre for Forestry and Climate Change

Sue joined Forest Research in 1984 working in the chemical analysis laboratory. In 1986 she commenced work on the Open-Top Chamber project investigating the effects of air pollution on trees, followed by the ECOCRAFT project investigating the effects of elevated CO₂ on UK forests. In 1988 she obtained a HND in Applied Environmental Analysis and Monitoring, followed by a BSc (Hon’s) Applied Environmental Science in 1994 and a PGC in Biological recording in 2006.

In 1997 she took over the Environmental Change Network project based at Alice Holt. The following year she also took on responsibility for Deposition Monitoring as part of the ICP Intensive monitoring of Forests, Level II programme and is a member of the expert panel on deposition and visible ozone damage. In 2009 she took joint responsibility for this program and the Futmon project which formed part of it.

Current role

Research Scientist, Centre for Forestry and Climate Change

• Project leader for the intensive forest monitoring program - Futmon
• Project leader Environmental Change network
• Responsibilities for woodland plant ecological surveys in the long term monitoring networks, and interpretation of data.

Current programmes

Environmental Change Network
Research Scientist and site manager (Alice Holt): ICP Level II.

EU-level forest monitoring system (FutMon)
Project leader.

Intensive long term monitoring of forest ecosystems
Research Scientist and site manager.

Affiliations and achievements

• Member of the British Ecological Society
• Member of the expert panel on deposition. ICP program for the assessment and monitoring of the effects of air pollution on trees
• Member of the expert panel on ozone ICP program.

Research areas

• Climate change
• Biodiversity
• Air pollution
• Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) and archaeology
• Forest ecosystem monitoring and evaluation
• Soil carbon.

Other responsibilities

• Centre Health and Safety officer
• Member of the health and safety committee
• Bullying and harassment officer (union)
• Works first aider.

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Main recent publications

Dick, J., Andrews, C., Beaumont, D. A., Benham, S., Brooks, D. R., Corbett, S., Lloyd, D., McMillan, S., Monteith, D. T., Pilgrim, E. S., Rose, R., Scott, A., Scott,T., Smith, R. I., Taylor, C., Taylor, M., Turner, A. and Watson, H. (2011). A comparison of ecosystem services delivered by 11 long-term monitoring sites in the UK environmental change network. Environmetrics 22 (2). DOI: 10.1002/env.1069.

Pitman, R., Vanguelova, E.I. & Benham, S. (2010). Effects of phytophagous insects on water and soil nutrient concentrations and fluxes through forest stands in the Level II monitoring network in the UK. Science of the Total Environment 409 169-181

Benham, S.E., Broadmeadow, M.S.J., Schaub, M., Calatayud, V. & Bussotti, F. (2010).  Using commercial tree nurseries to monitor visible ozone injury - an evaluation.  Forest Ecology and Management  260: 1824–1831.

Vanguelova, E.I., Benham, S., Pitman, R., Moffat, A. Broadmeadow, M., Nisbet, T., Durrant, D., Barsoum, N.,Wilkinson, M., Bochereau, F., Broadmeadow, S., Hutchings, T., Crow, P., Durrant-Huston, T. & Taylor, P. (2010). Chemical fluxes in time through forest ecosystems in the UK – soil response to pollution recovery. Environmental Pollution 158: 1857-1869.

Morecroft, M.D.,  Bealey, C.E., Beaumont, D.A. & S Benham, S. et al. (2009). The UK Environmental Change Network: Emerging trends in the composition of plant and animal communities and the physical environment. Biological Cons.142 2814-2832.

Mosello, R., Amoriello, T., Benham, S., Clarke, N., Derome, J., Derome, K., Genouw, G., Koenig, N., Orru, A., Tartari, G., Thimonier, A., Ulrich, E. & Lindross, A. (2008). Validation of chemical analyses of atmospheric deposition on forested sites in Europe : 2. DOC concentration as an estimator of organic ion charge. J. Limnol. 67(1): 1-14.

Benham. S. (2008). The Environmental Change Network at Alice Holt Research Forest ^(PDF-517K). Forestry Commission Research Note.

Crow, P. & Benham, S. et al. (2007). Woodland vegetation and its implications for archaeological survey using LiDAR. Forestry. 80 (3) pp 241-252.

Vanguelova, E.I., Benham, S. & Pitman R. (2007). Changes in rainfall, throughfall and soil solution chemistry in the Level II long term forest monitoring plots. In Derome, J., Lindroos, A.J. and Kilponen, T. (eds.). Scientific Seminar on Forest Condition Monitoring and Ecosystem Functioning in Northern Europe under the Forest Focus and ICP Forests Programmes, Vantaa 27. – 28.11.2007. ISBN 978-951-40-2088-9 (PDF); ISSN 1795-150X.

Vangulova, E., Barsoum, N., Benham, S., Broadmeadow, M., Nisbet, T., & Pitman, R. (2007). Ten years of intensive environmental monitoring in British forests ^(PDF-1295K). Forestry Commission Information Note.

Pitts, A., Benham, S., Straw, N.A. & Moffat, A.J. (2005). Evaluation of moth-trap data from Alice Holt Forest, Hampshire 1966-2001: possible effects of changing climate on Macrolepidoptera. Entomologist's Gazette 56 237-247.

Houston, T.J, Durrant, D.W, & Benham, S.E. (2002). Sampling in a variable environment: selection of representative positions of throughfall collectors for volume and chemistry under three tree species in the UK., Forest Ecology and Management. 158, 1-8.
 
The Science at the heart of Alice Holt Forest.  Forestry Commission publication, 2001. 

The United Kingdom Environmental Change Network Annual Data Digest. 1996 onwards.