World’s longest-running ecological experiment, Park Grass at Rothamsted
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
170-year-old experiment still yielding answers to today’s biggest environmental challenges
One of the world’s longest-running scientific experiments, Park Grass at Rothamsted, celebrates its 170th anniversary. Established in 1856 by Sir John Bennet Lawes and Joseph Henry Gilbert, the experiment investigates how different fertilisers and organic manures affect hay production, with individual plots receiving carefully controlled combinations of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and other nutrients year after year. The nutrient input treatments are then crossed with a liming treatment, providing a gradient of soil pH from neutral (pH 7) to very acidic (pH less than 4). The grass is managed consistently, with annual hay cuts and detailed records of yields, soils and plant species maintained over successive generations. Under different fertiliser treatments, plots that had once looked almost identical evolved into distinct grassland ecosystems, providing one of the clearest demonstrations of how nutrient management influences biodiversity . The experiment has played a pivotal role in shaping scientific understanding of biodiversity, soil health and sustainable land management. Its findings have revealed how fertiliser use influences plant diversity, demonstrated the importance of soil pH in determining which species thrive, and helped scientists understand how grasslands respond to environmental pressures such as atmospheric pollution and climate change. As part of the anniversary celebrations Rothamsted scientists, assisted by volunteers, have completed the first comprehensive survey of plant species across the Park Grass plots since 2012. By recording the abundance and composition of plants under each long-term treatment, the survey provides an invaluable snapshot of how the grassland continues to change and enables direct comparison with records dating back to the nineteenth century. Today, Park Grass continues to support cutting-edge research. Its meticulously maintained archive of soils, plant samples, management records and crop yields allows researchers to apply modern scientific techniques to data collected over almost 170 years, helping answer some of the biggest environmental questions of our time. Dr Sarah Perryman, lead curator of the Park Grass data, said:
“Park Grass is much more than a field experiment – it’s a living record of ecological change. Every new survey adds another chapter to a dataset that allows scientists to ask questions across timescales that are almost impossible anywhere else in the world. Combined with this unparalleled long-term record, the latest survey strengthens one of the world’s most important ecological datasets and provides an outstanding resource for researchers everywhere.
Looking at historic photographs of earlier Park Grass surveys showing botanists carefully sorting plant specimens at Rothamsted, it’s remarkable to think that a century later we’re continuing the same tradition. I’d like to thank the many volunteers who generously gave their time over the past six weeks to help complete this latest survey. Their enthusiasm, dedication and hard work have played a vital role in continuing one of the world’s longest-running ecological records.”
The survey data will be made freely available through the Electronic Rothamsted Archive , allowing researchers around the world to utilise one of the valuable long-term environmental datasets.
Source: industry press release.