Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment

• Grants / Current Projects
• Selected Publications
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Scott's research is concerned with insect-plant ecology, especially multi-trophic interactions spanning aboveground-belowground systems. A large component of this work focuses on environmental change and how multi-trophic interactions are likely to be affected by predicted changes in our environment. This research aims to inform and provide solutions to contemporary environmental issues. He pioneered the use of X-ray micro-tomography for studying root feeding insects and co-produced the seminal book on this group of herbivores (Root Feeders: an ecosystem perspective - Johnson SN and Murray PJ).

Scott joined the institute in 2011 having previously worked as a senior research scientist at The James Hutton Institute (formerly the Scottish Crop Research Institute) in the UK (2005-10), where he still retains strong links. He obtained his PhD from the University of York in 2002 before taking up a postdoctoral position at the University of Reading (2002-2005).

Areas of Research / Teaching Expertise

Ecological impacts of climate change; community ecology; behavioural ecology; population ecology; crop and pasture production; invertebrate biology

 

Awards and Recognition

• Vice President of the Royal Entomological Society (ending June 2011)
• Honorary Lecturer at the University of Dundee
• Fellow (FRES) and Trustee of the Royal Entomological Society
• President of the European Congresses of Entomology
• Deputy Chair of British Ecological Society Meetings (2004©\2009)
• Stapledon Research Fellow (2007)
• Awarded the Anne Keymer Prize by the British Ecological Society (2001)
• Editorial Board Member of Agricultural and Forest Entomology
• Regular reviewer for ten academic journals

Grants / Current Projects

Genetic basis of physical resistance traits in plants and their effects on pests and pathogens
Co-Researchers: J. Graham
Partner/Funding Body: Technology Strategy Board
Period: 2010-2014

Do mycorrhizal fungi facilitate root defence signalling in belowground predator-prey interactions?
Partner/Funding Body: Natural Environment Research Council; CASE award with Royal Holloway College, University of London
Period: 2010-2014

Aboveground-belowground interactions in a changing climate
Partner/Funding Body: Natural Environment Research Council; CASE award with Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Period: 2010-2014

Characterising vine weevil aggregation pheromone
Partner/Funding Body: Horticultural Research Company and Genecom
Period: 2011-2012

Effects of elevated CO₂ on breakdown of plant defences
Partner/Funding Body: Natural Environment Research Council; CASE award with Cardiff University
Period: 2010-2014

Modelling host-prey interactions in crop systems (EPSRC)
Partner/Funding Body: Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council; CASE award with the University of Dundee
Period: 2007-2012

Selected Publications

Books

Johnson SN, Murray PJ, (2008) 'Root feeders - an ecosystem perspective', CABI, Wallingford, UK

Book Chapters

Johnson SN, Bezemer TM, Jones TH, (2008) 'Linking aboveground and belowground herbivor, in Root Feeders - an ecosystem perspective' (ed. by S.N.Johnson & P.J. Murray), pp. 153-170. CABI, Wallingford, UK

Mankin RW, Johnson SN, Grinev DV, Gregory PJ (2008) 'New experimental techniques for studying root herbivory', in Root Feeders - an ecosystem perspective (ed. by S.N. Johnson & P.J. Murray), pp. 20-32. CABI, Wallingford, UK

Staley JT, Johnson SN, (2008) 'Climate change impacts on root herbivores', in Root Feeders - an ecosystem perspective (ed. by S.N. Johnson & P.J. Murray), pp. 192-213. CABI, Wallingford, UK

Hartley SE, Bass KA, Johnson SN, (2007) 'Going with the flow: plant vascular systems mediate indirect interactions between plants, insect herbivores and hemi-parasitic plants', in Ecological communities: plant mediation in indirect interactions (ed. by T. Oghushi, T.P. Craig & P.W. Price). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K

Journal Articles

Aslam TJ, Johnson SN, Karley AJ, (2013) 'Plant-mediated effects of drought on aphid population structure and parasitoid attack', Journal of Applied Entomology, vol.137, no.1-2, pp 136-145

Clark KE, Hartley SE, Brennan RM, Jennings SN, McMenemy LS, McNicol JW, Mitchell C, Johnson SN, (2012) 'Effects of cultivar and egg density on a colonizing vine weevil (Otiorhynchus sulcatus) population and its impacts on red raspberry growth and yield', Crop Protection, vol.32, pp 76-82

Clark KE, Hartley SE, Brennan RM, MacKenzie K, Johnson SN, (2012) 'Investigating preference-performance relationships in aboveground-belowground life cycles: a laboratory and field study with the vine weevil (Otiorhynchus sulcatus)', Bulletin of Entomological Research, vol.102, no.1, pp 63-70

Clark KE, Hartley SE, Brennan RM, Mackenzie K, Johnson SN, (2012) 'Oviposition and feeding behaviour by the vine weevil Otiorhynchus sulcatus on red raspberry: Effects of cultivars and plant nutritional status', Agricultural and Forest Entomology, vol.14, no.2, pp 157-163

Huang JH, Liu MQ, Chen FJ, Griffiths BS, Chen XY, Johnson SN, Hu F, (2012) 'Crop resistance traits modify the effects of an aboveground herbivore, brown planthopper, on soil microbial biomass and nematode community via changes to plant performance', Soil Biology & Biochemistry, vol.49, pp 157-166  

Johnson SN, Clark KE, Hartley SE, Jones TH, McKenzie SW, Koricheva J, (2012) 'Aboveground-belowground herbivore interactions: a meta-analysis', Ecology, vol.93, no.10, pp 2208-2215  

Johnson SN, Nielsen UN, (2012) 'Foraging in the Dark - Chemically Mediated Host Plant Location by Belowground Insect Herbivores', Journal of Chemical Ecology, vol.38, no.6, pp 604-614

Johnson SN, Young MW, Karley AJ, (2012) 'Protected raspberry production alters aphid-plant interactions but not aphid population size', Agricultural and Forest Entomology, vol.14, no.2, pp 217-224

McMenemy LS, Hartley SE, MacFarlane SA, Karley AJ, Shepherd T, Johnson SN, (2012) 'Raspberry viruses manipulate the behaviour of their insect vectors', Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, vol.144, no.1, pp 56-68

Clark KE, Hartley SE, Brennan RM, MacKenzie K, Johnson SN, (2011) 'Oviposition and feeding behaviour by the vine weevil (Otiorhynchus sulcatus) on red raspberry (Rubus idaeus): effects of cultivars and plant nutritional status', Agricultural and Forest Entomology, (accepted)

Johnson SN, Barton AT, Clark KE, Gregory PJ, McMenemy LS, Hancock RD, (2011) 'Elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide impairs the performance of root-feeding vine weevils by modifying root growth and secondary metabolites', Global Change Biology, vol.17, no.2, pp 688-695

Johnson SN, Staley JT, McLeod FAL, Hartley SE, (2011) 'Plant-mediated effects of soil invertebrates and summer drought on above-ground multi-trophic interactions', Journal of Ecology, vol.99, no.1, pp 57-65

Clark KE, Hartley SE, Johnson SN, (2011) 'Does mother know best? Parent-offspring conflict in aboveground-belowground herbivore lifecycles', Ecological Entomology, vol.36, no.2, pp 117-124

Coyle DR, Clark KE, Raffa KF, Johnson SN, (2011) 'Prior host feeding experience influences ovipositional but not feeding preference in a polyphagous insect herbivore', Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, vol.138, no.2, pp 137-145

Martin P, Johnson SN, (2011) 'Evidence that elevated CO₂ reduces resistance to the European large raspberry aphid in some raspberry cultivars', Journal of Applied Entomology, vol.135, no.3, pp 237-240

Mitchell C, Brennan RM, Cross JV, Johnson SN, (2011) 'Arthropod pests of currant and gooseberry crops in the U.K.: their biology, management and future prospects', Agricultural and Forest Entomology, vol.13, no.3, pp 221-237

Newton AC, Johnson SN, Gregory PJ, (2011) - Implications of climate change for diseases, crop yields and food security', Euphytica, vol.179, no.1, pp 3-18

Johnson SN, McNicol JW, (2010) 'Elevated CO₂ and aboveground-belowground herbivory by the clover root weevil', Oecologia, vol.162, no.1, pp 209-216

Mitchell C, Johnson SN, Gordon SC, Birch ANE, Hubbard SF, (2010) 'Combining plant resistance and a natural enemy to control Amphorophora idaei', Biocontrol, vol.55, no.3, pp 321-327

Johnson SN, Petitjean S, Clark KE, Mitchell C, (2010) 'Protected raspberry production accelerates onset of oviposition by vine weevils (Otiorhynchus sulcatus)', Agricultural and Forest Entomology, vol.12, no.3, pp 277-283

Johnson SN, Hallett PD, Gillespie TL, Halpin C, (2010) 'Belowground herbivory and root toughness: a potential model system using lignin-modified tobacco', Physiological Entomology, vol.35, no.2, pp 186-191

Johnson SN, Gregory PJ, McNicol JW, Oodally Y, Zhang X, Murray PJ, (2010) 'Effects of soil conditions and drought on egg hatching and larval survival of the clover root weevil (Sitona lepidus)', Applied Soil Ecology, vol.44, no.1, pp 75-79

Murray PJ, Gregory PJ, Granger S, Headon DM, Johnson SN, (2010) 'Dispersal of soil-dwelling clover root weevil (Sitona lepidus Gyllenhal; Coleoptera: Curculionidae) larvae in mixed plant communities', Applied Soil Ecology, vol.46, no.3, pp 422-425

Johnson SN, Hawes C, Karley AJ, (2009) 'Reappraising the role of plant nutrients as mediators of interactions between root- and foliar-feeding insects', Functional Ecology, vol.23, no.4, pp 699-706

McMenemy LS, Mitchell C, Johnson SN, (2009) 'Biology of the European large raspberry aphid (Amphorophora idaei): its role in virus transmission and resistance breakdown in red raspberry', Agricultural and Forest Entomology, vol.11, no.1, pp 61-71

Gregory PJ, Johnson SN, Newton AC, Ingram JSI, (2009) 'Integrating pests and pathogens into the climate change/food security debate', Journal of Experimental Botany, vol.60, no.10, pp 2827-2838

Johnson SN, Anderson A, Dawson G, Griffiths DW, (2008) 'Varietal susceptibility of potatoes to wireworm herbivory', Agricultural and Forest Entomology, vol.10, no.2, pp 167-174

Johnson SN, Crawford JW, Gregory PJ, Grinev DV, Mankin RW, Masters GJ, Murray PJ, Wall DH, Zhang XX, (2007) 'Non-invasive techniques for investigating and modelling root-feeding insects in managed and natural systems', Agricultural and Forest Entomology, vol.9, no.1, pp 39-46

Johnson SN, Zhang X, Crawford JW, Gregory PJ Young IM, (2007) 'Egg hatching and survival time of soil-dwelling insect larvae: a partial differential equation model and experimental validation', Ecological Modelling, vol.202, nos.3-4, pp 493-502

Zhang X, Johnson SN, Crawford JW, Gregory PJ, Young IM, (2007) 'A general random walk model for the leptokurtic distribution of organism movement: theory and application', Ecological Modelling, vol.200, nos.1-2, pp 79-88

Johnson SN, Zhang XX, Crawford JW, Gregory PJ, Hix NJ, Jarvis SJ, Murray PJ, Young IM, (2006) 'Effects of CO₂ on the searching behaviour of the root-feeding clover weevil', Bulletin of Entomological Research, vol.96, no.4, pp 361-366

Zhang X, Johnson SN, Gregory PJ, Crawford JW, Young IM, Murray PJ, Jarvis SC, (2006) 'Modelling the movement and survival of the root-feeding clover weevil, Sitona lepidus, in the root-zone of white clover', Ecological Modelling, vol.190, nos.1-2, pp 133-146

Johnson SN, Birch ANE, Gregory PJ, Murray PJ, (2006) 'The 'mother knows best' principle: should soil insects be included in the preference-performance debate?', Ecological Entomology, vol.31, no.4, pp 395-401

Johnson SN, Gregory PJ, (2006) 'Chemically-mediated host-plant location and selection by root-feeding insects', Physiological Entomology, vol.31, no.1, pp 1-13

Johnson SN, Gregory PJ, Greenham JR, Zhang X, Murray PJ, (2005) 'Attractive properties of an isoflavonoid found in white clover root nodules on the clover root weevil', Journal of Chemical Ecology, vol.31, no.9, pp 2223-2229

Johnson SN, Read DB, Gregory PJ, (2004) 'Tracking larval insect movement within soil using high resolution X-ray microtomography', Ecological Entomology, vol.29, no.1, pp 117-122

Johnson SN, Gregory PJ, Murray PJ, Zhang X, Young IM, (2004) 'Host plant recognition by the root-feeding clover weevil, Sitona lepidus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)', Bulletin of Entomological Research, vol.94, no.5, pp 433-439

Johnson SN, Elston DA, Hartley SE, (2003) 'Influence of heterogeneity in host plant quality for a birch aphid', Ecological Entomology, vol.28, no.5, pp 533-541

Johnson SN, Douglas AE, Woodward S, Hartley SE, (2003) 'Microbial impacts on plant-herbivore interactions: the indirect effects of a birch pathogen on a birch aphid', Oecologia, vol.134, no.3, pp 381-387

Johnson SN, Mayhew PJ, Douglas AE, Hartley SE, (2002) 'Insects as leaf engineers - can leaf-miners alter leaf structure for birch aphids?', Functional Ecology, vol.16, no.5, pp 575-584

Blackwell A, Johnson SN, (2000) 'Electrophysiological investigation of larval water and potential oviposition chemo-attractants for Anopheles gambiae s.s.', Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, vol.94, pp 389-398