Monique Smith

I am currently working with my Formas mobility hosts Tim Machline and Ian Clark at Rothamsted Research, UK, looking at the effects of wheat dwarfing on the root microbiome. We are particularly interested in how changes in fungi or bacteria, due to this domestication event, has impacted modern wheat's ability to whithstand stress. Now that I have returned to Sweden I am continuing the project with my collaborator Mohammad Bahram and others at the Soil Ecology Unit. 

I completed my PhD at the University of Adelaide in South Australia with supervisors Assoc. Prof. José Facelli and Assoc. Prof. Timothy Cavagnaro. My thesis explored different aspects of restoring abandoned farmland into native grasslands with a main focus of amending soil conditions to favour native plants. Topics included community ecology, invasion ecology, niche partitioning and plant-soil interactions.

I then took a postdoc at SLU that looked at how diversification of agriculture, e.g. crop rotations, organic inputs etc., can influence crop yields and/or ecosystem services, such as nitrogen cycling. I used long-term agricultural experiments sourced from across Europe and the US to gain a deeper understanding of the trends and dynamics involved in diversified agriculture. My supervisor was Prof. Riccardo Bommarco and we worked in collaboration with Dr. Giulia Vico, Prof. Sara Hallin among others. 

Current supervisor for:

Sara Capitan, Insect- and plant-based circular systems, assistant supervisor

Louisa-Marlen Tägtmeyer, The dynamics of plant-microbe interactions, assistant supervisor

Previous supervisor for:

Janina Heinen 2020-2023, Multi-level trophic interactions in diversified cropping systems, assistant supervisor

Alessio Costa 2020-2024, Diversifying crop rotations for sustainable calorie and macronutrient production and climate change adaptation, assistant supervisor

Smith, M.E., Bommarco, R. & Vico, G., 2025, Rethinking crop rotational benefits under climate change: beyond the growing season, Invited Commentary in Global Change Biology, Volume 31, Issue 1, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70012

Reid, T., Kavamura, V.N., Torres-Ballesteros, A., Smith, M.E., Abadie, M., Pawlett, M., Clark, I.M., Harris, J.A. and Mauchline, T.H., 2024, Selection of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria in wheat is reduced with agricultural intensification, The ISME Journal 18, DOI 10.1093/ismejo/wrae131.

Costa, A., Bommarco, R., Smith, M.E., Bowles, T., Gaudin, A.C.M., Hallin, S., Watson, C.A., Alarcòn, R., Berti, A., Blecharczyk, A., Calderon, F.J., Culman, S., Deen, W., Drury, C.F., Garcia, A.G. y, García-Díaz, A., Plaza, E.H., Jonczyk, K., Jäck, O., Lehman, R.M., Montemurro, F., Morari, F., Onofri, A., Osborne, S.L., Pasamón, J.L.T., Sandström, B., Santín-Montanyá, I., Sawinska, Z., Schmer, M.R., Stalenga, J., Strock, J., Tei, F., Topp, C.F.E., Ventrella, D., Walker, R.L., Vico, G., 2024, Crop rotational diversity can mitigate climate-induced grain yield losses, Global Change Biology 30, DOI 10.1111/gcb.17298.

Heinen, J., Smith, M.E., Taylor, A., Bommarco, R., 2023. Combining organic fertilisation and perennial crops in the rotation enhances arthropod communities. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 349, 108461. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2023.108461

Smith, M.E., Vico, G., Costa, A., Bowles, T., Gaudin, A.C.M., Hallin, S., Watson, C.A., Alarcòn, R., Berti, A., Blecharczyk, A., Calderon, F.J., Culman, S., Deen, W., Drury, C.F., Garcia, A.G. y, García-Díaz, A., Plaza, E.H., Jonczyk, K., Jäck, O., Lehman, R.M., Montemurro, F., Morari, F., Onofri, A., Osborne, S.L., Pasamón, J.L.T., Sandström, B., Santín-Montanyá, I., Sawinska, Z., Schmer, M.R., Stalenga, J., Strock, J., Tei, F., Topp, C.F.E., Ventrella, D., Walker, R.L., Bommarco, R., 2023. Increasing crop rotational diversity can enhance cereal yields. Commun Earth Environ 4, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00746-0 

Smith M. E., Pound L. M. , Facelli J. M. (2021), Resource pre‐emption, rather than extending the growing season of native grass assemblages, reduces invasion by exotic species, Applied Vegetation Science 24 (4), e12613

Smith M. E., Cavagnaro T. R., Christmas M. J., Pound L. M., Facelli J. M. (2021), Site preparation impacts on soil biotic and abiotic properties, weed control, and native grass establishment, Restoration Ecology 29 (1), e13297

Smith M. E., Facelli J. M., Cavagnaro T. R. (2018), Interactions between soil properties, soil microbes and plants in remnant and old-field soils: a reciprocal transplant approach, Plant and Soil, 433:1-2, 127–145

Smith M.E., Delean S., Cavagnaro T. R., Facelli J. M. (2018), Evidence for species-specific plant responses to soil microbial communities from remnant and degraded land provides promise for restoration, Austral Ecology, 43:3, 301-308

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