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Professor David Rowlings
Faculty of Science,
School of Biology & Environmental Science
Biography
Associate Professor David Rowlings is a soil scientist in the Sustainable Agriculture program at the Centre for Agriculture and Bioeconomy. His research sits at the nexus of the environmental and agricultural science, enabling high impact research outcomes that benefit both fields for positive global change and food security. He specializes in the development and utilization of improved sensing and monitoring technologies for mitigating environmental greenhouse gases, improving crop fertiliser-use efficiency and monitoring soil carbon, reactive nitrogen and biogeochemical processes. His work spans the Australian beef, dairy, grains, sugar and horticulture industries and he has worked internationally in cropping and rice systems. Working with farmers, state governments, the composting industry and researchers from across Australia he currently leads the national Smart Farming Partnerships Unlocking the true value of organic soil amendments project to develop a farm-ready tool for the effective management of composts into farm fertiliser budgets for environmental, soil health and economic sustainability. Research Interest- Soil carbon and nitrogen cycling
- Reactive nitrogen, biogeochemical cycles, nitrogen use efficiency
- Subtropical and semi-arid tropical farming systems
- Utilising organic amendments for sustainable agriculture and soil health
- Dryland cropping, improved pastures and dairy farming systems
- Carbon neutral beef
Personal details
Positions
- Professor
Faculty of Science,
School of Biology & Environmental Science
Research field
Environmental management, Agriculture, land and farm management, Crop and pasture production
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2020
Qualifications
- PhD (Queensland University of Technology)
Professional memberships and associations
Soil Science Australia, Soil Science Society of America
Teaching
Course coordinator EVB312 - Soils in the environment
Publications
- Kirkby, R., Friedl, J., De Rosa, D., Clough, T., Rowlings, D. & Grace, P. (2024). Hybrid pathways of denitrification drive N2O but not N2 emissions from an acid-sulphate sugarcane soil. Biology and Fertility of Soils. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/245509
- Rowlings, D., Lester, D., Grace, P., Scheer, C., De Rosa, D., De Antoni Migliorati, M., Friedl, J. & Bell, M. (2022). Seasonal rainfall distribution drives nitrogen use efficiency and losses in dryland summer sorghum. Field Crops Research, 283. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/229908
- Takeda, N., Friedl, J., Rowlings, D., De Rosa, D., Scheer, C. & Grace, P. (2021). Exponential response of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions to increasing nitrogen fertiliser rates in a tropical sugarcane cropping system. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 313. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/208911
- Grace, P., van der Weerden, T., Rowlings, D., Scheer, C., Brunk, C., Kiese, R., Butterbach-Bahl, K., Rees, R., Robertson, G. & Skiba, U. (2020). Global Research Alliance N2O chamber methodology guidelines: Considerations for automated flux measurement. Journal of Environmental Quality, 49(5), 1126–1140. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/210547
- Mitchell, E., Scheer, C., Rowlings, D., Conant, R., Cotrufo, M. & Grace, P. (2018). Amount and incorporation of plant residue inputs modify residue stabilisation dynamics in soil organic matter fractions. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 256, 82–91. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/126951
- Friedl, J., De Rosa, D., Rowlings, D., Grace, P., Muller, C. & Scheer, C. (2018). Dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA), not denitrification dominates nitrate reduction in subtropical pasture soils upon rewetting. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 125, 340–349. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/126940
- Van Delden, L., Rowlings, D., Scheer, C., De Rosa, D. & Grace, P. (2018). Effect of urbanization on soil methane and nitrous oxide fluxes in subtropical Australia. Global Change Biology, 24(12), 5695–5707. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/126941
- De Rosa, D., Basso, B., Rowlings, D., Scheer, C., Biala, J. & Grace, P. (2017). Can organic amendments support sustainable vegetable production? Agronomy Journal, 109(5), 1856–1869. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/113855
- Scheer, C., Rowlings, D., Firrell, M., Deuter, P., Morris, S., Riches, D., Porter, I. & Grace, P. (2017). Nitrification inhibitors can increase post-harvest nitrous oxide emissions in an intensive vegetable production system. Scientific Reports, 7, 1–9. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/108678
- Rowlings, D., Scheer, C., Liu, S. & Grace, P. (2016). Annual nitrogen dynamics and urea fertilizer recoveries from a dairy pasture using 15N; effect of nitrification inhibitor DMPP and reduced application rates. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 216, 216–225. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/93887
QUT ePrints
For more publications by David, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Supervision
Current supervisions
- Combining Remote Sensing and Pasture Estimates as a Cost-Effective and Informative Approach to Predict Biomass and Soil Organic Carbon in Tropical Grasslands
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Peter Grace, Dr Elaine Mitchell, Dr Mark Bonner
Supervision topics
- Using time-controlled grazing to sequester carbon in Queensland rangelands
- Keeping carbon – ensuring soil carbon gains through improved grazing management persist through drought in Australia's tropical and semi-arid grasslands
- Co-benefits of trees on farms: soil carbon
- Using agricultural waste and organic amendments for sustainable agriculture and soil health
The supervisions listed above are only a selection.