2026 Robert I. Griffiths: Environmental Sciences Researcher – H-Index, Publications & Awards

Discipline name	D-Index	World Ranking	Current World Ranking	National Ranking	Current National Ranking	Publications	Citations
Environmental Sciences	51	4623	4423	355	344	113	20485

Overview

Robert I. Griffiths is affiliated with the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Their research spans multiple fields within agricultural and biological sciences as well as environmental science. The primary focus areas include soil science, ecology, and plant science, with contributions to molecular biology and insect science as subfields.

The scientist's main topics of work encompass soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics, microbial community ecology and physiology, and the interactions between mycorrhizal fungi and plants. Additional subjects studied include gut microbiota and health, forest ecology and biodiversity studies, peatlands and wetlands ecology, and soil and water nutrient dynamics.

Their publication record features research articles in several prominent venues. Frequent publication outlets include bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), European Journal of Soil Science, Frontiers in Microbiology, Soil Biology and Biochemistry, and Plant and Soil.

Selected recent papers authored or co-authored by Robert I. Griffiths include:

Harnessing rhizosphere microbiomes for drought-resilient crop production (2020, Science)
Environmental and microbial controls on microbial necromass recycling, an important precursor for soil carbon stabilization (2020, Communications Earth & Environment)
Climate change alters temporal dynamics of alpine soil microbial functioning and biogeochemical cycling via earlier snowmelt (2021, The ISME Journal)
Interacting effects of land use type, microbes and plant traits on soil aggregate stability (2020, Soil Biology and Biochemistry)
Soil microbiomes show consistent and predictable responses to extreme events (2024, Nature)

Research collaborations involve recurring co-authors such as Tim Goodall, Davey L. Jones, Nick Ostle, Lisa Norton, and Richard D. Bardgett, with the strongest collaboration recorded with Tim Goodall.

Best Publications

Rapid Method for Coextraction of DNA and RNA from Natural Environments for Analysis of Ribosomal DNA- and rRNA-Based Microbial Community Composition

Robert I. Griffiths;Andrew S. Whiteley;Anthony G. O'Donnell;Mark J. Bailey

1997
Citations
Soil bacterial networks are less stable under drought than fungal networks.

Franciska T. de Vries;Rob I. Griffiths;Mark Bailey;Hayley Craig

1876
Citations
Plant diversity increases soil microbial activity and soil carbon storage

Markus Lange;Nico Eisenhauer;Carlos Sierra;Holger Bessler

1711
Citations
Global change pressures on soils from land use and management.

Pete Smith;Joanna Isobel House;Mercedes Bustamante;Jaroslava Sobocká

1048
Citations
The bacterial biogeography of British soils.

Robert I. Griffiths;Bruce C. Thomson;Phillip James;Thomas Bell

956
Citations
Soil networks become more connected and take up more carbon as nature restoration progresses

Elly Morriën;S. Emilia Hannula;L. Basten Snoek;Nico R. Helmsing

880
Citations
Land use driven change in soil pH affects microbial carbon cycling processes

Ashish A. Malik;Jeremy Puissant;Kate M. Buckeridge;Tim Goodall

858
Citations
Harnessing rhizosphere microbiomes for drought-resilient crop production

Franciska T. de Vries;Franciska T. de Vries;Rob I. Griffiths;Christopher G. Knight;Oceane Nicolitch

803
Citations
RNA Stable Isotope Probing, a Novel Means of Linking Microbial Community Function to Phylogeny

Mike Manefield;Andrew S. Whiteley;Robert I. Griffiths;Mark J. Bailey

737
Citations
Biogeochemical cycles and biodiversity as key drivers of ecosystem services provided by soils

P. Smith;M. F. Cotrufo;C. Rumpel;K. Paustian

518
Citations
Niche specialization of terrestrial archaeal ammonia oxidizers

Cécile Gubry-Rangin;Brigitte Hai;Christopher Quince;Marion Engel

485
Citations
Raman microscopic analysis of single microbial cells

Wei E Huang;Robert I Griffiths;Ian P Thompson;Mark J Bailey

479
Citations
Soil fungal : Bacterial ratios are linked to altered carbon cycling

Ashish A. Malik;Somak Chowdhury;Veronika Schlager;Anna Oliver

451
Citations
Persistence of dissolved organic matter explained by molecular changes during its passage through soil

Vanessa-Nina Roth;Markus Lange;Carsten Simon;Norbert Hertkorn

438
Citations
PTH and the risks for hip, vertebral, and pelvic fractures among patients on dialysis.

Mark D. Danese;John Kim;Quan V. Doan;Michelle Dylan

394
Citations
Raman-FISH: combining stable-isotope Raman spectroscopy and fluorescence in situ hybridization for the single cell analysis of identity and function

Wei E. Huang;Kilian Stoecker;Robert Griffiths;Lyndsay Newbold

388
Citations
PIPITS: an automated pipeline for analyses of fungal internal transcribed spacer sequences from the Illumina sequencing platform

Hyun S. Gweon;Anna Oliver;Joanne Taylor;Tim Booth

352
Citations
Legacy effects of drought on plant–soil feedbacks and plant–plant interactions

Aurore Kaisermann;Aurore Kaisermann;Franciska T. de Vries;Robert I. Griffiths;Richard D. Bardgett

322
Citations
Catchment-scale biogeography of riverine bacterioplankton

Daniel S Read;Hyun S Gweon;Michael J Bowes;Lindsay K Newbold

276
Citations
Ecological network analysis reveals the inter-connection between soil biodiversity and ecosystem function as affected by land use across Europe

R.E. Creamer;S.E. Hannula;J.P.Van Leeuwen;D. Stone;D. Stone

265
Citations
Environmental and microbial controls on microbial necromass recycling, an important precursor for soil carbon stabilization

Kate M. Buckeridge;Kate M. Buckeridge;Kelly E. Mason;Niall P. McNamara;Nick Ostle

254
Citations
Physiological and Community Responses of Established Grassland Bacterial Populations to Water Stress

Robert I. Griffiths;Andrew S. Whiteley;Anthony G. O'Donnell;Mark J. Bailey

247
Citations

Frequent Co-Authors

Mark J. Bailey Natural Environment Research Council

Andrew S. Whiteley Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

Philippe Lemanceau INRAE : Institut national de recherche pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement

Davey L. Jones Bangor University

Nick Ostle Lancaster University

Niall P. McNamara UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

Gerd Gleixner Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry

Thomas M. Coffman Duke University

Richard D. Bardgett Lancaster University

David A. Robinson UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

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