Staff profile

My research falls broadly into the following themes: connectivity, patterns and processes, climate change and extreme events, ecohydrology and ecogeomorphology, land degradation, critical transitions and ecosystem state change, biogeochemical fluxes, and biophysical resilience of drylands. 

Most of my research to date has been in drylands, where low rainfall and high land-use pressures make these feedbacks between abiotic and biotic components of the system particularly pronounced, and often alter the capacity of these systems to provide essential ecosystem services. At the moment my work is focused on effects of land degradation on erosion and what this means in terms of carbon storage, both in above-ground biomass, and soil carbon stores. 

More recent work is exploring pharmaceuticals in UK surface waters, and how catchment connectivity influences the transfer of compounds through the river network. 

My research relies heavily on multiple approaches: experimental work, long-term data synthesis, remote sensing, process-based modelling and network analysis. 

I was the director of the EU Horizon 2020 i-CONN network (www.iconn.network) which developed network science approaches and applications to better understand complex systems, which is relevant to all of the reserach themes that I research.

 

Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Durham University & Director of i-CONN Innovative Training Network (2019 - 2024)

Chapter in book

• Caylor, K. K., Okin, G. S., Turnbull, L., Wainwright, J., Wiegand, T., Franz, T. E., & Parsons, A. J. (2013). Integrating short-and long-range processes into .models: the emergence of pattern. In Patterns of Land Degradation in Drylands: Understanding Self-Organised Ecogeomorphic Systems. Springer Verlag
• Cerda, A., Gallart, F., Li, J., Papanastasis, V. P., Parmenter, R. R., Turnbull, L., Parsons, A. J., & Wainwright, J. (2013). Long-range ecogeomorphic processes. In Patterns of Land Degradation in Drylands: Understanding Self-Organised Ecogeomorphic Systems. Springer Verlag
• Mueller, E. N., Wainwright, J., Parsons, A. J., & Turnbull, L. (2013). Land degradation in drylands: an ecogeomorphological approach. In Patterns of Land Degradation in Drylands: Understanding Self-Organised Ecogeomorphic Systems. Springer Verlag
• Turnbull, L., Wainwright, J., & Ravi, S. (2013). Vegetation change in the southwestern USA: patterns and processes. In Patterns of Land Degradation in Drylands: Understanding Self-Organised Ecogeomorphic Systems. Springer Verlag
• Turnbull, L., Hochstrasser, T., Wieczorek, M., Baas, A., Wainwright, J., Scarsoglio, S., Tietjen, B., Jeltsch, F., & Mueller, E. N. (2013). Approaches to modelling ecogeomorphic systems. In Patterns of Land Degradation in Drylands: Understanding Self-Organised Ecogeomorphic Systems. Springer Verlag
• Jeltsch, F., Lefever, R., Turnbull, L., Scarsoglio, S., Alados, C. L., Rallart, F., Mueller, E. N., Millington, J., Wainwright, J., Wierzoerek, M., & Grimm, V. (2013). Resilience, self-organization, complexity and pattern formation. In Patterns of Land Degradation in Drylands: Understanding Self-Organised Ecogeomorphic Systems. Springer Verlag

Edited book

• Mueller, E., Wainwright, J., Parsons, A., & Turnbull, L. (Eds.). (2013). Patterns of Land Degradation in Drylands: Understanding Self-Organised Ecogeomorphic Systems. Springer Verlag

Journal Article

• Tiwari, S., Turnbull, L., & Wainwright, J. (2025). Local-and Global-Scale Hydrological and Sediment Connectivity over Grassland and Shrubland Hillslopes. Journal of Hydrology, 655, Article 132896. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.132896
• Priß, D., Wainwright, J., Lawrence, D., Turnbull, L., Prell, C., Karittevlis, C., & Ioannides, A. A. (2025). Filling the Gaps—Computational Approaches to Incomplete Archaeological Networks. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 32(1), Article 19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-024-09688-z
• Oliveira Guirro, M., Hodge, R., Clubb, F., & Turnbull, L. (2025). Network‐Scale Dynamics of Alluvial Cover in a Mixed Bedrock‐Alluvial River. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 130(3), Article e2024JF007968. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024jf007968
• Tiwari, S., Recinos Brizuela, S., Hein, T., Turnbull, L., Wainwright, J., & Funk, A. (2024). Water‐controlled ecosystems as complex networks: Evaluation of network‐based approaches to quantify patterns of connectivity. Ecohydrology, 17(7), Article e2690. https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.2690
• Poeppl, R., Polvi, L., & Turnbull, L. (2023). (Dis)connectivity in hydro-geomorphic systems - emerging concepts and their applications. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 48(6), 1089-1094. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.5574
• Osumgborogwu, I. E., Wainwright, J., Turnbull, L., & Uzoigwe, L. O. (2022). A multi‐method approach to analyse changes in gully characteristics between 2009 and 2018 in southeast Nigeria. Land Degradation and Development, 33(9), 1398-1409. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.4246
• Newman-Thacker, F., & Turnbull, L. (2021). Investigating the drivers of the unprecedented Chernobyl Power Plant Wildfire in April 2020 and its effects on 137Cs dispersal. Natural Hazards, 109(2), 1877-1897. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-021-04902-7
• Voutsa, V., Battaglia, D., Bracken, L., Brovelli, A., Costescu, J., Diaz Munoz, M., Fath, B. D., Funk, A., Guirro, M., Hein, T., Kerschner, C., Kimmich, C., Lima, V., Messe, A., Parsons, A. J., Perez, J., Poeppl, R., Prell, C., Recinos, S., Shi, Y., …Huett, M.-T. (2021). Two classes of functional connectivity in dynamical processes in networks. Journal of the Royal Society. Interface, 18(183), Article 20210486. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2021.0486
• Turnbull, L., & Wainwright, J. (2018). From structure to function: understanding shrub encroachment in drylands using hydrological and sediment connectivity. Ecological Indicators, 98, 608-618. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.11.039
• Turnbull, L., Hütt, M., Ioannides, A., Kininmonth, S., Poeppl, R., Tockner, K., Bracken, L., Keesstra, S., Liu, L., Masselink, R., & Parsons, A. (2018). Connectivity and complex systems: learning from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Applied Network Science, 3, Article 11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41109-018-0067-2
• Nunes, J. P., Wainwright, J., Bielders, C. L., Darboux, F., Fiener, P., Finger, D., & Turnbull, L. (2018). Better models are more effectively connected models. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 43(6), 1355-1360. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.4323
• Weller, N., Childers, D., Turnbull, L., & Upham, R. (2016). Aridland constructed treatment wetlands I: Macrophyte productivity, community composition, and nitrogen uptake. Ecological Engineering, 97, 649-657. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2015.05.044
• Sanchez, C. A., Childers, D. L., Turnbull, L., Upham, R. F., & Weller, N. (2016). Aridland constructed treatment wetlands II: Plant mediation of surface hydrology enhances nitrogen removal. Ecological Engineering, 97, 658-665. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2016.01.002
• Moreno-de las Heras, M., Turnbull, L., & Wainwright, J. (2016). Seed-bank structure and plant-recruitment conditions regulate the dynamics of a grassland-shrubland Chihuahuan ecotone. Ecology, 97(9), 2303-2318. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.1446
• Cunliffe, A. M., Puttock, A. K., Turnbull, L., Wainwright, J., & Brazier, R. E. (2016). Dryland, calcareous soils store (and lose) significant quantities of near-surface organic carbon. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 121(4), 684-702. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015jf003628
• Moreno-de las Heras, M., Diaz-Sierra, R., Turnbull, L., & Wainwright, J. (2015). Assessing vegetation structure and ANPP dynamics in a grassland–shrubland Chihuahuan ecotone using NDVI–rainfall relationships. Biogeosciences, 12(10), 2907-2925. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-2907-2015
• Bracken, L. J., Turnbull, L., Wainwright, J., & Bogaart, P. (2015). Sediment connectivity: a framework for understanding sediment transfer at multiple scales. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 40(2), 177-188. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3635
• Hale, R., Turnbull, L., Earl, S., Childers, D., & Grimm, N. (2015). Stormwater Infrastructure Controls Runoff and Dissolved Material Export from Arid Urban Watersheds. Ecosystems, 18(1), 62-75. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-014-9812-2
• Hale, R., Turnbull, L., Earl, S., Grimm, N., Riha, K., Michalski, G., Lohse, K., & Childers, D. (2014). Sources and transport of nitrogen in arid urban watersheds. Environmental Science and Technology, 48(11), 6211-6219. https://doi.org/10.1021/es501039t
• Hallett, L., Hsu, J., Cleland, E. E., Collins, S. L., Dickson, T. L., Farrer, E. C., Gherardi, L. A., Gross, K. L., Hobbs, R. K., Turnbull, L., & Suding, K. N. (2014). Biotic mechanisms of community stability shift along a precipitation gradient. Ecology, 95(6), 1693-1700. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-0895.1
• Brazier, R. E., Turnbull, L., Wainwright, J., & Bol, R. (2014). Carbon loss by water erosion in drylands: implications from a study of vegetation change in the southwest USA. Hydrological Processes, 28(4), 2212-2222. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.9741
• Cleland, E. E., Collins, S. L., Dickson, T. L., Farrer, E. C., Gross, K. L., Gherardi, L. A., Hallett, L., Hobbs, R., Hsu, J., Turnbull, L., & Suding, K. (2013). Sensitivity of grassland plant community composition to spatial versus temporal variation in precipitation. Ecology, 94(8), 1687-1696. https://doi.org/10.1890/12-1006.1
• Turnbull, L., Parsons, A. J., Wainwright, J., & Anderson, J. P. (2013). Runoff responses to long-term rainfall variability in a shrub-dominated catchment. Journal of Arid Environments, 91, 88-94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2012.12.002
• Turnbull, L., Wilcox, B., Belnap, J., Ravi, S., D’Odorico, P., Childers, D., Gwenzi, W., Okin, G., Wainwright, J., Caylor, K., & Sankey, T. (2012). Understanding the role of ecohydrological feedbacks in ecosystem state change in drylands. Ecohydrology, 5(2), 174-183. https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.265
• Wilcox, B., Turnbull, L., Young, M., Williams, J., Ravi, S., Seyfried, M., Bowling, D., Scott, R., Germino, M., Caldwell, T., & Wainwright, J. (2012). Invasion of shrublands by exotic grasses: ecohydrological consequences in cold versus warm deserts. Ecohydrology, 5(2), 160-173. https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.247
• Wainwright, J., Turnbull, L., Ibrahim, T., Lexartza-Artza, I., Thomton, S., & Brazier, R. (2011). Linking Environmental Régimes, Space and Time: Interpretations of Structural and Functional Connectivity. Geomorphology, 126(3-4), 387-404. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2010.07.027
• Turnbull, L., Wainwright, J., & Brazier, R. (2011). Nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics during runoff events over a transition from grassland to shrubland in the south-western United States. Hydrological Processes, 25(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.7806
• Turnbull, L., Wainwright, J., Brazier, R., & Bol, R. (2010). Biotic and Abiotic Changes in Ecosystem Structure over a Shrub-Encroachment Gradient in the Southwestern USA. Ecosystems, 13(8), 1239-1255. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-010-9384-8
• Turnbull, L., Wainwright, J., & Brazier, R. (2010). Hydrology, erosion and nutrient transfers over a transition from semi-arid grassland to shrubland in the South-Western USA: A modelling assessment. Journal of Hydrology, 388(3-4), 258-272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2010.05.005
• Turnbull, L., Wainwright, J., & Brazier, R. (2010). Changes in hydrology and erosion over a transition from grassland to shrubland. Hydrological Processes, 24(4), 393-414. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.7491
• Turnbull, L., Brazier, R., Wainwright, J., Dixon, L., & Bol, R. (2008). Use of carbon isotope analysis to understand semi-arid erosion dynamics and long-term semi-arid land degradation. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, 22(11), 1697-1702. https://doi.org/10.1002/rcm.3514
• Turnbull, L., Wainwright, J., & Brazier, R. (2008). A conceptual framework for understanding semi-arid land degradation: ecohydrological interactions across multiple-space and time scales. Ecohydrology, 1(1), 23-34. https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.4

Other (Print)

• Turnbull, L. (2011). Phosphorus and food security: Framing a global sustainability challenge through art