Publications

See Google Scholar for an up-to-date list, stars indicate co-led publications and co-authors in bold were supervised by AC.

Peer-Reviewed

Under consideration

Slade, G., D. Fawcett, A. Cunliffe, R. Brazier, K. Nyaupane, M. Mauritz, S. Vargas, K. and Anderson In Review), Optical reflectance across spatial scales – An inter-comparison of transect-based hyperspectral, drone, and satellite reflectance data for dry season rangeland, Drone Systems and Applications (manuscript ID: dsa-2023-0003)

Lomax, G., A. Cunliffe, T. Powell, T. Economou and T. Lenton (Submitted) African rangeland productivity appears robust to the temporal distribution of precipitation Global Change Biology (manuscript ID: GCB-22-1930).

Lenton, T., J. Abrams, A. Bartsch, S. Bathiany, N. Boers, C. Boulton, J. Buxton, A. Conversi, A. Cunliffe, S. Hebden, T. Lavergne, B. Poulter, A. Shepherd, D. Swingedouw, and R. Winkelmann (In Review) Remotely sensing climate change tipping points across scales, Nature Climate Change (manuscript ID: NCLIM-22081475A).

Millner, N., A. Cunliffe, M. Mulero-Pazmany, B. Newport, C. Sandbrook, S. Wich (In Review), Drone ecologies introduction: Exploring the opportunities and risks of aerial monitoring for biodiversity conservation, Global Social Challenges Journal. (Manuscript ID: GSCJ-D-22-00032).

Millner, N., A. Cunliffe, A. Jackman, Y. Laumonier, E. Lunstrum, M. Mulero-Pazmany, J. Paneque-Galvez, C. Sandbrook, S. Wich (In Review) Responsible drone use in biodiversity conservation: Guidelines for environmental and conservation organisations who use drones, Global Social Challenges Journal.

G. Phoenix, J. Bjerke, R. Björk, D. Blok, A. Bryn, T. Callaghan, C. Christiansen, A. Cunliffe, S. Davidson, H. Epstein, M. Loranty, J. Olofsson, T. Parker, F.-J. Parmentier, F. Stordal, R. Treharne, H. Tømmervik and C. Voigt (In Review) Extreme Event Drivers of Arctic Browning, Global Change Biology (manuscript ID is GCB-22-2253).

Gallois, E., I. Myers-Smith, G. Daskalova, J. Kerby, H. Thomas and A. Cunliffe (In Review) Summer litter decomposition is moderated by scale-dependent microenvironmental variation in tundra ecosystems, Oikos (Manuscript ID OIK-09867). Preprint on EcoEvoRxiv at 10.32942/osf.io/crup3.

2023

Zhu, S., J. McCalmont, L. Cardenas, A. Cunliffe, L. Olde, C. Signori-Muller, M. Litvak and T. Hill (2023) Gap-filling carbon dioxide, water, energy, and methane fluxes in challenging ecosystems: comparing between methods, drivers, and gap-lengths, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 332. DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2023.109365.

2022

Cunliffe, A., K. Anderson, F. Boschetti, R. Brazier, H. Graham, I. Myers-Smith, T. Astor, M. Boer, L. Calvo, P. Clark, M. Cramer, M. Encinas-Lara, S. Escarzaga, J. Fernández-Guisuraga, A. Fisher, K. Gdulová, B. Gillespie, A. Griebel, N. Hanan, M. Hanggito, S. Haselberger, C. Havrilla, P. Heilman, W. Ji, J. Karl, M. Kirchhoff, S. Kraushaar, M. Lyons, I. Marzolff, M. Mauritz, C. McIntire, D. Metzen, L. Méndez-Barroso, S. Power, J. Prošek, E. Sanz-Ablanedo, K. Sauer, D. Schulze-Brüninghoff, P. Šímová, S. Sitch, J. Smit, C. Steele, S. Suárez-Seoane, S. Vargas, M. Villarreal, F. Visser, Wachendorf, H. Wirnsberger, and R. Wojcikiewicz (2022) Global application of an unoccupied aerial vehicle photogrammetry protocol for predicting aboveground biomass in non-forest ecosystems. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation 8(1):57-71. DOI: 10.1002/rse2.228.

Cunliffe A*., Boschetti*, F., R. Clement, S. Sitch, K. Anderson, T. Duman, M. Schlumpf, M. Litvak, R. Brazier and T. Hill (2022) Strong correspondence in evapotranspiration and carbon dioxide fluxes between different eddy covariance systems enables quantification of landscape heterogeneity in dryland fluxes. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 127(8):e2021JG006240. DOI: 10.1029/2021JG006240.

Fawcett, D.*, A. Cunliffe^*, S. Sitch, M. O’Sullivan, K. Anderson, R. Brazier, T. Hill, P. Anthoni, A. Arneth, V. Arora, P. Briggs, D. Goll, A. Jain, X. Li, D. Lombardozzi, J. Nabel, B. Poulter, R. Séférian, H. Tian, N. Viovy, J.-P. Wigneron, A. Wiltshire and S. Zaehle (2022) Assessing model predictions of carbon dynamics in global drylands. Frontiers in Environmental Science – Drylands 10. DOI: 10.3389/fenvs.2022.790200

T. Lenton, J. Buxton, D. McKay, J. Abrams, C. Boulton, K. Lees, T. Powell, N. Boers, A. Cunliffe, V. Dakos (2022) A resilience sensing system for the biosphere. Philosophical Transactions B 377(1857). DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0383.

McIntire, C.*, A. Cunliffe*, F. Boschetti and M. Litvak (2022) Allometric relationships for predicting aboveground biomass, sapwood, and leaf area of two-needle piñon pine (Pinus edulis). Forest Science 68(2), 152-161. DOI: 10.1093/forsci/fxac001.

2020

Cunliffe, A., J. Assmann, G. Daskalova, J. Kerby, I. Myers-Smith (2020) Aboveground biomass corresponds strongly with drone-derived canopy height but weakly with greenness (NDVI) in a shrub tundra landscape. Environmental Research Letters 15(12) 125004. DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/aba470.

Cunliffe, A., C. McIntire, F. Boschetti, K. Sauer, M. Litvak, K. Anderson and R. Brazier (2020) Allometric relationships for predicting aboveground biomass and sapwood area of Oneseed Juniper (Juniperus monosperma) trees. Frontiers in Plant Science 11:1-12. DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.00094. Download PDF

Myers-Smith, I., J. Kerby, …A Cunliffe, et al. (2020) Complexity revealed in the greening of the Arctic, Nature Climate Change 10:106-117. DOI: 10.1038/s41558-019-0688-1.

Assmann, J., I. Myers-Smith, J. Kerby, A. Cunliffe, G. Daskalova (2020). Drone data reveal fine-scale variation of tundra greenness and phenology not captured by satellite and ground-based monitoring. Environmental Research Letters 15(12) 125002. DOI:10.1088/1748-9326/abbf7d.

2019

Cunliffe, A., G. Tanski, B. Radosavljevic, W. Palmer, T. Sachs, H. Lantuit, J. Kerby, and I. Myers-Smith (2019) Rapid retreat of permafrost coastline observed with aerial drone photogrammetry. The Cryosphere 13(5):1513-1528. DOI: 10.5194/tc-13-1513-2019.

Myers-Smith, I., …A. Cunliffe, et al. (2019) Eighteen years of ecological monitoring reveals multiple lines of evidence for tundra vegetation change. Ecological Monographs 89(2):1-21. DOI: 10.1002/ecm.1351.

Karthikeyan, K., D. Vasu, P. Tiwary, A. Cunliffe, S. Mariappan, P. Chandran and S. Singh (2019) Assessing the suitability of Vertisols for cotton (Gossypium sp.) production in two agro-ecological regions of India. Archives of Agronomy in Soil Science 65(7):698-679. DOI: 10.1080/03650340.2018.1542131. Download PDF

2018

Duffy*, J., A. Cunliffe*, L. DeBell, C. Sandbrook, S. Wich, J. Shutler and I. Myers-Smith and K. Anderson, (2018) Location, Location, Location: Considerations when using lightweight drones in challenging environments. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation 4(1):7-19. DOI: 10.1002/rse2.58.

Assmann, J., J. Kerby, A. Cunliffe, I. Myers-Smith (2018). Vegetation monitoring using multispectral sensors – best practices and lessons learned from high latitudes. Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems 7(1):54-75. DOI: 10.1139/juvs-2018-0018. Download PDF

2017

Cunliffe, A., J. Duffy, L. DeBell, and K. Anderson (2017). A UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)- approved operations manual for safe deployment for lightweight drones in research. International Journal of Remote Sensing 8-10:2737-2744. DOI: 10.1080/01431161.2017.1286059.

Puttock, A., H. Graham, A. Cunliffe, M. Elliott and R. Brazier (2017). Eurasian beaver activity increases water storage, attenuates flow and mitigates diffuse pollution from intensively-managed grasslands. Science of the Total Environment 576:430-443. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.10.122.

2016

Cunliffe, A., R. Brazier, and K. Anderson (2016). Ultra-fine spatial resolution landscape-scale monitoring of dryland vegetation structure with drone-acquired structure-from-motion photogrammetry. Remote Sensing of Environment 183:129-143. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2016.05.019. Download PDF

Cunliffe, A., A. Puttock, L. Turnbull, J. Wainwright and R. Brazier (2016) Dryland, calcareous soils store (and lose) significant quantities of organic carbon. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface 121(4):684-702. DOI: 10.1002/2015JF003628.

Cunliffe, A., (2016) Understanding Structure and Function in Semiarid Ecosystems: Implications for Terrestrial Carbon Dynamics in Drylands, University of Exeter, PhD Thesis.

2015

Puttock*, A., A. Cunliffe*, K. Anderson and R. Brazier (2015). Monitoring the impact of Eurasian beaver reintroduction on ecosystem structure using aerial photography collected from a multi-rotor drone. Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems 3(3):123-130. DOI: 10.1139/juvs-2015-0005. Download PDF

2013

Cunliffe, A., A. Baird and J. Holden (2013) Hydrological hotspots in blanket peatlands: Spatial variation in peat permeability around a natural soil pipe. Water Resources Research 49(9):5342-5354. DOI: 10.1002/wrcr.20435. Download PDF

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Other Publications

Cunliffe, A., J. Thomas, T. Feldpausch, T. Powell, and C. Philipson (2022-01-11) Multi-sensor remote sensing of forest condition in the Google Earth Engine Environment:
a report on Contract Research prepared for Permian Global by the University of Exeter’s Global Systems Institute.

Graham, H., P. Benaud, A. Cunliffe and A. Puttock (2021) Codebase for undertaking precision analysis on structure-from-motion surveys of vegetation. Archived on Zenodo DOI:10.5281/zenodo.5497801.

Cunliffe, A. and J. Snöälv (2020) Erosion of Arctic permafrost coastlines: a case study from Qikiqtaruk Island, solicited article published in Geography Review Magazine 34(3) :9-13, a magazine for A-level geography students.

M. García Criado, I. Myers-Smith, L. Baeten, A. Cunliffe, G. Daskalova, E. Gallois and J. Kerby. Sharing Is Caring: Working With Other People’s Data. Methods.Blog (blog), 4 September 2020.

Cunliffe, A. and K. Anderson (2019) Measuring Above-ground Biomass with Drone Photogrammetry: Data Collection Protocol, Protocol Exchange, DOI:10.1038/protex.2018.134.

Myers-Smith, I., H. Thomas, G. Daskalova, J. Assmann, A. Cunliffe, S. Angers-Blondin, and Other Members of Team Shrub (2017) Changing tundra ecosystems – Research by Team Shrub from the University of Edinburgh and Yukon Parks, Research Updates: From the Western and Central Canadian Arctic, ArcticNet December 2017 Newsletter.

Cunliffe, A. (2012) Channel change in the River Liza, Ennerdale, Cumbria: An examination of planform analysis, a report produced for the Wild Ennerdale NGO.

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Presented Papers

Cunliffe, A. Invited plenary panellist to the interdisciplinary workshop Drone Ecologies: Exploring the opportunities and risks of aerial monitoring for biodiversity conservation, hosted by the University of Bristol on 5-6th of July 2021

Cunliffe, A. Seen from above: The nexus between fine-scale remote sensing, ecology and geomorphology, University of Vienna International Lecture on Geomorphology 25th May 2021, Invited.

Cunliffe, A. et al. Drone derived canopy height predicts aboveground biomass in non-forest ecosystems across the globe, AGU 2020. B002-0010.

Cunliffe, A. From Arctic to Desert, Changing Environments and Drone Observations. University of Texas El Paso, Department of Biology, 16th October 2019, Invited.

Cunliffe, A., K. Anderson, F. Boschetti, H. Graham, R. Brazier, M. Cramer, C. Havrilla, J. Karl, C. McIntire, S. Power, I. Myers-Smith, K. Sauer, S. Sitch, J. Smit, M. Villarreal, and F. Visser Drone allometry around the world: measuring plant biomass in low-stature ecosystems. ESA Living Planet Symposium. Milan, May 2019.

Cunliffe, A., K. Anderson, F. Boschetti, H. Graham, R. Brazier, M. Cramer, C. Havrilla, J. Karl, C. McIntire, S. Power, I. Myers-Smith, K. Sauer, S. Sitch, J. Smit, M. Villarreal, and F. Visser. A global network to measure biomass in low-stature ecosystems: Drone photogrammetry for allometric inference. EGU, Vienna, April 2019. EGU2019-8639.

Boschetti, F., A. Cunliffe, R. Clement, S. Sitch, K. Anderson, M. Litvak, R. Brazier and T. Hill. Quantification of the spatial variability of CO2/H2O fluxes in dryland ecosystems using low-cost EC systems. EGU, Vienna, April 2019. EGU2019-7757.

Cunliffe, A., Taking to the warming skies: insights into ecosystem functions from remote sensing with drones, University of California Riverside, Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, March 2019 Invited.

Cunliffe, A., J.Kerby, H. Lantuit, G. Tanski and I. Myers-Smith, Monitoring Arctic change with drones, Arctic Change 2017, Quebec City, December 2017.

Kerby, J., I. Myers-Smith, J. Assmann, A. Cunliffe and the HiLDEN network. Meso-scale Arctic Ecology: Leveraging the High Latitude Drone Ecology Network (HiLDEN) to address longstanding knowledge gaps, Arctic Change 2017, Quebec City, December 2017.

Myers-Smith, I., A. Cunliffe, J. Kerby, T. Lantz, R. Fraser, J. van der Sluijs and E. Cheyne, Quantifying the drivers of rapid tundra vegetation change – increased productivity and permafrost thaw. Arctic Change 2017, Quebec City, December 2017.

Assmann, J., I. Myers-Smith, J. Kerby, A. Cunliffe, A. Phillimore and R.Ennos, Drone imagery reveals scale mismatch between satellite observed tundra greenness and on-the-ground vegetation monitoring, Arctic Change 2017, Quebec City, December 2017.

Cunliffe, A., J. Assmann, J. Kerby and I. Myers-Smith, Proximal remote sensing in Arctic ecology: insights from Qikiqtaruk, Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society Wavelength conference, Kingston University, 13^th March 2017. ***Awarded prize for best presentation***.

Cunliffe, A., K. Anderson and R. Brazier, Terrestrial Carbon in Degrading Drylands: Soils, Sediments & Plants from Drones, Hutton Club seminar, University of Edinburgh, 3^rd March 2017, Invited.

Puttock, A., R. Brazier, H. Graham, A. Cunliffe and M. Elliott, Eurasian beaver activity increases water storage, attenuates flow and mitigates diffuse pollution from intensively managed grasslands, State of the Beaver 2017, 24^th February 2017, Invited.

Cunliffe, A., R. Brazier and K. Anderson, Drone-acquired structure-from-motion photogrammetry for high-precision measurements of biomass in semi-arid rangelands, European Geosciences Union General Assembly, Vienna, Austria, 21^st April 2016. EGU2016-7888.

Cunliffe, A., A. Puttock, L. Turnbull, J. Wainwright and R. Brazier, Erosion-Induced Carbon Fluxes from Semiarid Rangelands: Implications of Vegetation Cover and Enrichment Dynamics for Carbon Inputs to Aquatic Systems, European Geosciences Union General Assembly, Vienna, Austria, 22^nd April 2016.

Brazier, R., A. Puttock, H. Graham, K. Anderson, A. Cunliffe and M.Elliot, Quantifying the multiple, environmental benefits of reintroducing the Eurasian Beaver, European Geosciences Union General Assembly, Vienna, Austria, 21^st April 2016, Invited.

Cunliffe, A., K. Anderson and R. Brazier, Structure and function in semi-arid ecosystems – Implications for terrestrial carbon dynamics, Geography Department seminar series, University of Exeter, 25^th February 2016.

Cunliffe, A., R. Brazier and K. Anderson, Drones in the desert: characterising biotic structure in semiarid rangelands via drone-acquired SfM, Environmental UAV Conference, John Moores University, Liverpool, UK, 7^th-8^th of July 2015.

Cunliffe, A., A. Puttock, K. Anderson and R. Brazier, The distribution and fluvial redistribution of soil organic carbon in semiarid rangelands, European Geosciences Union General Assembly, Vienna, Austria, 29^th of April 2014.

Cunliffe, A., K. Anderson and R. Brazier, Soil organic carbon in semiarid rangelands, British Society of Soil Science AGM, Lancaster, UK, 3^rd-5^th September 2013.

Data Publications

Boschetti, F. and Cunliffe, A. et al. (2021) Half hourly fluxes of sensible heat, latent energy and carbon observed by eight replicated eddy covariance towers in the Northern Chihuahuan Desert from 1st of Nov 2018 to 31st of Oct 2019. NERC Environmental Information Data Centre. DOI: 10.5285/e96466c3-5b67-41b0-9252-8f8f393807d7

Cunliffe, A., et al., (2020). Allometric modelling of plant biomass from drone-acquired photographs: drone images, ground control marker coordinates and biomass data from 36 sites, 2016-2020. NERC Environmental Information Data Centre. DOI:10.5285/1ec13364-cbc6-4ab5-a147-45a103853424

Cunliffe, A., J. Assmann, J. Kerby and I. Myers-Smith. (2020). Canopy height, spectral reflectance (NDVI), and aboveground biomass of Salix richardsonii across a wet graminoid-shrubland ecotone on Qikiqtaruk – Herschel Island, Yukon, Canada (2016). NERC Polar Data Centre. DOI:10.5285/61C5097B-6717-4692-A8A4-D32CCA0E61A9

Cunliffe, A., C. McIntire, F. Boschetti, K. Sauer, M. Litvak, R. Brazier, K. Anderson (2019). Field measurements of aboveground biomass, canopy area, stem diameter and sapwood area of Juniperus monosperma trees in New Mexico, collected in 2018 and 2019. NERC Environmental Information Data Centre. DOI:10.5285/871443a9-6634-4eba-abb5-286a1ab58e9b

Cunliffe, A., I. Myers-Smith. J. Kerby and W. Palmer (2019). Orthomosaic of permafrost landscape on Qikiqtaruk – Herschel Island, Yukon, Canada: August 2017. NERC Polar Data Centre. DOI:10.5285/29bf1c9f-a39a-452c-b9f9-de35d9fb9179.

Cunliffe, A., G. Tanski, B. Radosavljevic, W. Palmer, T. Sachs, J. Kerby; I. Myers-Smith (2019): Aerial images of eroding permafrost coastline, Qikiqtaruk – Hershel Island, Yukon, Canada. PANGAEA. DOI:10.1594/PANGAEA.901852