Debbie's research interests fall into two main areas: crop physiology and sustainable agriculture. Current research areas include: Exploiting resource use efficiency and resilience of ancient wheat species Sugar beet physiology and agronomy Impact of minimum tillage on soil structure and crop production Bioenergy from wheat straw: investigating differences between varieties and agronomic practices

QUAN XIE, SEAN MAYES and DEBBIE SPARKES, 2016. Early anthesis and delayed but fast leaf senescence contribute to individual grain dry matter and water accumulation in wheat Field Crops Research. 187, 24-34 TOWNSEND, T.J., SPARKES, D.L. and WILSON, P., 2016. Food and Bioenergy: Reviewing the Potential of Dual-Purpose Wheat Crops. Global Change Biology: Bioenergy. XIE, Q, MAYES, S and SPARKES, DL, 2016. Optimising tiller production and survival for grain yield improvement in wheat Annals of Botany. 117, 51-66 MANGALASSERY, S., MOONEY, S. J., SPARKES, D. L., FRASER, W. T. and SJOEGERSTEN, S., 2015. Impacts of zero tillage on soil enzyme activities, microbial characteristics and organic matter functional chemistry in temperate soils EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL BIOLOGY. 68, 9-17 ANDREW, I. K. S., STORKEY, J. and SPARKES, D. L., 2015. A review of the potential for competitive cereal cultivars as a tool in integrated weed management WEED RESEARCH. 55(3), 239-248 QUAN XIE, SEAN MAYES and DEBBIE SPARKES, 2015. Carpel size, grain filling, and morphology determine individual grain weight in wheat Journal of Experimental Botany. 6715-6730 QUAN XIE, SEAN MAYES and DEBBIE SPARKES, 2015. Spelt as a genetic resource for yield component improvement in bread wheat Crop Science. MANGALASSERY, S., SJOEGERSTEN, S., SPARKES, D. L. and MOONEY, S. J., 2015. Examining the potential for climate change mitigation from zero tillage JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE. 153(7), 1151-1173 MANGALASSERY S, SJ?GERSTEN S, SPARKES DL, STURROCK CJ, CRAIGON J and MOONEY SJ, 2014. To what extent can zero tillage lead to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from temperate soils? Scientific reports. 4, 4586 GAJU, OORBESSY, REYNOLDS, MATTHEW P., SPARKES, DEBBIE L., MAYES, SEAN, RIBAS-VARGAS, GRACIA, CROSSA, JOSE and FOULKES, M. JOHN, 2014. Relationships between physiological traits, grain number and yield potential in a wheat DH population of large spike phenotype FIELD CROPS RESEARCH. 164, 126-135 AL-SHAREEF, I, SPARKES, DL and AZAM-ALI, SN, 2014. Temperature and drought stress effects on growth and development of bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea L.) Experimental Agriculture. 50, 72-89 MANGALASSERY, S, SJORGERSTEN, S, SPARKES, DL, STURROCK, CJ and MOONEY, SJ, 2013. The effect of soil aggregate size on pore structure and its consequence on emission of greenhouse gases Soil and Tillage Research. 132, 39-46 MANGALASSERY, S., SJOEGERSTEN, S., SPARKES, D. L., STURROCK, C. J. and MOONEY, S. J., 2013. The effect of soil aggregate size on pore structure and its consequence on emission of greenhouse gases SOIL & TILLAGE RESEARCH. 132, 39-46 XIE, Q., KANG, H., SPARKES, D. L., TAO, S., FAN, X. M., XU, L., FAN, X., SHA, L., ZHANG, H., WANG, Y., ZENG, J. and ZHOU, Y., 2013. Mitotic and meiotic behavior of rye chromosomes in wheat - Psathyrostachys huashanica amphiploid x triticale progeny GENETICS AND MOLECULAR RESEARCH. 12(3), 2537-2548 XIE, QUAN, KANG, HOUYANG, SPARKES, DEBBIE LOUISE, TAO, SHAN, HU, ZHIQIN, XU, LILI, FAN, XING, SHA, LINA, ZHANG, HAIQIN, WANG, YI, ZENG, JIAN and ZHOU, YONGHONG, 2013. Cytogenetic identification of wheat-Psathyrostachys huashanica amphiploid x triticale progenies for English grain aphid resistance SCIENTIA AGRICOLA. 70(3), 161-166 FRASER, R, BOGAARD, A, HEATON, T, CHARLES, M, JONES, G, CHRISTENSEN, BT, HALSTEAD, P, MERBACH, I, POULTON, PR, SPARKES, D and STYRING, A, 2011. Manuring and stable nitrogen isotope ratios in cereals and pulses: towards a new archaeobotanical approach to the inference of land use and dietary practices Journal of Archaelogical Science. 38, 2790-2804 SPARKES DL, 2010. Are ‘ancient wheat species’ more adapted to hostile environments than modern bread wheat? South African Journal of Plant and Soil. 27, 331-333 GAJU, O., REYNOLDS, M.P., SPARKES, D.L. and FOULKES, M.J., 2009. Relationships between large-spike phenotypes, grain number and yield potential in spring wheat Crop Science. 49(3), 961-973 ATKINSON, B.S., SPARKES, D.L. and MOONEY, S.J., 2009. The impact of soil structure on the establishment of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) European Journal of Agronomy. 30(4), 243-257 ATKINSON, B.S., SPARKES, D.L. and MOONEY, S.J., 2009. Effect of seedbed cultivation and soil macrostructure on the establishment of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) Soil and Tillage Research. 103(2), 291-301 NYARKO, G., ALDERSON, P.G., CRAIGON, J., MURCHIE, E. and SPARKES, D.L., 2008. Comparison of cell membrane thermostability and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters for the determination of heat tolerance in ten cabbage lines Journal of Horticultural Science and Biotechnology. 83(5), 678-682 MALNOU, C.S., JAGGARD, K.W. and SPARKES, D.L., 2008. Nitrogen fertilizer and the efficiency of the sugar beet crop in late summer European Journal of Agronomy. 28(1), 47-56 SPARKES, D.L, BERRY, P.M. and KING, M., 2008. Effect of shade on root characters associated with lodging Annals of Applied Biology. 152, 389-395 SPARKES, D.L. and KING, M., 2008. Disentangling the effects of PAR and R:FR on lodging associated characters of wheat Annals of Applied Biology. 152, 1-9 ROLLETT, A.J., SPARKES, D.L. and WILSON, P., 2007. The legacy of stockless organic conversion strategies Annals of Applied Biology. 150(1), 107-113