Dr John Crothers died peacefully at home on 25th December 2024. Dr Rebecca Farley-Brown and Dr Steve Tilling have just produced a special Field Studies Journal paper looking back at his work. The paper includes a full list of John’s publications; here we discuss a few of them.
John Crothers spent his entire working life with Field Studies Council, first at Dale Fort, then as Warden at Nettlecombe Court, a post he held for over 30 years. His contribution to Field Studies Council was considerable, not least for the breadth and depth of his research. A full list of John’s publications is appended to a special Field Studies Journal paper.
Throughout his career John’s main research interest was the impact of environmental factors on marine organisms. He started his research at a time when there was an explosion of interest in ecology. While at Dale Fort John started research on marine invertebrates by updating the local species lists. He would continue to publish on marine invertebrates for over 40 years, with a particular focus on the Shore Crab and Dog-whelk.
From Field Studies Journal to AIDGAP
John was the long standing editor of Field Studies Journal (from 1976-2003), the Field Studies Council’s own peer-reviewed journal.
Although regarded as esoteric by some academics, the Journal reflected John’s determination to make all aspects of fieldwork understandable to non-specialists. In effect he was an advocate for delivering ‘public understanding’ decades before it became fashionable in education.
The popularity of some published papers convinced the Field Studies Council to create Field Studies Council Publications. One of the most successful spin-offs from the Journal has been the AIDGAP project (Aids to Identification of Difficult Groups of Animals and Plants).
AIDGAP is in essence a simple concept. Putting a scientific name to plants and animals, even those in ‘difficult groups’, should be something that non-specialists should be able to do. To achieve this, hundreds of ‘test versions’ were sent to non-specialists for trialling before the final version was published.
The transition of AIDGAP into a nationally recognised project, which undoubtedly influenced the approach used by publishers of natural history guides and identification keys well beyond the Field Studies Council, was overseen by John. It is truly a living legacy.
Pioneering citizen science
Long before ‘citizen science’ became fashionable, John saw the potential value of the student data collected at field centres. Although noisy, the large sizes of the datasets, with hundreds of observations at the same sites throughout the years, could show trends clearly.
Oil pollution was a continued threat to coastal habitats during John’s career. But also provided another opportunity for studying the impact of crude oil and dispersants on rocky shore plants and animals. Student distribution data from the 1950s onwards provided a resource for studying the change in rocky shore communities and the impact of pollution incidents. Barnacles, topshells and limpets proved useful as indicators of pollution damage.
In February 1996, the oil tanker Sea Empress ran onto rocks at the entrance to Milford Haven. It split 140,000 tonnes of crude oil, contaminating over 100 kilometres of the Pembrokeshire coastline. John used student data to monitor the fate and recovery of the limpets following the spill.
The Nettlecombe Grassland Experiment
Not all John’s research took place on the seashore. The Nettlecombe Grassland Experiment is a long-term study of natural ‘rewilding’ that has been running in the grounds of the Field Centre since 1968. It highlights the value of high quality yet accessible field biology.
Initially set up as a teaching experiment, it has enabled A-level biologists to investigate the impacts of grazing on succession. The chosen site was unremarkable: a grassy pasture ploughed and reseeded in 1960. Sixteen adjacent plots (each 10 feet square) were fenced off in 1967 to exclude large grazing animals. Since then the plots have been treated in one of four ways:
- A: Mown every 2 weeks during the growing season
- B: Mown once a year in June
- C: Unmown
- D: Cleared of turf in 1968 then left unmown
The dataset collected by students using point quadrats now stretches back over 50 years.
Synopses of the British Fauna
John was an active member of the ecological community serving on many committees over the years. His roles included: Fellow of the Linnean Society London (council member 1980-1984, editor 1991-2025); member of the Malacological Society (council member, vice president 1996-1999); and member of the British Ecological Society (serving on both the education and careers committees).
He also served as an Editor of the Linnean Society’s Series of Synopses of British Fauna from 1991-2025, a role he enjoyed and continued in later life as his mobility became more restricted. He oversaw the editing of 26 Synopses on groups including centipedes, marine nematodes, polychaetes; marine gastropods, and echinoderms.
A full list of John’s publications is appended to a special Field Studies Journal paper.