Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/N008529/1
Exploring the role of deadwood in the forest soil carbon cycle
Training Grant Award
- Lead Supervisor:
- Professor JM Clark, University of Reading, Geography and Environmental Sciences
- Grant held at:
- University of Reading, Geography and Environmental Sciences
- Science Area:
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Terrestrial
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Global Change
- Natural Resource Management
- Science Topics:
- Biogeochemical Cycles
- Land - Atmosphere Interactions
- Soil science
- Water Quality
- Abstract:
- This will be the first study of its kind that aims to quantify the role of deadwood in the forest carbon (C) cycle across different UK woodland types, and how this is influenced by key environmental and management factors that control the rate of deadwood supply, storage and loss. The Forestry Commission/Forest Research (FC/FR) need data on the deadwood C cycle to provide evidence to show others how to best manage forests to combat climate change, as forests remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and store it in live trees, deadwood and soil. Standard forest management practices remove deadwood from the forest floor; yet the UK Biodiversity Action Plan recommends leaving deadwood in place to improve forest condition. FC/FR also need deadwood information for the UK forest C inventory so that the UK Government can report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) about their progress in meeting targets for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under the Kyoto Protocol. However, existing monitoring networks run by FC/FR were not set up to consider the deadwood C cycle. Therefore, this project will provide the data and tools needed to integrate data across four current FC/FR monitoring networks through novel field work, process based experiments and modelling. Advanced C cycle research will be enabled by access to advanced soil science techniques to at the University of Reading (UoR) not available at FC/FR. Deadwood provides food for decomposer organisms, who fix some C in their biomass, and release some CO2 back to the atmosphere and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to water flowing in to soils when it rains. At the moment, we don't know how much C is stored within deadwood in UK forests, and how much is lost to the atmosphere as CO2 or transferred as DOC to the soil C store. We think that the C stored and lost from deadwood will vary across the UK due to different environmental conditions, like tree type, soil type, climate and atmospheric pollution. Our recent PhD students have found that these environmental conditions affect the quality and amount of C is stored in soil (Villada, 2013) and that management practices of removing deadwood reduce DOC concentrations in soils (Sawicka, 2015). Yet, we really don't know what happens to DOC in soils, specifically whether it is degraded and released to the atmosphere as CO2, retained by sticking to soil particles or is lost to streams and rivers in drainage water. We need to measure C stores and losses in as many different places as possible under natural and experimental conditions, and put this new knowledge and data in to a computer model that will simulate deadwood C cycling in forests. This model will be used to explore how the deadwood C cycle works and how this could change as management and environmental conditions change at sites we have and have not studied. This will help FC/FR explain to forest managers how they can best manage deadwood to combat climate change. This exciting project led by FC/FR, co-produced with UoR, will provide outstanding research training through cutting-edge science that will benefit many research users in policy, industry and the general public. The student will join the NERC SCENARIO DTP cohort and be embedded in well-founded interdisciplinary research groups within UoR and FC/FR, each receiving over GBP11M per year in funding for environmental research. Employability will be enhanced by advanced training in areas of current skills shortage (NERC, 2012), specifically fieldwork, soil science, modelling, data management and research translation. The novel and topical research questions addressed will provide a platform to launch an international research career for the student. Their training and future career will be supported by building a diverse network of contacts within UoR, FC/FR and their partner organisations through networking events and by training within a cohort of future research leaders.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/N008529/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- DTG - directed
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Industrial CASE
This training grant award has a total value of £101,924
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - DSA | Total - Fees | Total - Student Stipend | Total - RTSG |
|---|---|---|---|
| £5,302 | £19,160 | £66,464 | £11,000 |
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