Potential DARD PhD studentship application DARD Priority Research Area 21: Land use, hedges and soil carbon sequestration Contact: proposed studentship supervisors: Dr Tancredi Caruso ([email protected]), Prof Ian Montgomery ([email protected]) (School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University) Project title: Effects of hedgerow management on soil animal biodiversity, fungal hyphae, aggregation and carbon sequestration Soil can be a major sink of carbon not only through the accumulation of above ground litter and its incorporation into the soil profile but also through photosynthesis as roots develop below ground. The carbon associated with roots stimulates the activity of soil organisms such as fungi and microarthropods, which can have major direct and indirect effects on carbon dynamics. Whether or not soil is a carbon sink depends on several factors including land use which is increasingly recognised as one of the major factors affecting soil carbon dynamics. It is also well established that agroecosystems have made soil a major source of atmospheric carbon. Agricultural practices such as tillage and use of fertilisers homogenise soil properties dramatically, thereby being detrimental to soil biodiversity and properties such as soil aggregation. Hedgerows play a key role in the prevailing pastoral agroecosystems of Northern Ireland and, more generally, northwest Europe: not only are hedges a reservoir of invertebrate and microbial diversity but they also protect soil from erosion and disaggregation. Hedgerows are very variable, for example in terms of size and shape, species composition and management. There are some studies of the ecology of the above ground biota in hedgerows, but very little is known about the below ground components beneath and adjacent to these vital structures. The aim of this project is to fill this knowledge gap focussing on the soil biology and chemistry within and close by field boundary hedges. The study will take advantage of background information already available for study sites in NI (through an existing DARD funded PhD project) adding new data on the below ground component. The major aims are: to characterise the soil animal community; establish the extra-radical, fungal hyphal length; measure soil aggregation; and, estimate major soil parameters such as organic C and N. These variables will be examined in relation to hedgerow management and other sources of above ground variability. This project will provide fundamental insight into agroecosystems and establish a basis for management prescriptions aimed at increasing soil carbon sequestration and, hence, global climatic stability. Closing date - 5pm, Friday 21 February 2014
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 15:21:28 +0000