About the Project
Trinity College Dublin has launched 40 fully funded PhD positions across a wide variety of disciplines. The 40 Provost’s PhD Project Awards are open to EU and Non-EU candidates and include an annual stipend of €16,000 for four years. These doctoral awards are generously funded through alumni donations and Trinity’s Commercial Revenue Unit. As part of the Provost’s PhD awards, the School of Natural Sciences, Botany discipline is seeking a highly qualified and motivated candidate to undertake a PhD project that will investigate the carbon and greenhouse gas dynamics of raised bog ecosystems.
Project background.
Peatlands are distinctive ecosystems that develop at the interface between terrestrial and aquatic biospheres, they cover only between 2-6% of the earth’s surface but play a significant role in global carbon (C), water and greenhouse gas (GHG) dynamics1,2. These ecosystems store approximately 15 x 102 Pg of C representing ~33% of the global soil C pool1,3, and contribute up to 30% of the global methane (CH4) emissions4, which has a global warming potential 26 times greater than carbon dioxide (CO2) over a 100-year timeframe. In Ireland, peatlands cover between 14-20% of the land area and sequester an estimated 72,000 t C yr-1, however much of this area has been modified by anthropogenic activities such as extraction for energy, horticulture or domestic purposes or through drainage for agriculture or forestry5. Such land management activities have significant implications for the C sequestration potential and GHG dynamics of these ecosystems, and the restoration of degraded areas is required to enhance the C sink strength of these ecosystems and further offset national GHG emissions. Of particular national significance is the occurrence of peat-forming raised bogs, such as Clara Bog, Co Offaly, an annex II habitat under the EU Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), which while degraded is one of the best examples of active raised bog in Western Europe. This project will investigate the C and GHG dynamics of this ecosystem. Specifically this project will:
• Quantify the net ecosystem C and GHG budgets of Clara bog and investigate the key environmental and ecological drivers of emissions.
• Assess the influence of inter-annual climatic variability and restoration activities on the biogeochemical cycles of Clara bog.
• Develop a gross primary productivity model that can be used to upscale the biogeochemical data by integrating eddy covariance flux data with remote sensing products.
• Parameterise the ECOSSE biogeochemical model for raised peatlands to assess the impacts of restoration management and future climate change on the biogeochemical cycles of these ecosystems.
• Inform national GHG emission inventories and the development of policy and practice for the protection and rehabilitation of degraded peatlands.
Funding Notes
This doctoral award is generously funded through alumni donations and Trinity’s Commercial Revenue Unit. This Provost’s PhD Project Award is open to EU and Non-EU candidates and includes full scholarship fees and an annual stipend of €16,000 for four years.
References
1. Bridgham, S., et al., 2006. The carbon balance of North American wetlands. Wetlands, 26, 889-916.
2. Knox, S,H., et al., 2017. Using digital camera and Landsat imagery with eddy covariance data to model gross primary production in restored wetlands. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 237-238, 233-245.
3. Kayranli, B., et al., 2009. Carbon storage and fluxes within freshwater wetlands: a critical review. Wetlands, 30, 111-124.
4. Cias, P., et al., 2013. Carbon and other biogeochemical cycles, in Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, S., T. F., et al., Editors, 2013, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp 505-510.
5. Wilson, D., et al., 2013. Carbon emissions and removals from Irish peatlands: current trends and future mitigation measures. Irish Geography, 46, 1-23.