About the Project
English lowland peat occupies 958 km2 (Natural England 2010) and stores large amounts of carbon. Nearly all fen peatland was drained and cultivated for intensive agriculture. In eastern England, this has led to peat loss rates of ~1cm yr-1 under intensive agriculture (Richardson & Smith 1977), with associated high CO2 emissions. Until recently, most direct measurements of CO2 and other GHG fluxes for UK peatlands came from upland blanket bogs, which have different ecosystem properties from fens. Recent studies by the supervisors as part of DEFRA and NERC projects have, however, highlighted the scale of GHG fluxes for lowland peats, particularly those under agricultural management, with emissions of 7.3 Mt CO2-eq yr-1 under arable, representing the largest land-based source of GHG emissions in the UK (Evans et al. 2016). These studies also indicate that crop type and disturbance are less important than water table in controlling the scale of the GHG flux.
Based partially on existing data, the studentship will evaluate the impact of innovative agricultural management practices on GHG emissions at lowland peat sites in East Anglia. Initial research there has provided the first direct CO2 flux measurements using eddy covariance (EC) of an intensively cultivated lowland peatland in the UK using eddy covariance (Morrison et al. 2013; Cumming et al. in prep). We now wish to build on these baseline data to explore the impact of altered agricultural management that is aimed specifically at reducing GHG emissions The studentship will focus on setting up and running two flux towers at co-located sites in order to explore the relationship between GHG fluxes and land/water management practices and the potential to reduce emissions from agriculture on organic soils. The work will complement an on-going NERC project and have significant impact potential for the UK GHG budget and the UK/European peat horticultural industry.
Research questions:
• What is the impact of past and present land use on GHG emissions in lowland Fens?
• How do agricultural management practices drive GHG emissions in lowland Fens?
• Can implementation of innovative management approaches provide effective measures for GHG emissions mitigation?
Funding Notes
For UK Students: Fully funded College of Science and Engineering studentship available, 3 year duration.
For EU Students: Fully funded College of Science and Engineering studentship available, 3 year duration
For International (Non-EU) Students: Stipend and Home/EU level fee waiver available, 3 years duration. International students will need to provide additional funds for remainder of tuition fees.
Please direct informal enquiries to the project supervisor.
If you wish to apply formally, please do so via: https://www2.le.ac.uk/colleges/scieng/research/pgr and selecting the project from the list.
References
Aubinet, M., Vessala, T. and Papale, D., (2012). Eddy Covariance: A Practical Guide to Measurement and Data Analysis. Springer, Dordrecht.
Baldocchi, DD (2003). Assessing the eddy covariance technique for evaluating ecosystem carbon dioxide exchange rates of ecosystems. GCB. 9: 479-492.
Dawson, Q, Kechavarzi, C, Leeds-Harrison, PB & Burton, RGO (2010). Subsidence and degradation of agricultural peatlands in the Fenlands of Norfolk, UK. Geoderma. 154: 181-187.
Gauci, V. (2008). Great Fen Project: Carbon Balance and Offset Potential of the Great Fen Project. The Open University and Gauci Land Carbon Consulting
Morrison, R, Cumming, AMJ, Taft, HE, Kaduk, J, Page, SE, Jones, DL, Harding, RJ & Balzter, H (2013) Carbon dioxide fluxes at an intensively cultivated temperate lowland peatland in the East Anglian Fens, UK. Biogeosciences Discuss. 10: 4193-4223
Natural England (2010). England's peatlands: carbon storage and greenhouse gases (NE257). Online:http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/30021?category=24011.
Continue with Facebook
