DAERA PhD Studentship

Soil biogeochemical dynamics in Peatlands: Implications for climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation in Northern Ireland

Peatlands are important ecosystems for carbon storage, water regulation and conservation of endemic biodiversity in the island of Ireland. Despite the importance of natural peatlands, most of the peatlands are heavily disturbed, due to historic peat extraction, and/or due to intensive management for agricultural production. These disturbances generally involve drainage which disturbs the delicate balance of different environmental parameters that aided in the formation and sustenance of peat ecosystems. Peatlands have the greatest potential for carbon storage and sequestration per area than any other Northern Irish ecosystems, as mineral soil systems have a saturation/equilibrium point beyond which they lose potential to sequester carbon. Hence, peatlands are key ecosystems for ambitious net zero targets. Peatlands in natural state with higher water table are relatively high emitters of CH₄ compared to other ecosystems. This naturally high CH₄ emissions do not affect peatlands’ ability to act as carbon sinks. However, disturbances involving drainage, dramatically increases CO₂ emissions and turn peatlands from carbon sink to source, and have significant impact on climate change. In addition, intensive agricultural management involving nutrient addition, potentially increases N₂O emissions to the atmosphere, the most potent greenhouse gas further impacting climate change. Soil microbes and invertebrates regulate nutrient availability for plants and many other ecosystem services essential for healthy functioning of an ecosystem. Despite the importance of soil biodiversity in Northern Irish peatlands and their role maintaining peatland functions, they are largely unexplored. In this project we aim to quantify the impact of disturbances on peat soil biodiversity, GHG emissions and their complex environmental interactions.

·      Quantify the impact of intensive grassland management on soil biodiversity (invertebrate and microbial communities) and greenhouse gas (CO_2, CH₄, and N₂O) emissions

·      Explore the impact of peatland disturbance on trophic (soil food web) interactions between soil macro- and micro-organisms, and the ecosystem services they provide (nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration etc).

·      Identify the biogeochemical controls on greenhouse gas emissions, to identify ideal management practices for increased carbon storage and native biodiversity conservation in Norther Irish Peatlands.

Student skills and career development:

This is an excellent opportunity for students to develop skills in following subject areas: Ecosystem monitoring, Soil biogeochemistry, Soil biodiversity. Plant-soil interactions, Peatland biogeochemical cycling, Field experimental design etc. The students will have opportunity to get training in important technical research skills such as soil/vegetation processing for biochemical analyses, different lab procedures for soil and plant nutrient and carbon analyses, procedures for extraction, analyses and characterisation of soil organisms, static and dynamic chamber method to measure GHG emissions from soil, field sampling techniques, statistical analyses etc. These skills have wide scale applications in agriculture and environmental science beyond peatland ecology. The student will also have training on various soft skills as part of the PhD programme, including scientific writing and communication skills. The student will have opportunity to lead and publish scientific papers and will be provided with relevant training from the supervisory team that hold editorial roles in reputed journals. The student will also have opportunities to attend and present in international conferences.