Ph D position on the topic of Mycorrhiza and Carbon Sequestration available at SLU Uppsala. Deadline for applications is 2018-01-31.
Description
The boreal forest biome has accumulated soil carbon since the last glaciation, and understanding how this carbon sink is regulated is crucial in light of the potential climate feedbacks from these regions. New evidence pinpoints mycorrhizal fungi – living in symbiosis with plant roots - as key mediators of both soil carbon sequestration and loss. The goal of this project is to advance understanding of how different mycorrhizal types and communities regulate the carbon sink of boreal forests. Scientifically, this PhD project has two main parts. One part will be based on a field manipulation experiments to assess impacts of main fungal functional groups – the saprotrophic, the ectomycorrhizal and the ericoid mycorrhizal fungi – on soil processes in a boreal forest. The other part will investigate linkages between mycorrhizal fungal communities, forest biodiversity and carbon storage across a large-scale gradient of forest stands representing different levels of conservational values. Currently various methods are used to assess conservational value of forests when prioritizing among stands to harvest or to set aside for conservation of biodiversity. This project will evaluate how fungal communities and their activities are related to biodiversity of other organism groups and how different conservational value assessment methods capture fungal communities and their effects on soil processes.
For further information see
or contact Karina Clemmensen (Karina.Clemmensen@slu.se )
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Dr. Jessica K. Abbott
Senior University Lecturer
Department of Biology
Section for Evolutionary Ecology
Lund University
Sölvegatan 37
223 62 Lund, Sweden
Phone: 046 222 9304
Website: http://jessicakabbott.com
"It is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science."
- Charles Darwin, Descent of Man
