Biomass: Carbon cycling in different land use types and underutilised crop systems (I.D code: BioP1-011)

Project Title: 

Carbon cycling in different land use types and underutilised crop systems

Project Description: 

A major challenge for agro-ecosystems is to maintain the ecosystem services provided by the natural system they replace. Current land use conversion from natural forest to oil palm plantation is associated with losses in diversity and changes in carbon and nutrient cycling.

This project will examine the extent to which underutilised crops and varying land use types (e.g. different plantation types, intercropping or underutilised cropping strategies) compare with the carbon cycling in tropical forests. This project will address distinct questions outlined below to determine how these cropping strategies or specific crops are able to contribute to, or alter C dynamics and the nature of these changes. Additionally, this project will aim to determine if using underutilised crops within a more diverse agricultural landscape will enable the reduced use of additional, external nutrient inputs. This would both contribute to the economic viability of plant species and also their ecological sustainability. 

Here we propose to quantify the C inputs and losses in natural forest, palm oil plantations and alterative CFFRC cropping systems by addressing the following specific Research Questions (RQs).

RQ(i): How do the quantity and quality of new organic material  vary across tropical vegetation types/cropping systems?

RQ(ii): What are the main controls on rates of decomposition and C losses in tropical soils? 

RQ(iii): What are the relationships between organic material content in differential vegetation types/cropping systems and the losses of carbon via terrestrial-aquatic leaching  and C emissions??

The PhD programme will include work at both the UK and Malaysia campus of the University of Nottingham. At the UK campus the candidate will carry out method development, analysis and focused mesocosm experiments while the field work will be carried out in Malaysia.

Level: PhD

Supervisors names and contact details 

1. Sofie Sjogersten Turner, School of Biosciences, UoN (Sofie.Sjogersten@nottingham.ac.uk) 
2. Stephanie Evers, School of Biosciences, UNMC (Stephanie.Evers@nottingham.edu.my) 

Deadline: 9th December 2013

Further information:

Crops for the Future Research Centre (CFFRC) is pleased to announce its support for a wide range of scholarship opportunities for postgraduate projects (PhD and MRes) registered at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus. Funded studentships will relate to the research themes and programmes of CFFRC.

Applicants should have a good first degree from an accredited institution in a relevant field. Students who do not speak English as a first language must also meet the relevant English language qualifications as determined by the School of Biosciences.

 Applicants are encouraged to contact the first supervisor listed in each instance for further information about the scholarship, including application details and entry requirements.

Please quote I.D. code on all correspondence.