PostDoctoral Research Fellowship

Natali Susan M, Gainesville FL

Investigators

Abstract

This postdoctoral research fellowship focuses on the role of both warming and drying of soils on ecosystem carbon balance in upland tussock tundra in Alaska?s discontinuous permafrost zone. The PI hypothesizes that as tundra soil carbon reserves are exposed to higher temperatures and drier conditions, greater organic matter degradation will occur and CO2 fluxes to the atmosphere will increase. The proposed research involves experimental manipulations of both soil temperature and water table depth, in experimental plots that already have been established for a warming experiment. In addition to examining the additional effect of drying, and the combined effect of drying and warming, on the magnitude of CO2 fluxes, the PI will (1) measure the carbon-14 signature of the respired CO2 to determine the ?age? of the organic matter that is being decomposed, (2) investigate the contribution of deep versus shallow soil layers to CO2 fluxes, and (3) examine consequences of increased soil decomposition on nutrient cycling and plant growth. Results will be disseminated at conferences, in peer-reviewed publications, and through public outreach lectures. The PI will mentor undergraduates in the sponsoring scientist?s laboratory, and work with both graduate and undergraduate students in the field.