Clearcutting and subsequent site preparation affect the carbon balance of a forest stand, but forest carbon budgets usually only include carbon stocks and fluxes in vegetation and soils and neglect the significant proportion of carbon that is exported downstream via groundwater. This carbon in groundwater may eventually enter surface waters and evade from there to the atmosphere in form of carbon dioxide (CO2) or methane (CH4). Aquatic carbon emissions may constitute an overlooked pathway through which forestry affect the landscape carbon balance.

This project offers opportunities for a bachelor or master thesis to investigate forestry effects on groundwater CO2 and CH4 dynamics. The project focuses on groundwater in riparian zones affected by forest clearcutting and is embedded in a larger research project with a field experiment on riparian forest buffer zone management at the Trollberget experimental area near Vindeln.

Potential research questions to be addressed within the thesis project are:

(1) How does groundwater CO2 and CH4 vary in space and time and which environmental factors drive this variability?

(2) How does forest clearcutting and/or site preparation affect riparian groundwater CO2 and CH4 concentrations / export?

(3) How does riparian buffer width modify clearcut and/or site preparation effects on riparian groundwater CO2 and CH4 concentrations / export?

These are just suggestions and I am open to discuss own ideas!

The thesis student will be able to make use of already existing data.

For questions, please contact marcus.klaus@slu.se

Looking forward to work with you!

Riparian buffer zone experiment at the Trollberget experimental area.

Riparian buffer zone experiment at Trollberget Experimental Area / Groundwater wells.