Soil respiration in sub-alpine woodlands and grasslands of SE Australia
Event details
| Date | 01.03.2012 |
| Hour | 16:15 |
| Speaker | Prof. Mark Adams, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources,University of Sydney ( AU) |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
Few in the northern hemisphere recognize that Australia has an area larger than Switzerland covered by snow each winter. Large areas of land >1300m asl are dominated by snowgum (E. pauciflora) woodlands and grasslands (mainly Poa spp.). The gentle terrain and short winters have resulted in strongly organic soils that are the most carbon-rich of all Australian soils (excepting small areas of peat). In this presentation I will describe our studies of soil respiration in this broad sub-alpine area, and its temperature sensitivity. I will detail new understandings that have arisen from measurements of soil respiratory quotients (RQ), using a novel flow-through system. The implications of our research will be discussed in light of predictions of reduced rainfall, increased temperature, and reduced duration of snow cover.Few in the northern hemisphere recognize that Australia has an area larger than Switzerland covered by snow each winter. Large areas of land >1300m asl are dominated by snowgum (E. pauciflora) woodlands and grasslands (mainly Poa spp.). The gentle terrain and short winters have resulted in strongly organic soils that are the most carbon-rich of all Australian soils (excepting small areas of peat). In this presentation I will describe our studies of soil respiration in this broad sub-alpine area, and its temperature sensitivity. I will detail new understandings that have arisen from measurements of soil respiratory quotients (RQ), using a novel flow-through system. The implications of our research will be discussed in light of predictions of reduced rainfall, increased temperature, and reduced duration of snow cover.
Links
Practical information
- General public
- Free
Contact
- Professor Andrea Rinaldo, IIE