This project will determine the potential for soil carbon storage and sequestration under different land-use. The University of Reading farms will be used as a case study. The successful candidate will develop their skills in spatial sample design, laboratory analysis, and data integration under a spatially explicit modelling framework.
Department: Geography & Environmental Science
Supervised by: Gabriel Yesuf
Transition to more sustainable farm management practices has been identified as a means of moderating the adverse impact of land use on ecosystem services. The UK National Farm Union also set a target of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 (NFU 2019). Proposals for reducing emissions from agricultural production include lowering farm inputs (Smith et al. 2019), which could lead to improved soil quality (Reganold et al. 2010). Therefore, it is likely that compared to heavily mechanised commercial and monoculture farms, a variety of land-uses or land management (e.g., applying manures) would represent sites of carbon sequestration over a finite period (e.g., 10 – 20 years). Although accumulation of carbon also depends on other local environmental factors (such as soil type). This project aims to assess the potential of increasing soil carbon storage by comparing soil organic carbon content under different land-use in a managed landscape. Therefore, the project will consist of three main activities to be undertaken on the University of Reading farms. i) spatial sampling technique (using GIS) to identify representative locations for soil sampling. Spatial sampling will be based on readily available aerial imagery collections and will also take into consideration the differences and/or similarities in crop types on the farms. ii) collect soil samples (0 – 10 cm) for analysis of soil organic carbon using dry composition elemental analysis. Finally, estimates of soil organic carbon will be used to parameterise and quantify soil carbon storage and the potential for sequestration at landscape-scale using InVEST. The outputs from this project will complement ongoing assessments of the impact of innovative changes to the UK food system (devised by the FoodSEqual project) on ecosystem services.
i. Design sampling scheme using Geographic Information System (GIS) ii. Field sampling to collect soil samples iii. Laboratory analysis of soil organic carbon iv. Landscape-scale assessments of the impact of land-use or management on carbon storage
Ideal for students who have previously undertaken soil or GIS modules (GV1E1, GV1D1, GV2F4, and GV2GIS). However, previous experience is not essential to the role.
At the end of the placement, you will have developed GIS skills up to an intermediate level. Furthermore, you will have gained experience on an exemplar approach to integrate field data into a spatial modelling framework.
Department of Geography and Environmental Science
5 - 8 hours/day
Monday 04 July 2022 - Friday 19 August 2022
The post will be advertised centrally on the UROP website between 21st February and 4th April 2022. Students should submit their CV and Cover Letter directly to the Project Supervisor (click on supervisor name at the top of the page for email). Successful candidates will be invited for an interview.