Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE180100053
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$358,031.00
Summary
A national facility for the analysis of pyrogenic carbon. This project aims to develop a national facility for pyrogenic carbon analysis. Pyrogenic carbon is a poorly constrained, slow-cycling terrestrial carbon pool with significant carbon sequestration potential. The project expects to expand the newly developed hydrogen pyrolysis analytical capability to provide high throughput, robust measurement of the abundance and isotope composition of pyrogenic carbon in soils and sediments. This will p ....A national facility for the analysis of pyrogenic carbon. This project aims to develop a national facility for pyrogenic carbon analysis. Pyrogenic carbon is a poorly constrained, slow-cycling terrestrial carbon pool with significant carbon sequestration potential. The project expects to expand the newly developed hydrogen pyrolysis analytical capability to provide high throughput, robust measurement of the abundance and isotope composition of pyrogenic carbon in soils and sediments. This will provide significant benefit, such as the ability to make significant advances in areas as diverse as geochronology, archaeology, palaeoecology, soil science geomorphology and carbon cycle/sequestration science.Read moreRead less
Pyrogenic carbon sequestration in Australian soils. Pyrogenic Carbon ('charcoal') is a poorly understood component of the global carbon cycle, important because it is resistant to degradation and hence has potential soil carbon sequestration benefits. This project applies a new technique (hydrogen pyrolysis), in combination with spectroscopic techniques, to quantify charcoal in a pan-Australian soil sample set, collected using uniform stratified sampling and preparation protocols. This will ena ....Pyrogenic carbon sequestration in Australian soils. Pyrogenic Carbon ('charcoal') is a poorly understood component of the global carbon cycle, important because it is resistant to degradation and hence has potential soil carbon sequestration benefits. This project applies a new technique (hydrogen pyrolysis), in combination with spectroscopic techniques, to quantify charcoal in a pan-Australian soil sample set, collected using uniform stratified sampling and preparation protocols. This will enable the mapping of soil charcoal stocks in relation to environmental and soil variables across Australia. The results will enable understanding of the controls on charcoal sequestration potential in Australian soils and contribute to efforts to quantify soil charcoal stocks and dynamics globally.Read moreRead less
Up in smoke and out to sea? Carbon, water and land use change in savanna. This project aims to improve our understanding of carbon cycling in natural and transformed savannas. It seeks to resolve a large discrepancy in savanna carbon sink size as measured by flux towers compared to long-term direct measures of carbon stock change. This would improve our fundamental understanding of carbon balances (gains/losses) and residence times in these dynamic ecosystems. The long-term impacts of these land ....Up in smoke and out to sea? Carbon, water and land use change in savanna. This project aims to improve our understanding of carbon cycling in natural and transformed savannas. It seeks to resolve a large discrepancy in savanna carbon sink size as measured by flux towers compared to long-term direct measures of carbon stock change. This would improve our fundamental understanding of carbon balances (gains/losses) and residence times in these dynamic ecosystems. The long-term impacts of these land use changes on carbon storage are poorly understood, therefore this new knowledge is vital in determining the viability of 'carbon farming' in these landscapes. More accurate information would guide improved land management given the intensification of land use, weed invasion and fire regime change in northern Australia.Read moreRead less
Beyond burial: redefining the blue carbon paradigm. This project aims to constrain the magnitude and drivers of alkalinity and greenhouse gas fluxes in mangroves. Mangroves cover less than 0.03 per cent of the Earth’s surface yet account for approximately 14 per cent of oceanic carbon burial. Mangroves also export alkalinity to the coastal ocean, and act as sources of methane and nitrous oxide. The effect of these fluxes on climate may exceed carbon burial by several-fold, but are unaccounted fo ....Beyond burial: redefining the blue carbon paradigm. This project aims to constrain the magnitude and drivers of alkalinity and greenhouse gas fluxes in mangroves. Mangroves cover less than 0.03 per cent of the Earth’s surface yet account for approximately 14 per cent of oceanic carbon burial. Mangroves also export alkalinity to the coastal ocean, and act as sources of methane and nitrous oxide. The effect of these fluxes on climate may exceed carbon burial by several-fold, but are unaccounted for in blue carbon budgets. This project will couple high-resolution radionuclide geochronology of soil carbon cycling with autonomous measurements of aquatic exports and greenhouse gas fluxes. This study will provide the detailed data required to refine the blue carbon paradigm.Read moreRead less
Will soil carbon burial Increase in mangrove wetlands? The aim of this project is to investigate carbon burial in mangroves during current and historical climatic conditions through in depth dating methods and paleoclimate reconstructions. The project intends to use state-of-the-art radionuclide tracer technologies to determine system scale aspects of the mangrove carbon budget, i.e. burial, tidal export and respiration. This project is significant because it aims to delineate how climatic condi ....Will soil carbon burial Increase in mangrove wetlands? The aim of this project is to investigate carbon burial in mangroves during current and historical climatic conditions through in depth dating methods and paleoclimate reconstructions. The project intends to use state-of-the-art radionuclide tracer technologies to determine system scale aspects of the mangrove carbon budget, i.e. burial, tidal export and respiration. This project is significant because it aims to delineate how climatic conditions are directly related to the mangrove carbon budget. Further, the site specific data on historical mangrove carbon burial could allow adaptation strategies for use of coastal wetland habitats that sequester CO2, a natural means to help ameliorate greenhouse gas, as support for mangrove forest protection and restoration.Read moreRead less