Background
Peatlands in Southern Patagonia have received increasing attention in the past years. Due to extremely low nutrient deposition and little human disturbance, these sites are suitable to study peatlands under very pristine conditions. Moreover, in Patagonia there exist – besides sphagnum peatlands – peatlands dominated by cushion plants. It is to date not known, under which conditions such cushion plant dominated sites form and how much carbon they accumulate compared to sphagnum dominated sites. First results indicated that peat accumulation under cushion plants is considerably slower than under sphagnum. Additionally, nitrogen contents of the peat seem to be significantly higher under cushion plants.
As cushion plants have a very dense and aerenchymatic rooting system, a high impact on decomposition processes and turnover can be postulated. This project thus aims at identifying carbon and nitrogen turnover in the rhizosphere and root turnover of vascular plants, especially of cushion plants, compared to sphagnum dominated sites.
Methods
The project involves field and laboratory approaches to study carbon and nitrogen turnover in-situ and in controlled batches. Stable isotope techniques are used to trace carbon and nitrogen input and turnover, as well as radiocarbon dating. As a basis, we investigate above and below ground biomass and element inventories of the plants and peats.
Students
Graduate and undergraduate research opportunities:
Currently we are analyzing samples from our last campaigns. There is always help needed for analytical work in the laboratory, please do not hesitate to ask. In case of successful funding, M.Sc. thesis may be offered.
For more details, especially in case of interest for a thesis or work as a student assistant, please contact Prof. Dr. Klaus-Holger Knorr.Infothek
Projectpartner und Contact:
University of Münster
Institute for Landscape Ecology, Ecohydrology and Biogeochemistry Research Group
Principal Investigator: Prof. Dr. Klaus-Holger Knorr
University of Bayreuth
Department of Soil Ecology
Co-Investigator: apl. Prof. Dr. Werner BorkenProject Duration and Funding:
This project is currently being funded on institutional funding, but has been supported by:
- Prof. Dr. Christian Blodau, institutional money (2010)
- University of Bayreuth, Department of Hydrology, Prof. Dr. S. Peiffer (2010, 2013)
- BayLAT: Bavarian Latin-American Research Alliance (2013)
- Faculty of Geosciences, University of Münster (2014)
News
2014 spring field campaign has been successfully finished (see pictures in the next tab).
Pictures
Photos
© K.H.Knorr 
© K.H.Knorr 
