PhD Candidate
| Contact Campus | Sandy Bay Campus |
| Building | Spatial Information Science Building |
| Room Reference | 116 |
| Telephone | +61 3 62262497 |
| Christopher.Dean@utas.edu.au |
CV: http://sites.google.com/site/cdeanpages/home/c_v
Personal Webpage: http://sites.google.com/site/cdeanpages/home/
PhD Topic Carbon dynamics of anthropogenic forest use, with resource extraction and recovery, in relation to climate change science and biodiversity
The aims are to clarify some current knowledge gaps that prevent better climate modelling and climate change mitigation; and to present feasible options for amelioration. Native forests are one of the major cogs in the carbon cycle, but the magnitude of their different carbon pools (woody vegetation (biomass and necromass), soil, stream and groundwater carbon) is very uncertain, and their change in 4D due to anthropogenic activity is even more uncertain. It hinders greenhouse gas inventory and carbon trading. The magnitudes and fluxes of the major carbon pools in forests will be refined spatially, and their changes forecast for major anthropogenic activities. The re-distribution of carbon pools can influence biodiversity— the 4D connections can be determined.
Modelling carbon dynamics requires parameterization of allometrics for the full range of tree sizes and major (in terms of biomass) forest components. Several more-difficult measurements for necessary improvements in knowledge can be taken with terrestrial and airborne LiDAR, and more work on belowground pools by traditional means.
Study areas representing significant affects: (a) resource extraction— early pulpwood concessions, mostly mixed-forest in Tasmania; (b) partial recovery— rangeland C recovery in grazing exclosures in WA; and (c) ecosystem replacement— chestnut groves— nascent oldgrowth forest in the Cévennes/Ardèche mountains, France. Dependent on funding there may also be opportunity to examine allometrics improvements for Tingle forests in southwest Australia (climate change positive feedback).
Supervisors: Jon Osborn, Jamie Kirkpatrick & Dr Richard Doyle
News Brief on PhD project. 25-03-2013