Principal Investigator: Fereidoun Rezanezhad
The project will uncover what is happening below the soil surface during the winter months. In particular, the project investigates how climate change affected freezing and thawing cycles may change the movement of carbon and nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur and iron) in agricultural soils when covered with snow or ice.
This is critical research in determining if and how climate change is altering key soil processes which could have significant implications for overall soil health and water quality.
Geography
Case study watershed: Research will primarily take place in a laboratory-controlled environment.
Bottom Line
Discover the impact of climate change on soil health and water quality in Canadian cold region watersheds.
Objective 1: Establish the dynamic temperature dependencies of carbon and nutrient mineralization rates, and the associated effects on winter microbial soil communities.
Objective 2: Assess the rates and mechanisms of soil biogeochemical processes under variable freeze-thaw cycles and soil moisture content conditions and determine the effects on C and nutrient cycling under variable snow cover and winter conditions.
Objective 3: Develop a bioenergetic model for simulating microbial reaction systems under variable geochemical winter conditions.
Objective 4: Develop a reactive transport model to simulate the biogeochemical transformations of carbon and nutrients in winter soils.