Research project Matouš Jimel’s PhD-student project is focusing on how terrestrial plants interact with water chemistry to influence the carbon cycle in boreal streams
The aim of this project is partly to investigate how temporal variation in additions of plant material from terrestrial plants to running waters influence microbial decomposition of plant litter and if this is further influenced by differences in litter quality and phenology of leaf fall among plant species. The project will also investigate how the concentration of dissolved organic matter in running waters influence microbial decomposition of plant material. Finally, the project will investigate if the differences in quality and phenology among plant species that produce litter to running waters interact with the concentration of dissolved organic matter to influence the microbial decomposition of plant litter and the function of running waters more generally.
The project is using a novel approach by combining controlled experiments, field studies, and a field survey, to significantly improve our understanding of the importance of leaf litter for the ecological function of running waters. The entire project will be carried out within the Krycklan catchment, just outside Vindel in Västerbotten, Sweden.
