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Project

The combined effect of earthworms and enhanced silicate weathering for reducing atmospheric CO2 and N2O concentrations.

Climate change is one of the most pressing environmental and societal issues that humanity faces. Safe and scalable negative emission technologies (NETs), which actively remove CO2 from the atmosphere and ensure long-term sequestration are urgently needed. Among them, enhanced weathering of silicate minerals (EW), has been recently suggested as a promising NETs. Moreover, earthworms are considered important ecosystem engineers in terrestrial ecosystems and their activity in the soil might accelerate soil carbon (C) sequestration through EW. Yet, earthworms are well known to enhance soil nitrogen (N) processes and, thus, increase soil N2O emissions to the atmosphere. This proposal aims to study the combined effect of earthworms activity on the soil and EW processes by testing whether earthworms can enhance the soil C sequestration through EW, at the same time that EW can mitigate the high amount of soil N2O emissions that are promoted by earthworms activity on arable soils. The project will measure C sequestration, N2O emissions and microbial communities from different mesocosms with or without silicate amendments and earthworms. This project will be an important first step in the establishing of a new research line of high scientific as well as societal significance.
Date:1 Apr 2021 →  31 Mar 2022
Keywords:NITROGEN CYCLE, SOIL ECOLOGY, MICROBIOLOGY, CARBON MITIGATION
Disciplines:Biochemistry and metabolism not elsewhere classified, Global ecology, Soil ecology, Microbiology not elsewhere classified, Carbon sequestration science, Soil biology