Sabine Sigfridsson PhD student

Sabine is also Senior high school teacher in three different subjects; Swedish language, Geography and the IB-course ESS (Environmental System and Societies) in an international school situated in Stockholm. 

How does biodiversity and productivity effect on carbon sequestration in species-rich grasslands?

There is a strong societal impetus to preserve plant biodiversity in semi-natural grasslands, but grassland can also sequester carbon as soil organic matter (SOM). Despite the increasing awareness that grassland might be important for carbon sequestration, and not only forests or peatland, there are few empirical evidence from temperate grasslands, and particularly not how it relates to biodiversity, productivity or management practises.

My project focus on collect field data and modelling grassland management on carbon sequestration in rural Swedish landscapes. The research questions I focus on are following; How much carbon is stored in different types of species-rich grasslands? How is this carbon stored; in aboveground or root biomass, in soil microbial biomass or in different soil horizons? How is carbon storage and dynamics affected by grassland species composition relative to grassland productivity under different stages of grassland age, tree cover and management practices? Can preservation of grassland biodiversity also impact natural C sequestration rates at the local scale (patch) and at the landscape scale (region)?