carbon

Death is an integral part of the cycle of life.  In ecosystems, plants acquire inorganic compounds from their environment (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, etc.) and build them into complex organic compounds that nourish animals either directly (e,g,, herbivores than consume plants) or indirectly (carnivores that consume herbivores). Eventually, all plants and animals in the ecosystem die.  What is the fate of the nutrients they have accumulated during their life-time?

In recent decades, a worldwide trend of increasing woody plant abundance in grasslands and savannas has been reported. This proliferation of trees and shrubs move affects livestock production, wildlife habitat, water availability. At the same time their presence changes the way the ecosystem processes carbon and nitrogen, two important elements linked to climate change. SNRE professor Steve Archer is interested in understanding how carbon and nitrogen stocks in ecosystems change as the systems shift from grassland to shrubland.