Biogeochemistry

We use the data and understanding to quantify and extrapolate ecosystem service provisioning (e.g. water protection, N retention, C sequestration) under future climate and management scenarios to inform land managers, interest groups and environmental policy.

As an example, we measure the processes behind input and release fluxes in control of soil C stocks to answer questions like: Are Danish forests currently sequestering C in soils? Can we store more C in soils by afforestation of cropland or planting of short-rotation crops on agricultural land and are certain tree species or tree species mixtures better than others in sequestering C?

Our work is mainly experimental and we take advantage of long-term experimental platforms as well as large scale manipulation experiments and microcosm experiments for studies of biogeochemistry related to semi-natural and managed ecosystems. We work at scales from molecule to ecosystem, often with the prospect of extrapolating to landscape or national levels by modeling.

Our research goes beyond national level and we work in collaboration with people from all over Europe and other parts of the world with similar research interest.

Master and Bachelor projects in the Biogeochemistry group

The Biogeochemistry research group hosts a range of unique long-term experiments in Danish forest and semi-natural ecosystems, which offer excellent opportunities for master and bachelor projects. We have a strong national and international research profile with a focus and ambition to do excellent and relevant research in biogeochemistry and ecology.

We offer projects within the following major topics:

• Carbon pools and processes
• Water in ecosystems
• Greenhouse gases
• Nutrient flows in ecosystems

You can formulate your own project or choose a project from our list of proposals

Ecosystem Services, such as carbon sequestration and clean water, are central to our approach and we consider climate change, nitrogen deposition, management and land use to be the key drivers of changes in the ecosystems. Student projects can involve fieldwork, laboratory experiments, data mining or combinations hereof.

Our working concept in the Biogeochemistry group at IGN. The concept of “Ecosystem Services” is central to the scope of our research and we consider four genera topics and their interactions. For each of these topics we have a strong national and international research profile.

• Ecology and Ecosystems Science in relation to Environmental Economics (EESREE)
• Environmental Management in Europe (EME)
• Naturressourcer og økologi
• Applied Ecosystem Ecology (AEE)
• Naturgrundlaget (NGI)
• Land Use and Environmental modelling
• Sampling the Soil Environment
• Climate Change and Land Use
• Natur, Miljø, Samfund

Many of our projects are international and we cooperate with researchers from Europe, China and USA. Researchers from the group lead the Nordic research networks CAR-ES and FSC-sink.

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The research networks CAR-ES 

The research network FSC-sink