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Syllabus

PNS0171 Nitrogen cycling in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, 4.0 Credits

Subjects

Soil Science

Education cycle

Postgraduate level

Grading scale

Prior knowledge

This course is primarily intended for PhD students who participate in the Focus on Soils & Water graduate school, but is also open to other PhD students working in related research areas. Researchers are also very welcome to participate in lectures and discussions, if places available. PhD students should have basic knowledge in soil science.

Objectives

Nitrogen is an important macronutrient for plant growth. Yet, our understanding of the drivers that influence nitrogen cycling in various ecosystems is limited, despite extensive research efforts in the past few decades. In agricultural systems, careful management of nitrogen is crucial for plant production and environmental reasons. On the one hand, there is a risk of nitrogen deficiency during the growing season that reduces crop yields. On the other hand, nitrogen surpluses may cause environmental problems in temperate climates due to nitrate leaching after crop harvest. In forest systems, nitrogen is the most commonly growth limiting nutrient, and many nitrogen fertilization studies in commercial forests have been conducted. For these reasons, much current research is devoted to how to optimize the use of nitrogen and how to reduce losses to the aquatic ecosystem. Soil management systems need to have an adequate supply of nitrogen for plant growth – at the same time, they should not give rise to unacceptably high nitrogen losses to surface waters. The aim of this course is to (i) provide basic knowledge on nitrogen cycling in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, (ii) present state-of-the techniques adopted in nitrogen studies including the use of stable isotopes, (iii) assess (farming) management systems in relation to sustainable nitrogen use and (iv) evaluate current mitigation options minimizing eutrophication.

Content

The course consists of two parts: 1) Literature group meetings will take place: Selected research and review papers will be discussed as well as student oral or poster presentations (three meetings prior and one meeting after the workshop; December 2018 – March 2019). 2) A workshop at Ultuna will be held with participation of international leading scientists in this research area (4th – 8th of March 2019).

Additional information

Please attach to the email-application the following information:

1) Affiliation and Swedish personal number or birthday.

2) PhD research project description: one short paragraph

3) Name and email address of main supervisor

4) Brief motivation (3-5 sentences) as to why you want to take the course.