Six glasses of water with water colour ranging from clear to dark brown. Photo.
RESEARCH PROJECT

Improved understanding of what drives long term change in aquatic organic carbon (DOC)

KEY POINTS
  • Brownification
  • Forest management
  • Water Quality
Updated: August 2026

Project overview

Project start: September 2023 Ending: December 2027
Project manager: Kevin Bishop
Funded by: Formas

Short summary

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) shapes aquatic ecosystems and drinking water supplies. There is concern that climate change and human activity are increasing DOC concentrations.

This project uses decades of monitoring data on soils and water from hundreds of locations to identify drivers of decadal-scale change in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from forested landscapes.

Step 1: Top Down Approach. Step 2: Bottom Up Approach. Step 3: Regionally resolved national assessment of brownification in the coming decades. All steps with stakeholder contact. Illustration.
Research structure. Illustration by Anna Lackner.

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