Md Rafikul Islam
Presentation
My research focuses on how terrestrial ecosystems, particularly boreal forests and agricultural systems, exchange carbon and water with the atmosphere, and how these processes respond to disturbance and climate change.
I recently completed my PhD at Lund University, where I investigated how boreal forests recover their carbon balance after disturbances such as clear-cutting and wildfire. By combining ecosystem modeling, long-term flux measurements, and machine learning, I explored how climate and forest management shape carbon recovery pathways and long-term carbon budgets.
Currently, as a postdoctoral researcher at SLU, I am expanding this work to agricultural systems, aiming to better understand ecosystem-scale carbon and water balances in Nordic agriculture.
Forskning
My work is driven by a central question: How can we manage ecosystems to sustain their role in the global carbon cycle under a changing climate?
This project involves
- Processing and analyzing eddy covariance flux data
- Quantifying carbon, water, and energy balances
- Assessing impacts of environmental conditions and agricultural management
- Linking ecosystem fluxes with phenology and remote sensing data
The goal is to improve our understanding of how agricultural systems contribute to and can mitigate climate change.
Key Research Interests
· Data-driven ecosystem modeling using process-based models, empirical data, remote sensing, GIS, and machine learning to understand terrestrial carbon cycle processes
- Impacts of climate change and disturbance on ecosystem function
- Eddy covariance and micrometeorology
- Environmental driver analysis
- Sustainable land use and nature-based climate solutions
Educational Credentials
PhD in Environmental Science (2026)
Lund University, Sweden
Focus: Carbon recovery in boreal forests under disturbance and climate change
Master of Science in Forestry and Environmental Science (2021)
University of Tuscia, Italy
Master of Science in Mediterranean Forestry and Natural Resources Management (2021)
University of Lisbon, Portugal
Master of Science and Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Forestry (2019 & 2017)
Khulna University, Bangladesh
Selected publications
Islam, MR, Nieradzik, L., Jönsson, AM, Kelly, J., & Kljun, N. (2025). Modeling wildfire and post-fire carbon budgets of a boreal forest under a changing climate. Global and Planetary Change, 257, 105230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.105230
Islam, MR, Jönsson, AM, Bergkvist, J., Lagergren, F., Lindeskog, M., Mölder, M., Scholze, M., & Kljun, N. (2024). Projected effects of climate change and forest management on carbon fluxes and biomass of a boreal forest. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 349, 109959. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2024.109959
Bergkvist, J., Lagergren, F., Islam, MR, Wårlind, D., Miller, PA, Finnander Linderson, MF, Lindeskog, M., & Jönsson, AM (2025). Quantifying the impact of climate change and forest management on Swedish forest ecosystems using the dynamic vegetation model LPJ-GUESS. Earth's Future, 13(1), e2024EF004662. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EF004662
Kelly, J., Doerr, SH, Ekroos, J., Ibáñez, TS, Islam, MR, Santín, C., Soares, M., & Kljun, N. (2025). No recovery of soil respiration four years after fire and post-fire management in a Nordic boreal forest. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 364, 110454. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2025.110454
Khan, MNI, Azad, MS, Hasan, T., Prova, AF, Islam, MS, Islam, MR, & Mollick, AS (2024). Structural diversity and carbon stocks in a tropical semi-evergreen forest in Bangladesh. Trees, Forests and People, 16, 100534. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tfp.2024.100534
Khan, MNI, Rahman, A., Nahid, GAR, Hasan, MA, Islam, MR, Azad, MS, & Mollick, AS (2023). Stand level carbon stocks in the soil-vegetation system of the coastal mangrove plantations in Bangladesh: Effect of stand age and choice of species. Regional Studies in Marine Science, 63, 103029. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsma.2023.103029
Islam, MR, Khan, MNI, Khan, MZ, & Roy, B. (2021). A three decade assessment of forest cover changes in Nijhum dwip national park using remote sensing and GIS. Environmental Challenges, 4, 100162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envc.2021.100162
Islam, MR, Azad, MS, Mollick, AS, Kamruzzaman, M., & Khan, MNI (2021). Allometric equations for estimating stem biomass of Artocarpus chaplasha Roxb. in Sylhet hill forest of Bangladesh. Trees, Forests and People, 4, 100084. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tfp.2021.100084
Khan, MNI, Islam, MR, Rahman, A., Azad, MS, Mollick, AS, Kamruzzaman, M., Sadath, MN, Feroz, SM, Rakkibu, MG, & Knohl, A. (2020). Allometric relationships of stand level carbon stocks to basal area, tree height and wood density of nine tree species in Bangladesh. Global Ecology and Conservation, 22, e01025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01025