CARBON FLUXES IN THE UPLANDS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR NATIONAL INVENTORIES

Four-year fully funded PhD scholarship Abstract: Peatland in Northern Ireland covers approximately 25% of the land area, broadly split between upland and lowlands. In good condition, this land has the potential to support grazing, biodiversity, cultural services, and carbon sequestration. This latter is important owing to the large stocks of carbon that have accumulated as peat, alongside the need to achieve net zero emission by 2050 or earlier. In a degraded state, peatlands will emit both gaseous and fluvial carbon, reducing terrestrial carbon stock. Peatland Code and IPCC values for these emissions related to land use are based on a series of national and international studies, which may or may not reflect the specific site and/or climatic conditions of Northern Ireland’s peatlands. The default value for historically drained peatland under grass/heather1 for example is 3.2 t CO2eq/ha/yr (emission), but does not account for upland/lowland differences or local environmental conditions. To address these knowledge gaps, the PhD research will provide more certainty on upland carbon emission and removal processes from open peat habitat used for grazing in Northern Ireland. The upland Hill Farm at Glenwherry is proposed as the primary data collection platform.