20 October 1994 Benefits for University in External Research Links

Links between academe and New Zealand's centrally funded Crown Research Institutes are proving beneficial to both parties as far as Lincoln University is concerned, says Research Committee chairperson Professor Ian Cornforth.

"We have been able to attract and fund a number of postgraduate students through links with Crown Research Institutes and this gets us involved in multi-million dollar research programmes which would otherwise be beyond us.

"In addition the links are an opportunity for Lincoln to show the Crown Research Institutes its capabilities and furthermore, for the postgraduates themselves, there is the value of making contacts outside the University which could be potentially useful in the development of their future careers.

"The CRIs in turn benefit through the training of their young scientists and by gaining access to specialised research skills within the universities.

Given Lincoln University's natural resources orientation, the Crown Research Institutes with which it has the closest ties are those working in similar areas, for example the New Zealand Institute for Crop and Food Research, the NZ Forest Research Institute, the NZ Pastoral Agriculture Research Institute, Manaaki Whenua-Landcare and the Horticulture and Food Research Institute of New Zealand.

A major New Zealand research activity with which Lincoln University is involved through Crown Research Institute links is the Forest Ecosystems Elevated Carbon Dioxide Project. The two Crown bodies leading it are the Forest Research Institute and Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research.

Working on the project is Lincoln Ph.D student Steve Thomas, under principal supervisor Dr John Adams and associate supervisor Dr Rob Sherlock of the University's Department of Soil Science and Dr David Whitehead of Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research.

Based in Christchurch, the project has national and international importance and is a contribution to the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, part of the internationally co-ordinated research effort into climate change.

Essentially the experiment is simulating the effects on radiata pine and red beech of an enriched carbon dioxide atmosphere and higher average temperatures similar to the conditions expected on Earth towards the middle of next century.

It is well known that atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are increasing and giving rise to climate change. However it is believed that forests have the potential to ease the process leading to climate change by taking up and storing atmospheric carbon. However, there is a need, first of all, to understand the three processes of carbon dioxide uptake, allocation, and storage by trees, in order to provide a basis for predicting the rates of carbon dioxide "sequestration" by forests. That is what the Christchurch project is all about.

The project will determine the magnitude of the effects of elevated carbon dioxide concentrations and temperature and their interactions on the increased uptake and storage of carbon by forest ecosystems and the physiological and biochemical processes of growth, productivity and wood quality.

Sixteen trees, with both the radiata and red beech species represented, are growing within large open-topped chambers in which carbon dioxide and temperature levels are controlled. The large quantity of carbon dioxide required to maintain the elevated concentrations comes from the adjacent Christchurch City Council's Sewage Treatment Works where carbon dioxide is separated from waste biogas.

The Lincoln postgraduate's role in the project is to study carbon allocation to the roots of the radiata pine, and changes in carbon dioxide production by the soil micro-organisms.

"This will link with studies of above-ground tree physiology and carbon storage being carried out by other scientists involved in the project," says Dr Adams.

"In turn this will provide a better understanding of the future effects of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide levels on forest growth and climate change."

The whole project is very much a collaborative one and in addition to NZ Forest Research Institute, Manaaki Whenua-Landcare and Lincoln University, scientists from the University of Georgia, USA, the Federal Agricultural Research Centre, Germany, and Chiba University, Japan, are involved.

Professor Cornforth describes it as a marvellous opportunity to be involved in a globally significant research project.

Another CRI-linked project Lincoln is involved with and which also relates to the global warming hypothesis is an investigation of nitrous oxide emissions from grazed and ploughed soils.

Working on this is Ph.D student Chistoph Muller from Germany, under principal supervisor Dr Rob Sherlock and associate supervisor Professor Cornforth of the University's Department of Soil Science.

This project, which has external funding from the Institute for Crop and Food Research, involves measuring and modelling nitrous oxide production from pastures and cropping soils.

Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas and while its precise contribution to New Zealand's overall greenhouse gas budget is unknown there are estimates that it could rank with carbon dioxide.

The most readily identifiable source of nitrous oxide is nitrogen in animal urine, with the gas being emitted from the soil in the weeks following the voiding of the urine on to the pasture or when the pasture is ploughed in preparation for cropping.

Ploughing stimulates soil micro-organisms and causes changes in the cycling of nitrogen through the soil. In the UK, for example, it has been found to raise the levels of nitrate which subsequently leaches into ground water.

"At Lincoln we're looking at the parts of the nitrogen cycle to be affected by ploughing - the pathways of denitrification and nitrification," says Dr Sherlock.

"The gas is produced by both pathways and Christoph is trying to find out how much gas is produced by each. He will then model that mathematically in order to introduce a predictive element to our understanding of the process."

Although nitrous oxide is generally regarded as a minor greenhouse gas, it is involved in the formation of nitric oxide in the stratosphere which in turn is involved in the catalytic removal of stratospheric ozone, so understanding more about its emission is important globally.

In New Zealand the sources of nitrous oxide are believed to be almost exclusively grazed pastures and ploughed soil, and while it ranks third among the greenhouse gases produced here after methane and carbon dioxide it is much longer lived than either of these so it takes on added significance in the global warming scenario.

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, NZ.