The project will measure carbon fluxes in the forest floor along climatic gradients to estimate its vulnerability to climatic changes. The forest floor is at the interface between the above- and the belowground part of forest ecosystems and acts as central ecosystem hub where organic matter, nutrients, and water are stored and transformed. This project is part of a larger interdisciplinary research network “Forest Floor”, studying how sensitive forest floors respond to changes in climate and management. The project will quantify the pathways of carbon cycling within the forest floor and in the uppermost mineral soil, and to identify their controlling factors. The experimental approach is (1) to measure carbon fluxes and the natural stable isotope signatures of carbon pools and fluxes along environmental gradients in Switzerland and Germany (2) to trace isotopically labeled litter in carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen fluxes in in a joined experiment. The PhD Student will closely collaborate with other project assessing the water fluxes, faunal and microbiological activities.

You have a Master’s degree in the field of environmental science (biology, soil science, ecology). You are highly motivated, initiative, creative, enjoy to work in an international team and you have good experiences in biogeochemical analyses, interpreting data, and communicating results.