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- Axelsson, Josefine, 1992-
(författare)
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Interglacial climates in proxies and models : Utilizing sampled oxygen isotopes and model simulations to understand past Indian summer monsoon variability
- 2024
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The study of Earth's climate system, including the mechanisms driving monsoon systems, is a key area of research within environmental sciences. Monsoons, vital for billions of people, are complex atmospheric phenomena influenced by various global factors, including orbital changes and natural climate variability. Among monsoon systems, the Indian summer Monsoon (ISM) is of particular interest due to its significant impact on the South Asian climate, agriculture, and water resources. Despite extensive study, comprehending the ISM's historical variability and its future implications remains a challenge. Utilizing natural archives like speleothems, along with stable water isotopes from precipitation and advanced climate model simulations, this thesis aims to decipher the ISM's responses to natural forcings across key interglacial periods—the Last Interglacial and the Holocene.Our findings indicate that the ISM's strength is critically influenced by slight variations in orbital configurations, leading to significant shifts in monsoon patterns. Our research also highlights the dual influence of local geographical features and distant atmospheric conditions on the ISM's annual variability. Most notably, we observed discrepancies between δ18O values obtained from isotope-enabled climate models and those derived from speleothems. This insight indicates that the models need refinement to accurately mirror the complexities observed in the proxy records and that the uncertainty parameter in speleothem records needs to be improved.The alignment between proxy and model data is crucial for a more accurate reconstruction of past climates and for enhancing the predictive capabilities of future monsoon behavior under changing climatic conditions. By advancing our knowledge of the ISM's past, we are better equipped to anticipate its future. To achieve that, this thesis stresses the importance of bridging the gap between proxy data insights and climate model simulations. This would not only enrich our historical climate knowledge but also inform future climate projections, highlighting the indispensable role of interdisciplinary research in climate science challenges.
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| 2. |
- Guasconi, Daniela, 1992-
(författare)
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The hidden half of the meadow : Interactions between drought, soil carbon, roots and soil microbial communities
- 2024
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Soil is a hidden ecosystem which harbours plant roots and countless microorganisms, vital for sustaining life aboveground. These belowground communities provide essential ecosystem services like soil stabilisation and organic matter decomposition. Soil is also one of the largest terrestrial carbon repositories, and land management strategies aimed at increasing organic matter inputs from plants, such as compost additions, can promote further soil carbon accumulation. Because organic carbon is important for soil water retention, this management may also help to increase resilience against more frequent and intense droughts. Although roots and microbial communities are largely acknowledged to play a key role in regulating the carbon cycle, there are still many open questions regarding the link between above- and belowground processes and ecosystem functions. Observing climate- and management-driven changes in the soil habitat is fundamental for understanding how ecosystems respond to environmental change.The aim of this thesis is to explore the relationship between soil properties, plant communities, and soil microbial communities in response to environmental changes. The research builds on a meta-analysis of drought effects on grasslands, and a multifactorial field experiment which combined three years of precipitation reduction and a compost treatment in two Swedish grasslands. We analysed the response of roots and soil microbial communities to drought and compost amendments, and identified environmental factors behind their large spatial variability. Finally, we tested the effects of compost additions on soil carbon storage and its interactions with drought.The results of the meta-analysis indicate that, on a global scale, grassland roots and shoots have diverging responses to drought duration and intensity, with long-term climate mediating that difference. At the local scale assessed in the field experiment, we observed that the spatial patterns of soil microbial communities were driven by soil properties and vegetation. Growing season drought affected roots only at trait level, but did not significantly affect microbial communities. Positive effects of compost on aboveground plant productivity and fungal growth were detectable after three years. Compost amendments also increased the percentage of total soil carbon, but no net increase in soil carbon stocks was detected. Spatial variability in roots and microbial communities was larger than the treatment effects, and was important in shaping microbial community composition and determining grassland responses to drought.Taken together, these findings suggest that roots and microbial communities are likely to be tolerant to drought a within the timescale of this experiment, but we did not observe an increase soil carbon sequestration or drought resilience when adding compost. This thesis highlights the importance of considering soil processes as complementary to aboveground observations when studying carbon dynamics, predicting ecosystem responses to environmental change, and developing sustainable land management practices.
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| 3. |
- Watts, Hannah, 1994-
(författare)
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Exploring beneath the surface of glacial landscapes : Implementing and improving geophysical investigations in glaciated environments
- 2024
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The warming climate is having profound impacts on glacier dynamics and extents. To improve our predictions of future ice mass changes, we require an enhanced understanding of both past and present glacial processes. The physical properties and structure of glacial sediments and landforms aid reconstructions of past environments and ice dynamics on numerous scales. Traditionally, these factors have been studied using glacial geological techniques such as sedimentary logging. While this provides valuable in situ data, there are numerous limitations, namely the limited availability and spatial extent of exposures. In recent decades, near-surface geophysical techniques have gained in popularity within the fields of glaciology, geomorphology, and sedimentology. Geophysics offers a non-invasive means of obtaining spatially extensive data on substrate properties and architecture, however issues such as signal scattering and interpretation ambiguity in complex glaciated environments restrict its application.This thesis exemplifies how near-surface geophysical techniques can aid glacial landscape interpretations focusing on ground-penetrating radar, seismic refraction, and multi-channel analysis of surface waves. It explores the current limitations of the methods and outlines solutions to improve their applicability, in terms of geophysical campaign success, as well as uncertainty estimation and visualisation. The reliability of geophysical interpretations can be improved by including direct substrate observations in campaigns. Here, the benefits of performing detailed sediment logging alongside geophysical surveys are exemplified, together with descriptions and explanations of associated method adaptations.Through a combination of method updates and applied studies, this thesis highlights the great potential for geophysical techniques in improving our understanding of glacial processes and outlines potential avenues for further work in this area.
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