Jobs:Job-00416
Apply before: 22 July 2021
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Posting:
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Host university: University of Padova
Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry
Research topic
Understanding and predicting water availability and associated ecosystem services in the critical zone (CZ), ich is the domain where the water cycle connects the subsurface to vegetation and atmosphere, controlling water quantity and quality, is essential to provide effective solutions for sustainable land and water resources management. Vegetation is a fundamental element of the CZ, as connects water from different storages in the subsurface zone with water in the lower atmosphere, therefore regulating water fluxes among different compartments. Several studies in the last few years have examined water mixing processes in the soil-vegetation-atmosphere system. However, the large spatio-temporal variability of subsurface water movement and the capability of plants to access water from both deep and shallow sources, result in highly-complex feedbacks in water exchanges between vegetation and other eco-hydrological compartments. Therefore, fundamental scientific questions on the effect of vegetation on the hydrological cycle, especially under different climatic forcing and land-use conditions, remain unanswered.
The main objective of the project is to advance the understanding of water mixing in the CZ by investigating eco-hydrological processes of water exchange between vegetation and surface and subsurface water compartments. The project has a specific focus on humid forested sites in Italy and aims to:
- assess the description of water mixing process across the CZ by using integrated high-resolution isotopic, geophysical and hydrometeorological measurements from point- to stand- and catchment-scale;
- test water exchange mechanisms between subsurface reservoirs and vegetation, and to assess eco-hydrological dynamics by coupling the high-resolution data set with advanced eco-hydrological models at multiple spatial scales.
The project is based on high-resolution and detailed experimental observations, such as environmental tracers (stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen), hydro-meteorological data and advanced geophysical measurements already collected from different study sites in Italy. The data will be complemented with observations collected during the project in a consistent way across the study sites to identify water pools potentially involved in eco-hydrological exchanges and root water uptake dynamics. The high-quality data collected in the field and the experimental results will serve as a basis to implement and apply new-generation, robust, reliable and realistic eco-hydrological models aiming at assessing water mixing and exchange mechanisms between subsurface reservoirs, vegetation and atmosphere at the root-plant scale and the stand and catchment scale.
Research team and environment
The PhD project will be based at the Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry of the University of Padova (Prof. Marco Borga, Prof. Giulia Zuecco), with substantial collaborations with the Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry of the University of Florence (Prof. Daniele Penna) and the Faculty of Science and Technology at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (Prof. Francesco Comiti). This will provide access to three experimental sites (located in the Italian Alps, in the Pre-alps and in the Tuscan Apennines) equipped for hydrometeorological, isotopic and geophysical monitoring. The Departments include experimental facilities for i) isotopic analysis by means of laser spectroscopy; ii) geophysical monitoring of soil and root properties; iii) sapflow monitoring. The Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry of the University of Padova runs a Forest Hydrology lab, with equipment for soil water retention, soil permeability at saturation and physical-chemical water analysis. The PhD project will develop upon high-resolution and detailed experimental observations, such as environmental tracers (stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen), hydro-meteorological data and advanced geophysical measurements already collected in the frame of the WATZON (PRIN) National Project.
Prof. Marco Borga
Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry (TESAF)
University of Padova
AGRIPOLIS, via dell'Università , 16, Legnaro (PD), IT-35020 Italy
