Josue De Los Rios Mera

http://www.grassland-organicfarming.uni-kiel.de/de/mitarbeiter/doktoranden/

Project: Eco-efficiency of Forage Production Systems:Impact on soil fertility and carbon sequestration

Natural ecosystems play an important role in the sequestration and regulation of the global carbon cycle. Changes in land-use from natural ecosystems to forage production is occurring to supply the rising demand for dairy and meat products of the world’s growing population. This situation threatens to deteriorate soil fertility and increase the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere, hence, contributing to the climate change effects. As a solution, the reduction of CO2 emissions and soil fertility deterioration, while obtaining economically sustainable yields, has been proposed to supply the demand of food production in the long term. The present doctoral project aims at assessing the eco-efficiency of forage production systems in several crops of global importance. To achieve these objectives, data obtained in long-term field experiments, regarding forage yield, CO2 emission, soil carbon stock, and environmental variables will be used to predict changes in soil C in the long term, caused by management practices, using a regional carbon model.

Education

Since Jun 2018: Doctoral candidate at the Institute of Grassland and Forage Science/Organic Agriculture. Christian-Albrecht-Universität-zu-Kiel, Kiel, Germany

Oct-2014 - Jan-2018: Master in Crop Sciences, major Plant Nutrition and Protection Universität Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany

Research interest

Soil science, plant nutrition, plant physiology, rhizosphere processes, fertilization and soil organic matter dynamics