SUPERVISOR: Gabriele WEIGELHOFER

PROJECT ASSIGNED TO: Kaveh SIAH

Streams and rivers contribute disproportionately to global carbon efflux rates, as compared to the land area they occupy. They are increasingly disturbed by human activities, such as intensive agriculture, which modulate the organic matter flowing into them. In recent decades, second-generation bioenergy crops, such as willow and miscanthus, have been increasingly promoted as sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels. The prospect of the further intensification of agriculture to grow these bioenergy crops represents an emerging field of research.  Essentially, large-scale cultivation fundamentally alters stream metabolism, potentially leading to unforeseen impacts on freshwater systems. My research examines how bioenergy crop adoption influences stream metabolism by changing the composition of dissolved organic matter, modifying nutrient cycling, and influencing microbial activity in benthic biofilms. Integrating ecological modeling with field and laboratory data, I seek to evaluate whether bioenergy crop cultivation mitigates or amplifies carbon efflux from streams. Additionally, I aim analyze the economic and policy factors that influence farmers' decisions to adopt these crops, highlighting the broader role of agricultural land management in climate change mitigation. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of the integrated and multidisciplinary fields of sustainable agriculture, carbon cycling, and stream-ecosystem health.