Soil and ecosystems in general belong to important pool of carbon; cumulatively they contain four times more carbon than atmosphere. At the same time, exchange of C between these pools and atmosphere is very dynamic. These pools are affected by land use changes, which may thus represent important tool for CO2 removal from the atmosphere but at the same time represent large threat. Earlier studies suggest that restored ecosystem have larger potential to store C than stabilized ecosystems. Moreover, compared to industrial carbon capture and storage, these approaches are cost-effective and often bring side benefits. However, there are many questions, which we need to explore. An example of these questions are: Can restoration support production of greenhouse gases by mechanisms which do not occur in stabilized ecosystem? What mechanisms are responsible for enhanced C storage in restored ecosystems?. How this relays on interaction between plant, soil and soil biota and how these interactions differ between stabilized and restored ecosystems. The aim of the project would be to explore these questions using gas flow measurements using chambers and eddy covariance approach supplemented by manipulation experiment to detangle role of individual ecosystem components in C source and sink in restored ecosystems.

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