Faculty/School

Faculty of Science

School of Biology and Environmental Science

Topic status

We're looking for students to study this topic.

Research centre

Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy

Primary Supervisor

Professor David Rowlings
Position
Professor
Division / Faculty
Faculty of Science

Other QUT supervisors

Dr Elaine Mitchell
Position
Research Associate
Division / Faculty
Faculty of Science
Dr David Tucker
Position
Research Associate
Division / Faculty
Faculty of Science

Overview

Soils are now in the ‘front line’ of global environmental change. Soils are the largest global pool of actively cycling organic C and N. Maintaining and increasing soil organic matter (SOM) is a prominent strategy for mitigating excess atmospheric CO2 and adapting agriculture to climate change. At the same time the global biodiversity crisis has led to increased scrutiny on supply chains, drawing attention to the ecological footprint of farms and agriculture. Planting or retaining trees in the landscape has the opportunity to achieve both CO2 draw-down and biodiversity outcomes, however the trade-offs between tree cover, pasture production, soil carbon and biodiversity values are not clear.

Research activities

This project will travel to field sites across South-East Queensland, identify potential experimental areas, collect soil carbon samples and establish pasture production monitoring stations.

Research skills

Field work - soil sampling, skills in measuring soil carbon, pasture biomass production and diversity, data analysis and interpretation.

Outcomes

Assessment of the optimal tree balances for soil carbon, production and biodiversity.

Start date

3 November, 2025

End date

20 February, 2026

Location

Gardens Point Campus and field sites

Keywords

Contact

  • David Rowlings

  • 0731389508

d.rowlings@qut.edu.au