Gerard Rocher-Ros
(Post Doctoral Researcher)

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Phone: +46 90 786 67 59

Research Summary

Carbon dynamics in arctic stream networks

I grew up in a small mountain valley in Catalonia, Spain, and from my village I could see how the major glacier of the Pyrenees, grand and snowy white during the whole summer, shrank and became grey, year after year. Then I became highly interested in biogeochemical cycles and global change caused by humans.

My current research is performed in Abisko, and deals with the role of inland waters in ecosystems, focused on the carbon cycle in arctic areas. As the arteries and veins in our body, stream networks play an important role in the landscape, in spite of their small area.

Global warming is particularly severe in the Arctic areas, where vast amounts of carbon are stored in the soil. In this context, streams evade vast amounts of CO2 to the atmosphere, and also transport and transform organic matter downstream. How these dynamic and complex systems interact with a destabilized landscape such as the arctic regions? Besides, I have a background in statistical modelling, so I hope to apply some tools from statistical physics, fractals, and complex systems theory in my research.

Project Summary

My PhD is about Carbon fluxes in arctic aquatic systems, focused on streams. Using high resolution measurements, both spatially and temporally, we are able to identify hotspots for CO2 emissions and understand river networks as a whole, from headwaters to rivers. Also, using a wide range of chemical analyses and Carbon isotopes, we hope to identify the sources of carbon in streams. And with continuous metabolism measurements, we are following the stream’s heartbeat throughout the year.