Water and Carbon Cycles
Based at Magdalen Farm Centre, Dorset.
Available as a day visit and also part of a residential course.
All of the fieldwork for this unit takes place either on, or immediately adjacent to, the 130 acre Magdalen Farm in West Dorset.
We use a systems approach to look at flows and stores of water and carbon and use small scale experiments to model and measure some of the flows and stores.
Examples of these include a) infiltration rates on differing soil types ,b) interception and runoff under different trees and on differing slopes, c) estimating carbon storage in small plantations of differing ages and d) using soil samples to estimate soil organic carbon content of organic vs conventional farmed soils.
Consideration is given to how the farm management can be adapted to maximise carbon storage, increase flood resilience whilst at the same time maintaining the productivity of this beautiful organic farm.
The fieldwork is complemented by lab analysis of soils and the data collected is ideal to teach a wide variety of fieldwork, statistical and graphical skills.
Find out more about the fieldwork here.
