Consequences of rainforest conversion to smallholder rubber and oil palm plantations on soil trace gas fluxes from highly weathered soils in Sumatra, Indonesia

Evelyn Hassler focuses on the soil-atmosphere exchange of trace gases and the factors which are known to control these fluxes. Her research aims to identify how fluxes of climate relevant gases like carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide or methane change when rainforests are converted to rubber plantations, oil palm plantations or rubber agroforestry plots.
Using in situ measurements she will measure gas exchange at the soil surface. Through sampling, air concentrations are measured at predefined time intervals to quantify how much greenhouse gas is either taken up or released from the soil.