"Use of stable isotopes as tracers in hydrology"

El próximo martes a las 11:00 horas en el aula 3.6 de la Facultad de  informática tendrá lugar el seminario;

"Use of stable isotopes as tracers in hydrology"

Stable isotopes have proven much useful as tracers of ecological processes and pathways in general. Application in hydrology is one of the longest established fields. In the water molecule, stable isotopes of both the constituting atoms hydrogen (²H, Deuterium or D) and oxygen occur (¹⁸O). With current analytical techniques and their sensitivity, processes in hydrology in which the heavier isotopes are discriminated can be sensibly traced and quantified.

The presentation gives brief information on the physical background of tracer properties and presents some results from hydrological studies in general and from canopy water budget studies in particular. It then discusses the idea of applying this technique in evaporation studies of Atlantic Cloud Forest on Tenerife Island, with a particular focus on sampling and analytical constraints that may arise. The most appropriate sampling strategy should be identified in the discussion with local colleagues and cloud forest experts, who will know what is feasible and available for sampling and what would not work.

Due to financial and other constraints, the set of samples taken and analyzed later at the Stable Isotope Laboratory in Goettingen (KOSI) has to be quite limited (< 100-150 samples). Therefore, very careful and knowledgeable sampling design and planning is essential. If it shows that the methodology works well for quantification of cloud forest hydrological processes, extended proposals for further future research may result.

BY

               PhD Michael Bredemeier

PhD in soil science (1987) and passed the habilitation in soil science, his current position he is professor, research scientist and coordinator at the Forest Ecosystems Research Center of Goettingen University. His research interests encompass terrestrial ecosystems ecology, forest ecology, soil science, soil chemistry and hydrology, element cycling and budget studies, ecological time series analysis, long-term dynamics in ecosystems, and tracer application in hydrology.

In 2007 he launched the European COST Action "Forest Management and the Water Cycle (FORMAN)", of which he is the Chairman (www.forestandwater.eu). The focus of this international consortium of ecologists and hydrologists is on the key ecosystem service of water provision, as well as on mitigation of water related hazards such as flooding and erosion.