PhD & Postdoc

Elias Pettersson

Forest Ecology and Carbon Cycling · Uppsala University

Elias Pettersson investigates how tree species selection in managed boreal forests — particularly the shift from Scots pine monocultures to Norway spruce or mixed deciduous stands — alters the pathways by which plant-derived carbon is stabilised in mineral soil layers that persist on century to millennial timescales. At Uppsala University's Soil Science department, supervised by Prof. Annika Lindström, he uses density fractionation to operationally separate mineral-associated organic matter from particulate organic matter across 45 long-term species composition plots spanning Sweden's managed forest gradient. His ¹³C isotope tracing experiments track the fate of freshly fixed photosynthate from needle litter to stable organomineral complexes, revealing that spruce-dominated stands accumulate 23% more mineral-associated carbon per unit of litter input than pine monocultures — driven by higher oxalate exudation promoting iron-mediated stabilisation. Elias's collaboration with the Swedish Forest Agency provides his research with direct policy relevance: his species-specific carbon stabilisation coefficients are being integrated into the national forest carbon inventory model to improve Sweden's LULUCF accounting under EU climate regulation. His interest in forest carbon measurement, reporting, and verification roles bridges academic ecology and the growing voluntary carbon market.

Thesis Topic

Soil Organic Carbon Stabilisation Mechanisms in Boreal Forest Mineral Soils Under Contrasting Tree Species Compositions

Transition Signals