12 June 2025

Put your best root forward

Research at Johnstown Castle is examining how forestry management can play a crucial role in nature-based strategies for land-use and climate mitigation.

Appropriate afforestation and sustainable forest management can have positive effects on carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and broader environmental topics such as water quality and biodiversity.

Junliang Zou is a forest carbon Research Officer, in the Forestry Department and Teagasc Climate Centre, based at Johnstown Castle. His research focuses on ecosystem carbon cycling, soil GHG inventories and the impact of climate change on the mechanisms governing carbon sequestration in forest ecosystems.

This research plays an important role in shaping Ireland’s climate-smart forestry policies and ensuring that afforestation strategies align with both national and international climate targets.

Management cycles

As a Research Officer for Teagasc, one of Junliang’s main focus areas is how forest management practices can influence carbon and nitrogen cycles, using a mixed approach integrating field measurements, ecosystem modelling and data synthesis. “These projects aim to contribute directly to refining national GHG inventories, to develop sustainable land-use strategies, and to help ensure that we can provide robust scientific evidence to inform forest policies,” he explains. 

Junliang is currently involved in several key projects, focussing variously on carbon sequestration, the wider implications of peatland forestry on climate, biodiversity and water quality, and on enhancing forest genetic diversity.

Long-term monitoring

The first of these is ForCaSt, a research project quantifying the effects of forest thinning on carbon sequestration, soil health and biodiversity, for which Junliang is research coordinator. This project integrates field inventory measurements to compare carbon stocks in thinned and unthinned forests. It analyses soil respiration and litter decomposition to track carbon flux post-thinning and uses ecosystem modelling to project long-term carbon sequestration outcomes. “By incorporating long-term monitoring data, ForCaSt aims to identify optimal thinning regimes that maximise carbon storage while maintaining ecosystem functionality,” Junliang notes.

“The findings will inform sustainable thinning strategies that balance timber production and climate mitigation.”

Accounting for change

The PeatFor project focuses on carbon and nitrogen fluxes in forested peatlands. This project, led by the University of Limerick, examines how peat type, drainage level and tree species influence carbon and nitrogen dynamics. It seeks to refine predictive models for carbon stock changes to enhance National Inventory Reporting, and evaluates the sustainability of strategies for drainage, rewetting and afforestation.

PeatFor combines field measurements, remote sensing and modelling to assess forest-climate interactions, providing insights to inform future land-use policies.

“Given Ireland’s significant cover on peat soils, this project has crucial implications for national carbon accounting and the development of climate adaption strategies for forests on organic soils,” notes Junliang.

Of further value for this research area is Adap4Tree, a project focused on enhancing the genetic diversity of forests for climate adaption. As a project partner,  Junliang’s role here is in monitoring tree growth and assessing climate resilience through progeny trials for birch and alder, as well as conducting multisite trials to identify stress-resilient genotypes, and evaluating genetic conservation strategies for beech, to support future breeding programmes. These efforts strengthen Ireland’s tree improvement initiatives amid increasing climate challenges.

Junliang is also involved in STRATUM, a national soil strategy and monitoring programme for Ireland, where he focuses on forest soils. This project conducts reviews and stakeholder consultations to develop a framework for a national soil strategy, and to implement a monitoring network for agricultural and forest soils. STRATUM will deliver a final report and policy brief to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to help guide future research, address knowledge gaps and inform sustainable soil management options.

Looking forward

Collaboration with international research institutions and government agencies, as well as educating the next generation of researchers and promoting public awareness through knowledge transfer, is key for ensuring that this research advances both scientific understanding and practical applications of forestry management.

A key focus for future research is improving the accuracy of carbon flux estimates from different forest ecosystems. With growing interest in nature-based solutions for climate change mitigation, there’s ample scope for exploring how forestry can be optimised to provide multiple ecosystem services – such as carbon storage, biodiversity conservations and water regulation.

“The ongoing research aims to refine carbon sequestration models across various forest types and management practices,” Junliang concludes. “By integrating long-term monitoring data with advanced modelling approaches, this work will continue to support evidence-based policies for climate mitigation and sustainable forestry.” 

Junliang Zou: career highlights

• PhD, University College Dublin: effects of climate change on soil GHG emissions.
• Postdoctoral researcher, Tsinghua University: nitrogen constraints in ecosystem carbon sequestration.
• Researcher, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences: ecosystem carbon quantification and GHG flux dynamics.
• Researcher, ‘Grain for Green’ programme: a major ecological restoration initiative in China.
• Forest carbon Research Officer, Teagasc.

Contributors

Junliang Zou, Research Officer, Teagasc Johnstown Castle junliang.zou@teagasc.ie