Dr. Kenneth Byrne

Biography

Present Position:

Associate Professor

Qualifications:

B.Agr.Sc. (Forestry), University College Dublin, 1992.
Ph.D. (Soil Science), University College Dublin, 1999.
M.Eng.Sc. (Civil and Environmental Engineering), University College Cork, 2011.
Grad. Dip. (Teaching, Learning and Scholarship), University of Limerick, 2018.
Former Positions:Bord na Móna Newman Scholar, University College Dublin (1999-2002)Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University College Dublin (2002-2003)Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University College Cork (2004-2008)

Research Interests

My research focuses on the impact of land use and land use change on soil carbon stocks and greenhouse gas emissions. Other interests include carbon storage in harvested wood products, forest ecosystem services and nutrient stores in forest biomass.
Researcher staff and students
Completed

Ciara Hayes. 2010. Spatial variation in soil carbon stocks under a Miscanthus crop. M.Sc. University of Limerick.
Anthony O'Donnell. 2011. Forestry in the Republic of Ireland: Government policy, grant incentives and carbon sequestration value M.Sc. (Financial Services), University of Limerick. Minor thesis. Co-supervisor: Dr. M. Cummins.
Stephanie Brosnan. 2011. Partitioning of soil respiration in a beech forest using a trenching experiment. M.Sc., University of Limerick.
Dr. Jennifer Donlan. 2010-2011. Carbon stocks and stock changes in harvested wood products. Post-Doctoral Fellowship funded by the Council for Forest Research and Development.
Dr. Jennifer Donlan. 2014. Assessment of agricultural activity on drained organic soils. Post-Doctoral Fellowship funded by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Eva Ros Mangrinan. 2015. Nutrient pools in forest biomass. MSc. Co-supervisor Dr. Thomas Cummins, UCD. Funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Cormac O'Callaghan. 2015. Quantification and valuation of Irish forest ecosystem services in Irish forests. MSc at University College Cork co-supervised with Prof. J. O'Halloran and Dr S. Irwin. Funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Richard Lane. 2016. Soil carbon dynamics in afforested organo-mineral soils. PhD. University of Limerick. Funded by the Irish Research Council.
Caitlin Rigney. 2016. Greenhouse gas emissions from rewetted peatland forests. PhD. University of Limerick. Funded by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Gemma Torres-Sallan. 2016. Physical and biochemical characterisation of soil organic carbon in topsoil and subsoil of Irish grasslands. PhD. University of Limerick.Co-Supervisors: Dr. G. Lanigan and Prof. R. Creamer. Funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Jonay Antonio Jovani Sancho. 2017. Empirical and process based modeling of soil respiration in afforested peatlands. PhD. University of Limerick. Co-supervisor Dr. Thomas Cummins, UCD. Funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Dr. Jean O'Dwyer. 2015-2018. Economic and Environmental Mapping of Cascade Use of Wood. Postdoctoral Fellowship funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Michael Clancy. 2018. Soil carbon stocks in forest soils. PhD. Soil carbon stocks and life cycle analysis of short rotation forestry. University of Limerick. Funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Dr. Michael Clancy. 2019-2021. BenchValue Benchmarking the Sustainability Performances of Value Chains. Postdoctoral Fellowship funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Current

Kilian Walz. Peatland properties influencing greenhouse gas emissions and removals. Co-supervisor Dr. Florence Renou-Wilson, UCD. PhD funded by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Dylan Walshe. Integration of spatial Big Data for improved long term forest resource planning. Employment based PhD scholarship funded by the Irish Research Council. Co-supervisor Dr. Daniel McInerney, Coillte Teoranta.
Jill Pitcher Farrell. Forest growth and development on high pH soils and marl sites. MSc funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Professional Activities

Award

2011 - Visiting Scholarship to Trent University, Ontario, Canada.
2007 - Member of the Nobel Peace Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
2003 - Honarary Diploma, Forest Research and Management Institute, Bucharest, Romania
1999 - Newman Scholarship, University College Dublin

Association

Member, Soil Science Society of Ireland
Member, International Union of Soil Science

Peer Reviewed Journals

2023

Life Cycle Assessment of a Three-Storey Terrace of Three Timber-Framed Residential Workplace Units

Clancy M.A.;Starbuck S.;O’Dwyer J.;Byrne K.A. (2023) Life Cycle Assessment of a Three-Storey Terrace of Three Timber-Framed Residential Workplace Units. Forests

Biography

Present Position:

Qualifications:

Research Interests

Professional Activities

Award

Association

Publications

Peer Reviewed Journals

Life Cycle Assessment of a Three-Storey Terrace of Three Timber-Framed Residential Workplace Units

A market inventory of construction wood for residential building in Europe-in the light of the Green Deal and new circular economy ambitions

Soil organic carbon stocks by soil group for afforested soils in Ireland

Quantifying moss moisture stresses in undrained, afforested and rewetted peatlands located in Republic of Ireland using laboratory measurements and computer modelling

Investigating the Effects of k and Area Size on Variance Estimation of Multiple Pixel Areas Using a k-NN Technique for Forest Parameters

Soil carbon balance of afforested peatlands in the maritime temperate climatic zone

Characterization of elemental ratios and oxidative ratio of horticultural peat

Detecting nutrient deficiency in spruce forests using multispectral satellite imagery

Thermodynamics of soil organic matter decomposition in semi-natural oak (Quercus) woodland in southwest Ireland

Effects of soil type and depth on carbon distribution within soil macroaggregates from temperate grassland systems

Bulk-density modelling using optimal power-transformation of measured physical and chemical soil parameters

Soil respiration partitioning in afforested temperate peatlands

Greenhouse gas emissions from two rewetted peatlands previously managed for forestry

Development of a hierarchical model for predicting microbiological contamination of private groundwater supplies in a geologically heterogeneous region

Development of a hierarchical model for predicting microbiological contamination of private groundwater supplies in a geologically heterogeneous region

Clay illuviation provides a longterm sink for C sequestration in subsoils

Assessing fixed depth carbon stocks in soils with varying horizon depths and thicknesses, sampled by horizon

Assessing fixed depth carbon stocks in soils with varying horizon depths and thicknesses, sampled by horizon

PARTITIONING OF SOIL RESPIRATION IN A FIRST ROTATION BEECH PLANTATION

Collar insertion depth effects on soil respiration in afforested peatlands

The role of planted forests in the provision of habitat: an Irish perspective

Area estimations of cultivated organic soils in Ireland: reducing GHG reporting uncertainties

A review of the range and value of ecosystem services

The need to disaggregate podzols and peaty podzols when assessing forest soil carbon stocks

Future change in carbon in harvested wood products from Irish forests established prior to 1990

Future change in carbon in harvested wood products from Irish forests established prior to 1990

Indicators of soil formation in restored bauxite residues

Forestry in the Republic of Ireland: Government policy, grant incentives and carbon sequestration value

Carbon storage in harvested wood products for Ireland 1961-2009

The potential of birch afforestation as an after-use option for industrial cutaway peatlands

The role of plantation forestry in Ireland in the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions

The short-term effect of altered water level on carbon dioxide and methane fluxes in a blanket bog

Carbon stock and stock changes across a Sitka spruce chronosequence on surface-water gley soils

The short-term effect of altered water level on carbon dioxide and methane fluxes in a blanket bog.

Rewetting of cutaway peatlands: Are we re-creating hotspots of methane emissions?

Sustainability of Irish forestry - current status and future prospects

Vegetation and environmental variation in an Atlantic blanket bog in South-western Ireland

Land cover change and soil organic carbon stocks in the Republic of Ireland 1851-2000

Above- and belowground biomass measurements in an unthinned stand of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong) Carr.)

A high resolution green area index for modelling the seasonal dynamics of CO2 exchange in peatland vascular plant communities

How strongly can forest management influence soil carbon sequestration?

Methane flux dynamics in an Irish lowland blanket bog

Patterns in vegetation and CO2 dynamics along a water level gradient in a lowland blanket bog

Carbon dioxide dynamics of a restored maritime peatland

Carbon sequestration determined using farm scale carbon balance and eddy covariance

Carbon stocks and sequestration in plantation forests of the Republic of Ireland

Partitioning of respiration in an intensively managed grassland

Net ecosystem exchange of grassland in contrasting wet and dry years

Estimating net ecosystem exchange in a patterned ecosystem: example from blanket bog

Reporting carbon stocks in harvested wood products: Implications for Ireland

Stand age-related effects on soil respiration in a first rotation Sitka spruce chronosequence in central Ireland

Process-based modelling of net ecosystem exchange and its components for a humid grassland ecosystem

The effect of afforestation on soil carbon dioxide emissions in blanket peatland in Ireland

CO2 fluxes in adjacent new and permanent temperate grasslands

Improved estimates of biomass expansion factors for Sitka spruce

Preliminary estimates of biomass carbon stock changes in managed forests in the Republic of Ireland over the period 1990-2000

The potential impact of climate change on Irish forestry

The role of forests in the global carbon cycle and in climate change policy

The influence of temperature on carbon dioxide production in laboratory columns of virgin and forested blanket peat

Possibilities for carbon sequestration in Irish forests

Carbon dioxide and methane fluxes in forested and virgin blanket peatland in the west of Ireland

Long term response of Sitka spruce to fertiliser on low level blanket peat in the west of Ireland

Books

Book Chapters

Soils and carbon storage

Irish peatland forests: Lessons from the past and pathways to a sustainable future

Current and future degradation risks to forest soils in Ireland

Irish peatland forests: lessons from the past and pathways to a sustainable future

Greenhouse Gas Balance in Disturbed Peatlands

Greenhouse gas balance in disturbed peatlands

Climate impacts of peatland forestry

Corrigendum to ‘A market inventory of construction wood for residential building in Europe –in the light of the Green Deal & new circular economy ambitions’: Sustainable Cities and Society 9....