Kyohsuke Hikino

Peatlands are significant natural sources of methane, one of the most influencial greenhouse gas alongside the carbon dioxide. The main focus of the project is to evaluate the role of newly assimilated carbon for the methane emission on seasonal timescales.

I apply carbon isotope labeling technics to track the fate of newly assimilated carbon in peatland ecosystems. I collect plant/soil samples and use an automated chamber system connected to a 13CO2/13CH4 isotope gas analyzer to investigate the allocation of plant-derived carbon within the soil-plant-atmosphere interfaces.

2023-           Postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Sweden)

2019-2023   PhD student at the Professorship for Land Surface-Atmosphere Interactions, Ecophysiology of plants, Technical University of Munich (Germany)

2016-2019   M.Sc. Forest and Wood Science, Technical University of Munich (Germany)

2013-2016   B.Sc. Forest Science and Resource Management, Technical University of Munich (Germany)

Gebhardt, T., Hesse, B. D., Hikino, K., Kolovrat, K., Hafner, B. D., Grams, T. E. E., & Häberle, K.-H. (2023). Repeated summer drought changes the radial xylem sap flow profile in mature Norway spruce but not in European beech. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 329, 109285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2022.109285

Hikino, K., Danzberger, J., Riedel, V. P., Hesse, B. D., Hafner, B. D., Gebhardt, T., Rehschuh, R., Ruehr, N. K., Brunn, M., Bauerle, T. L., Landhäusser, S. M., Lehmann, M. M., Rötzer, T., Pretzsch, H., Buegger, F., Weikl, F., Pritsch, K., & Grams, T. E. E. (2022). Dynamics of initial carbon allocation after drought release in mature Norway spruce—Increased belowground allocation of current photoassimilates covers only half of the carbon used for fine-root growth. Global Change Biology, 28, 6889– 6905. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16388

Hesse, B. D., Gebhardt, T., Hafner, B. D., Hikino, K., Reitsam, A., Gigl, M., Dawid, C., Häberle, K.-H., & Grams, T. E. E. (2022). Physiological recovery of tree water relations upon drought release—response of mature beech and spruce after five years of recurrent summer drought. Tree Physiology. https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tpac135

Brunn, M., Hafner, B.D., Zwetsloot, M.J., Weikl, F., Pritsch, K., Hikino, K., Ruehr, N.K., Sayer, E.J. and Bauerle, T.L. (2022), Carbon allocation to root exudates is maintained in mature temperate tree species under drought. New Phytol, 235: 965-977. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.18157

Hikino, K., Danzberger, J., Riedel, V. P., Rehschuh, R., Ruehr, N. K., Hesse, B. D., Lehmann, M. M., Buegger, F., Weikl, F., Pritsch, K., & Grams, T. E. E. (2022). High resilience of carbon transport in long-term drought-stressed mature Norway spruce trees within 2 weeks after drought release. Global Change Biology, 28, 2095– 2110. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16051