Research

The Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation investigates the biological, chemical and physical processes in soils that lead to the formation of this unique natural resource and determine its role in different ecosystems.

	The Department of Soil Chemistry focuses on the formation, distribution, utilization potentials and threats of soils as well as their role in global biogeochemical cycles. For example, we investigate interactions of organic matter with minerals in soils, soil formation on volcanic rocks, the cultivation of pearl millet in the Sahel, and the mobility of pollutants in soils. We use modern spectroscopic and microscopic methods.
	The Department of Biogeophysics uses soil physical and micrometeorological methods to measure water and matter fluxes in the soil-plant system in order to investigate the factors that control them and to estimate inputs to the adjacent environmental compartments (atmosphere, groundwater, surface waters). For this purpose, we use and develop simulation models. Since accurate measurements are typically local, but environmental problems are regional, we also deal with the difficult question of how local process understanding can be transferred to the regional scale given the heterogeneity of soils and landscapes.
	Soil organisms are central to many processes in soils and interact with chemical and physical soil properties. A research focus of the Department of Soil Biology is the study of the spatial variability of soils and its consequences for the spatial distribution of soil microorganism and their functions. Climate change and the associated changes in soil functions represent a further field of research. In this context, for example, we are investigating the extent to which an increase in temperature and changes in precipitation distribution affect the microbially controlled carbon and nitrogen cycles in agroecosystems. To answer these questions, we employ a broad spectrum of methods ranging from biochemical analyses to the use of isotopes and molecular biological methods.