Core course: Soil, soil biology & soil hydrology 2017
Category: Core course
0.2 CP per course day
The rationale of this module is to provide PhD researchers with a general idea of soil formation, life within the soil, the links to biogeochemical cycles, as well as transport processes.
Key integrating aspects (propositions, to be continued):
- Everything is connected (i.e. the water, C, N, P and mineral cycles interact nowhere as closely as in the soil)
- Time scales of the different interacting cycles (time of soil formation, vs. time of complete degradation of this years litter vs. time of complete exchange of water within the soil volume?)
- Soil structure connects with biogeochemistry as well as water flow
1. Date
February - March 2017
The lectures will take place in the seminar room B0.002 and in the Institute of Ecology (Dornburger Str. 159).
2. Suggested reading
Brady & Weil (2001). The Nature and Properties of Soils. Prentice Hall
3. Outline
In the following you see the preliminary schedule:
Legend
L = lecture, D = demonstration, P = practical, E = excursion
Day & Time | Type | Content | Who |
---|---|---|---|
Mon, Feb 27 | Intro to soil science and the mineral phase of the soil | ||
09:00 - 10:30 | L | Important aspects of soil science - Soil function and formation - Intro to soil phases (water/air, mineral, organic) | Beate Michalzik |
ca. 10:45 - 12:15 | L | Soil classification - Key concepts and systems - Soil transfer functions - Soil properties and ecological site characteristics | Beate Michalzik |
ca. 13:15 - 16:30 | E/D | Soil description and sampling (close to the MPI) - Description of soil profile - Measurement of simple soil properties in the field | Beate Michalzik |
Fri, March 3 | Soil lab | ||
9.00 - 11.00 | D | Iris Kuhlmann | |
13.00 - 15.00 | D | Iris Kuhlmann | |
Wed, March 8 | Pore / Water phase of the soil, and transport processes & Soil fauna | ||
09:00 - 10:30 | L | Soil hydrology - Water flow/storage in unsaturated and saturated media, incl. non-linear processes, macro-pore flow - Water balance at soil surface - Plant – water interactions | Anke Hildebrandt |
ca. 10:45 - 12:15 | L | Transport in porous media | Anke Hildebrandt |
13:30 - 15:00 | L | Overview of soil fauna - Biodiversity of soil organisms - soil food webs - Role of functional organism groups for biogeochemical processes (including their role for soil structure) | Markus Lange |
Thu, March 9 | C-N cycles in the soil (connection to the organic soil phase) | ||
11:00 - 12:30 | L | Soil C and N stocks and turnover - Carbon stabilization mechanisms - C and N processes and interactions - Methods for determination of substrates and C/N processes and isotopic markers | Gerd Gleixner |
13:30 - 16:00 | L | Modeling soil C and N turnover: ca. 1h lecture, then modeling exercises with C / N / H2O soil modules, incl. break please bring a laptop with a current version of R and RStudio installed. You will need the packages SoilR and FME | Carlos Sierra |
Wed, March 15 | Environmental change / Human impacts | ||
10.00 - 11.00 | Soil degradation - (compaction, loss of organic carbon, acidification, increased erosion, i.e. results of intensive land use) | Marion Schrumpf | |
11:15 - 12:15 | Response of soil processes to change of moisture and temperature (climate change) | Carlos Sierra | |
Thu, March 16 | Soil biology (II) lecture hall & labs on the 2nd floor | ||
09:30 - 11:00 | L | Soil microbiology - Actors/drivers in element cycles - Methods of soil biology (classical field & laboratory incubations) | Kirsten Küsel |
11:00 - 13:00 | P | DNA extraction from soil | Jens Wurlitzer & Patricia Lange |
13:45 - 14:45 | L | Wetland microbiology - Actors/drivers in element cycles | Kirsten Küsel |
14:45 - 16:15 | P | PCR (16S Bacteria, 16S Archaea, 18S Eukarya) Gelelectrophoresis (with prepared PCR products) | Jens Wurlitzer & Patricia Lange |
The soil lab demonstration will be carried out in two groups owing to the restricted place in the MPI labs. Participants of the course will be informed about the grouping by February 23 (confirmation message of the IMPRS-gBGC coordination office).
4. Material
Handout by Iris Kuhlmann
Field Experiments and Instrumentation / Workshops by Iris Kuhlmann
Slides of Anke Hildebrandt
5. Feedback
The survey gives feedback of 10 (out of 16) participants. Statistics and statements should not be taken as an exhaustive or exclusive list.