Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry | Departments / BiogeochemicalProcesses

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Department Biogeochemical Processes

Prof Susan E. Trumbore, PhD
Managing Director

Phone: +49 (0)3641 57 - 6110
Mobile: +49 1609 7262795

trumbore[at]bgc-jena.mpg.de

Department webpage

Coupling of biogeochemical cycles with functional processes in ecosystems

The Department of Biogeochemical Processes explores the key processes and organisms that regulate exchanges of energy, water and elements between ecosystems and their surroundings, and how those processes are affected by climate variation and land management.

Easy-to-understand fact sheets of the department (pdf)

Selected projects

Tree Assimilation and Carbon Allocation Physiology Experiment (TACAPE): A joint project with the Brazilian Institute for Amazon Research (INPA) to manipulate the carbon use efficiency of tropical forest.
The Jena Experiment explores the role of biodiversity in element cycling and trophic interactions in a grassland community.
The Jena Drought Stress Experiment investigates mechanisms in drought-induced tree mortality with a particular emphasis on the interplay between the tree water and carbon cycle.
The project for measuring the Age of CO₂ emitted from tree stems investigates the role of storage carbon pools as sources for respiration in trees under different environmental conditions.
The QUASOM field experiment addressing stabilization or mobilization of carbon in soils - in collaboration with the Biogeochemical Model-Data Integration group.
TRY database - the functional diversity of plants.

Selected publications

Alt F; Oelmann Y; Herold N; Schrumpf M; Wilcke W (2011): Phosphorus partitioning in grassland and forest soils of Germany as related to land-use type, management intensity, and land use-related pH. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science 174, 195-209

Braakhekke MC; Wutzler T; Reichstein M; Kattge J; Beer C; Schrumpf M; Schoning I; Hoosbeek MR; Kruijt B; Kabat P (2011): Modeling the vertical soil organic matter profile using 210Pbex measurements and Bayesian inversion. Biogeosciences Discussions 8, 7257-7312

Christ S; Wubet T; Theuerl S; Herold N; Buscot F (2011): Fungal communities in bulk soil and stone compartments of different forest and soil types as revealed by a barcoding ITS rDNA and a functional laccase encoding gene marker. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 43, 1292-1299

Gubsch M; Roscher C; Gleixner G; Habekost M; Lipowsky A; Schmid B; Schulze ED; Steinbeiß S; Buchmann N (2011): Foliar and soil delta15N values reveal increased nitrogen partitioning among species in diverse grassland communities. Plant, Cell and Environment 34, 895-908

Khomo L; Hartshorn AS; Rogers KH; Chadwick OA (2011): Impact of rainfall and topography on the distribution of clays and major cations in granitic catenas of southern Africa. Catena 87, 119-128

Lake Tangra Yumco in Tibet (Picture author: Roman Witt)

Measurement tower in Tanguro, Brazil. The soybean field is located at the border of the Amazon rainforest, a region particularly threatened by deforestation, forest fires and climate change. Intensive land use in this area exerts a great influence on the vegetation, the water and the nutrient availability. (Picture author: Martin Hertel)

Fire experiments in Brasil (Picture author: Tara Massad)

Desert rain in Tibet (Picture author: Roman Witt)

Jena Experiment - experimental plots in the Saale floodplain in Mai 2014. (Picture author: Karl Kübler)