The research conducted in the Soil Ecology and Global Change group focuses on the consequences of environmental change for plant communities and the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients and water in ecosystems. A special emphasis is on plant-soil interactions in both agronomic and natural ecosystems, and how these affect soil structure and the ecosystem's greenhouse gas balance (CO₂, CH₄, N₂O). Methodologically, these questions are tackled using a wide range of analytical tools, including isotope labelling, gas exchange techniques, and the genetic analysis of soil microbial communities.

Research themes

• Carbon sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems
• Mechanisms controlling soil greenhouse gas efflux incl. CH₄ and N₂O
• Effects of plant biodiversity on the structure and functioning of ecosystems

Ongoing Projects

• Plant competitive interactions under soil nutrient transport limitation
• Aboveground primary production in Chinese subtropical forest ecosystems: 
  Subproject 1: Primary production
  Subproject 5: Carbon storage and nutrient cycling 
• Greenhouse gas budget of soil under warming and changing climate land use (COST 639 "BurnOut"):
  Coupling of soil respiration and primary production 
• Cold ecosystems in a warmer world: tracing radiocarbon in plants and soils of high altitude (COST FP 803)
• Ecology of soil methanotrophic bacteria
• Modelling of soil C fluxes under elevated CO₂

Group members

Head of the group: PD Dr. Pascal Niklaus