FOR 2179:  MAD Soil - Microaggregates: Formation and turnover of the structural building blocks of soils

• Subject Area: Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine ; Mathematics ; Medicine
• Term: from 2015 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 251268514

Microaggregate development and turnover and its linkage to the function of soils is a major research field in soil science. The RU 2179 MADSoil – Microaggregates: Formation and turnover of the structural building blocks of soil has mounted the growing awareness of the potential role of microaggregates for the functioning of soils by putting in action a joint collaborative research program. The RU 2179 MAD Soil aims for an advanced mechanistic understanding of the formation, stability and turnover of microaggregates by exploring their structure, composition, and properties in-situ, in-vitro and in-silico. These challenging and demanding goals can only be achieved by a straightforward and purposive coordination and a structured and guided realization of an analysis towards the grand goals by integrating and annealing concepts and findings. Focus of the coordination project for the second phase is thus the synoptic synthesis of the results of the individual projects by expanding of and integrating in the theoretical mechanistic framework provided through our joint modeling endeavor. Besides this scientific focus, continued mission of project PC will be the coordination and organization of sampling campaigns, meetings, symposia and workshops, the provision of the basic physical, chemical and biological parameters of the joint field sites, the loess pedosequence and the organic matter depletion field trial, central data handling including the pre-processing and storage, the dissemination of results, and the realization of outreach activities including the web and social media presence.

• DFG Programme: Research Units

Projects

• 3D-organisation of the solid, pore and organic phases in soil microaggregates and its control on mechanical stability (Applicant Peth, Stephan )
• Coordination Funds (Applicant Totsche, Kai Uwe )
• Dichotomy of gluing and cementing agents in soil microaggregation (Applicants Guggenberger, Georg ;  Mikutta, Robert )
• Differentiating the roles of organic nuclei and mineral surfaces in the formation of soil microaggregates by exploring their elemental and isotopic label composition (Applicant Kögel-Knabner, Ingrid )
• Elucidating the role of surface alteration and dynamic relocation for the formation and maturation of microaggregates in the soil-parent rock continuum (Applicant Totsche, Kai Uwe )
• Fe-controls on soil microaggregate structure, stability, and composition (Applicant Siebers, Nina )
• Impact of soil microaggregate characteristics on microbial colonization patterns (Applicant Knief, Claudia )
• Mechanistic, Integrative Multiscale Modelling of the Turnover of Soil Microaggregates (Applicants Prechtel, Alexander ;  Ray, Nadja )
• Soil element patterns and carbon turnover at the micro-scale (20-250 µm) (Applicants Amelung, Wulf ;  Lehndorff, Eva )

• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Kai Uwe Totsche