Research Focus: Geosphere-Biosphere Interactions
Anthropogenically-induced crisis like biodiversity loss and climate change endanger the Earth System Stability. Coping with these crises requires deep understanding of how the geosphere and the biosphere are coupled and feed back into each other.
We investigate these feedbacks, which occur across a wide range of spatial scales: from microorganisms altering the biotic and abiotic environment to global biogeochemical cycles of water, carbon, and nutrients linking rock, soil, vegetation, and the climate system. We identify geo-biosphere interactions in geological records and link this with present day observations to project how geo-biosphere feedbacks may stabilize or destabilize terrestrial systems in the future.
Selected Topics of the Research Focus "Geosphere-Biosphere Interactions"
Mechanistic modeling of geo-biosphere interactions
Land-use (change) impacts on geo-biosphere interactions
Impact of tallest (trees) to smallest (microbes) organisms on soils
Feedbacks between biota and the water cycle in soils, aquifers, rivers, and coupled hydrosystems
Interrelation of geo- and biodiversity & stability
Biotic drivers of biogeochemical cycles across space and time
Manipulative experiments to simulate environmental change
Geo-biosphere feedbacks during rapid environmental change in the geological past
Workgroups Active in the Research Focus "Anthropogenic Impacts on the Earth System"
Geosphere-Biosphere Interactions
Prof. Dr. Michaela Dippold
Invertebrate Paleontology
Prof. Dr. James Nebelsick
Plant Biogeochemistry
Jun.-Prof. Dr. Marie Mühe
Soil Science and Geomorphology
Prof. Dr. Thomas Scholten
Environmental Mineralogy
Prof. Dr. Stefan B. Haderlein