Projects

Current Projects
	Sensitivity and Response of Treeline Ecotones in the Nepal Himalaya to Climate Warming (TREELINE-II) Key Words: Treeline ecotone, Krummholz, Soil Properties, Climate Change, Himalaya Contact: Rabindra Adhikari, Prof. Thomas Scholten
	SPP 2361 – On the Way to the Fluvial Anthroposphere. Project: Local pathways to the Fluvial Anthroposphere at Echaz (Rhine) and Eger (Danube). A comparative analysis from c. AD 1100 to 1800 Keywords: Fluvial Anthroposphere, Middle Ages, Preindustrial Modern Period, Floodplains, Southern Germany Contact: Snježana Pejdanović, Peter Kühn
	FNR Waldklimafonds: Adaptations to climate change - increasing water retention, soil stability and CO2 sequestration in forest soils by mosses Keywords: Forest ecosystem, forest soil, bryophytes, water retention, drought Contact: Corinna Gall, Steffen Seitz
	MultiTroph (subproject 3): Multi-Trophic Interactions in a Forest Biodiversity Experiment in China Keywords: Trophic Interactions, Biodiversity, Sediment Relocation, Erosion, China Contact: Thomas Scholten, Steffen Seitz
	MLTRANS: Transferability of machine learning models in digital soil mapping Keywords: Digital Soil Mapping, Deep Learning, Feature Selection, Extrapolation Contact: Nafiseh Kakhani, Ruhollah Taghizadeh, Thomas Scholten
	EXC 2064: Interpretable Spatial Machine Learning for Environmental Modelling Keywords: Digital Soil Mapping, Soil Formation, Uncertainty Quantification, Interpretable Models, Sampling Design, Topography, Differential Equations, Gaussian Processes Contact: Kerstin Rau, Thomas Gläßle, Thomas Scholten, Philipp Hennig
	Soil and vegetation feedbacks on climate change in high mountain ranges of the Tibetan Plateau Keywords: Soil, soil quality, alpine grassland ecosystem, climate change, FT-NMIR, machine learning, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Contact: Zuonan Cao
	CRC 1070/ Phase 3 Resource Cultures: Subproject B02 - Resource Use in Favourable/Disfavourable Areas Keywords: Colluvial Deposits, Land Use and Resources, Settlement History Contact: Thomas Knopf, Thomas Scholten, Peter Kühn, Judith Koschorke
	CRC 1070/ Phase 3 Resource Cultures: Subproject S - Service project geoscientific and geoarchaeological expertise and research data management Keywords: GIS, Environmental and Spatial Data Sets, (Geo-)Statistics, Research data management (RDM) Contact: Tobias Rentschler, Ruhollah Taghizadeh, Martin Bartelheim, Karsten Schmidt, Thomas Scholten, Judith Koschorke

Previous Projects

Antarctic Research: Microbial-mediated soil formation in maritime Antarctica under simulated environmental conditions

Keywords: Microbial communities, Permafrost-affected soils, Pedogenesis, Micromorphology, Maritime Antarctica

Contact: Lars Arne Meier, Thomas Scholten, Peter Kühn

EarthShape (Phase II, subproject 3): Microbial Engineers - Drivers of Earth Surface Development and Stabilization

Keywords: Microorganisms, Sediments, Pedogenesis, Stabilization, Chile

Contact: Nicolas Riveras Munoz, Peter Kühn, Steffen Seitz, Thomas Scholten

MesiCrust: Mechanisms of Soil Erosion under Forest – The Role of Biological Soil Crusts

Keywords: Soil Erosion, Biological Soil Crusts, Skid Trails, Schönbuch Nature Park

Contact: Corinna Gall, Steffen Seitz

CRC 1070/ Phase 2 Resource Cultures: Subproject B02 - Favor – disfavor? Development of resources in marginal areas

Keywords: Colluvial Deposits, Land Use and Resources, Settlement History

Contact: Sascha Scherer, Thomas Knopf, Thomas Scholten, Peter Kühn

CRC 1070/ Phase 2 Resource Cultures: Subproject S - Service project geoscientific and geoarchaeological expertise

CRC 1070/ Phase 2 Resource Cultures: Subproject S - Service project geoscientific and geoarchaeological expertise

Keywords: GIS, Environmental and Spatial Data Sets, (Geo-)Statistics

Contact: Tobias Rentschler, Karsten Schmidt, Peter Kühn, Thomas Scholten

Spatial analysis and modelling of soil organic carbon using data mining and digital soil mapping along a climatic gradient in West Greenland

Spatial analysis and modelling of soil organic carbon using data mining and digital soil mapping along a climatic gradient in West Greenland

Keywords: data mining, digital soil mappin, climate gradient, Greenland

Contact: Philipp Gries, Karsten Schmidt, Peter Kühn, Thomas Scholten

UMD-UT Cooperation Program: Soil and Human Culture Dynamics

UMD-UT Cooperation Program: Soil and Human Culture Dynamics

Keywords: Holocene, Anthropology, Archaeology, Soil Science

Contact: Peter Kühn

CRC 1070 Resource Cultures - PhD School "Networks and Resource Complexes": Subproject "Perception of Soils in Society"

CRC 1070 Resource Cultures - PhD School "Networks and Resource Complexes": Subproject "Perception of Soils in Society"

Keywords: Soil knowledge, Soil perception

Contact: Sandra Teuber, Thomas Knopf, Thomas Scholten

Paleosols from King George Island, Maritime Antarctica – indicators of paleoenvironmental change during the Eocene/Oligocene transition

Paleosols from King George Island, Maritime Antarctica – indicators of paleoenvironmental change during the Eocene/Oligocene transition

Keywords: Antarctica, Tertiary, Paleosols, Paleoclimate, Pedogenesis, Micromorphology, Geochemistry

Contact: Diogo Noses Spinola, Peter Kühn

Quantification of Soil CO2 Emissions under the Influence of Climate Change on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau based on Freely Accessible Data

Quantification of Soil CO2 Emissions under the Influence of Climate Change on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau based on Freely Accessible Data

Keywords: Soil CO2 Emissions, Permafrost, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Contact: Anna Bosch, Karsten Schmidt, Thomas Scholten

CRC 1070/ Phase 1 Resource Cultures: Subproject S - Service project geoscientific and geoarchaeological expertise

CRC 1070/ Phase 1 Resource Cultures: Subproject S - Service project geoscientific and geoarchaeological expertise

S develops and implements information systems to provide and analyze environmental and spatial datasets of natural systems, serving as Furthermore, S serves as a geoscientific and geoarchaeological helpdesk for all sub-projects within the collaborative research centre ResourcesCultures (SFB 1070). Furthermore, S offers hands-on training courses and summer schools on GIS and handling environmental data.

Keywords: GIS, Environmental and Spatial Data Sets, (Geo-)Statistics

Contact: Karsten Schmidt, Peter Kühn, Thomas Scholten

CRC 1070/ Phase 1 Resource Cultures: Subproject B02 - Favor – disfavor? Development of resources in marginal areas

CRC 1070/ Phase 1 Resource Cultures: Subproject B02 - Favor – disfavor? Development of resources in marginal areas

The project investigates the causes of development processes of resources and related movements into unfavourable or marginal areas by means of two integrated case studies. With respect to the resource soil and landscape-related location factors, the case studies aim on archeological and pedological analyses to work out movements.

Keywords: Colluvial Deposits, Land Use and Resources, Settlement History

Contact: Jessica Henkner, Thomas Knopf, Peter Kühn, Thomas Scholten

Sensitivity and Response of the Treeline Ecotone in Rolwaling Himal, Nepal, to Climate Warming

Sensitivity and Response of the Treeline Ecotone in Rolwaling Himal, Nepal, to Climate Warming

Keywords: Treeline, Soil properties, Climate change, Rolwaling Himal
Contact: Michael Müller, Thomas Scholten

PedoScale - Hyper-scale digital soil mapping and soil formation analysis

Keywords: Digital Soil Mapping, Digital Relief Analysis, Data Mining, Knowledge Discovery
Contact: Thorsten Behrens

YANGTZE-GEO: Subproject Soil Erosion

YANGTZE-GEO: Subproject Soil Erosion

Keywords: Soil Erosion, Terrace Condition, TerraCE, Soil Erosion Modeling, Erosion Risk Assessment, Yangtze River, YANGTZE-GEO
Contact: Felix Stumpf, Sarah Schönbrodt-Stitt, Karsten Schmidt, Thomas Scholten

CAME: Subproject Permatrans

CAME: Subproject Permatrans

Keywords: Soil Organic Carbon, Permafrost, Ecosystem Functioning, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
Contact: Corina Dörfer, Peter Kühn, Thomas Scholten

PALEOENVI: The late Quaternary palaeoenvironment of the Pannonian Basin (SE Europe)

PALEOENVI: The late Quaternary palaeoenvironment of the Pannonian Basin (SE Europe)

Keywords: Palaeoenvironment, Loess, Geochronology, Provenance, Geochemistry

Contact: Ann-Kathrin Schatz

BEF China: Subproject 6 Soil Properties and Soil Erosion

BEF China: Subproject 6 Soil Properties and Soil Erosion

Keywords: Soil Erosion, Soil Properties, Biodiversity, Ecosystem Functioning
Contact: Steffen Seitz, Peter Kühn, Thomas Scholten

iSOIL - Interactions between soil related sciences: WP4 Pedometrics

Keywords: Soil Functions and Threats, Soil-Landscape-Modeling, Digital Soil Property Mapping, Spatial Data Analysis, Geophysics
Contact: Karsten Schmidt, Thorsten Behrens

Permafrost, Pedogenesis and Ecosystem Functioning: Feedbacks and Interactions across the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Permafrost, Pedogenesis and Ecosystem Functioning: Feedbacks and Interactions across the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Keywords: Soil Organic Carbon and Nitrogen, Permafrost, Ecosystem Functioning, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau
Contact: Frank Baumann, Thomas Scholten, Peter Kühn

Upper Palaeolithic Environment of Kostiёnki and Borshchevo, Middle Russian Plain

Upper Palaeolithic Environment of Kostiёnki and Borshchevo, Middle Russian Plain

Keywords: Upper Palaeolithic, Paleosols, Krotovina
Contact: Dana Pietsch

Pre-Aksumite environment of Northern Tigray, Ethiopia

Pre-Aksumite environment of Northern Tigray, Ethiopia

Keywords: Pre-Aksumite Environment
Contact: Dana Pietsch

Collaborative Research Centre SFB299

Collaborative Research Centre SFB299

The main objective of the SFB 299 is the development of an integrated methodology towards the achievement and appraisal of economically and ecologically sustainable options for regional land use which are site-specific and economic differentiated. In cooperation with the Institute of Soil Science and Soil Conservation of the Justus-Liebig-University we are developing different regionalization approaches of soil properties and Pleistcene periglacial slope deposits, based on Ground Penetrating Radar surveys, Data Mining and techniques to derive representative sample and study sites.

Keywords: Digital Soil Mapping, Landuse Concepts, Representativity

Contact: Karsten Schmidt, Thorsten Behrens, Thomas Scholten

Pedon

Pedon

The Pedon project is part of the interdisciplinary research programme Biolog / Diva. Diva focusses on the relationship between Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning in Grassland Ecosystems. In PEDON the heterogeneity of site properties and water balance parameters within natural grassland stands is recorded and quantified.

Keywords: Pedodiversity, Ecosystem functioning

Contact: Ralf Gründling, Thomas Scholten

Stoff

Stoff

The project STOFF project is also part of the interdisciplinary research programme Biolog / Diva focussing on processes controling interdependences between biodiversity, plant productivity, historical land use, and carbon storage as well as nitrogen mineralization.

Keywords: Pedodiversity, carbon stroage

Contact: Ralf Gründling, Thomas Scholten

Digital Soil Mapping of the Elbe river

In cooperation with the Institute of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition at the University in Halle and the Geological Survey of Saxony-Anhalt we are developing a soil map of the Elbe river for flood-risk-management and environmental protection, based on special terrain analysis approaches, the German soil assesment and Data Mining approaches.

Keywords: Digital Soil Mapping

Contact: Thorsten Behrens, Karsten Schmidt

Digital Soil Mapping of the Schwarze Elster river

A first test case for digitally mapping soils in flooding areas based on Learning Vector Quantization in the Data Mining approach. In cooperation with the Geological Survey of Saxony-Anhalt.

Keywords: Digital Soil Mapping

Contact: Thorsten Behrens

Digital Soil Mapping of the L5031 in Thuringia

A digital soil mapping project we recently finished in Thuringia comprising different soilscapes. In cooperation with the State Office of Environment and Geology of Thuringia.

Keywords: Digital Soil Mapping

Contact: Thorsten Behrens, Karsten Schmidt

Environmental Reconstruction in Marocco

Environment and Prehistory in NE Morocco. A geoarchaeological Reconstruction.

Keywords: Geoarchaeology and Micromorphology

Organisation: J. Linstädter, C. Zielhofer (University of Osnabrück)

Contact: Peter Kühn

Landscape Reconstruction in Neolithic Southwest Germany

Pastures, Chert Sources, and Upland-Lowland Mobility in Neolithic Southwest Germany .

Keywords: Landscape Reconstruction

Organisation: L. Fisher (University of Illinois), C. Knipper (University of Tübingen).

Contact: Thomas Scholten, Peter Kühn

Station Truso, Poland

Pedology, geomorphology, and micromorphology at the station Truso.

Keywords: Pedoarchaeology

Organisation: Prof. Dr. S. Brather (University of Freiburg).

Contact: Peter Kühn

Geoarchaeology in Hesse

Geoarchaeology of the late middle-palaeolithic station Buhlen (Hesse). Micromorphology of sediments and soils.

Keywords: Geoarchaeology and Micromorphology

Organisation: Doris Walther (Frankfurt).

Contact: Peter Kühn

Settlement Strategies in the Midle Ages and the Modern Times

Multicausal patterns of explanation and settlement strategies in the Middle Ages and Modern Times in the Hessian Mountains. Geoarchaeological (geomorphology and soil science) investigations in the surrounding of the "Wüstung Baumkirchen" (Vogelsberg).

Keywords: Geoarchaeology and Micromorphology

Organisation: Dr. Udo Recker (LA Denkmalpflege Hessen).

Contact: Peter Kühn

The Roman Limes

Geoarchaeology in the surroundings of the Roman Limes wall at Holzheim (northern Wetterau) Comparison of both Roman and modern stages of soil development; potential of environmental inferences of Roman time soil data particularly micromorphology, heavy metals, and clay minerals.

Keywords: Geoarchaeology

Contact: Peter Kühn

A soil map for the Murtensee catchment

In cooperation with the EAWAG (Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology) we are digitally mapping the Murtensee catchment in the Swiss Mittelland.

Keywords: Digital Soil Mapping

Contact: Thorsten Behrens, Karsten Schmidt