Chair of Soil Ecology

Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources

Chair of Soil Ecology

Abkürzung der Fakultät für Umwelt und Natürliche Ressourcen "unr" in der Farbe sand auf grünem, kreisförmigen Hintergrund

At the Chair of Soil Ecology, we work on the interactions between plants, soil organisms and the abiotic components of soils, especially in forests. In research and teaching, we deal with soil science fundamentals as well as application-oriented issues that arise from changing environmental conditions for the soil ecosystem and have consequences for the sustainable management of soils and soil protection.

News

Soil of the year

2024: Forest soil

On the annual World Soil Day, December 5, the Soil of the Year for the following year is presented at a ceremony. The “Soil of the Year” committee of the German Soil Science Society (DBG) and the German Soil Association (BVB) make the selection.

Rendzina was named Soil of the Year 2025 on December 5, 2024 at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State Representation in Berlin. Rendzina has developed from limestone, dolomite or gypsum rock and forms a dark-colored, highly revitalized topsoil through the accumulation of humus.

Event

Microorganisms in the forest floor

What functions do microbes have in the forest soil? How can the diversity of microorganisms in it be determined? How does climate change jeopardize the forest soil microbiome and the ecosystem services it provides?

These and other questions were discussed by 50 participants at the conference on November 19/20, 2024 at the FVA in Freiburg. The event was part of the project “Relevance of the forest soil microbiome (WBMB) for nutrient cycles and influences of tree species and climate”, which the Chair of Soil Ecology has been working on for three years together with the Soil and Environment Department of the FVA-BW and the Chair of Soil Science at the Technical University of Munich.

Event Series

Colloquium “Soil, water, air”

The joint colloquium of the Chairs of Hydrology, Environmental Meteorology, Soil Ecology and Environmental Hydrosystems will continue in the Winter term 2024/25 and will take place in the lecture hall at Fahnenbergplatz on Thursdays, 4:15 pm.

Research

Our research focus and current projects

Teaching

Our courses and information about theses

Our Team

Introduction of our team members with contact details

Research Group ForestFloor

Functionality, Dynamics and Vulnerability in Change (DFG FOR 5315)

Forest floors can store large quantities of CO₂, they nourish special biotic communities and can have a decisive influence on the vitality and stability of forests. The influence of climate change on this soil layer, which is central to forest soils and extremely sensitive to environmental changes, is being investigated by this international research group.

Cluster of Excellence Initiative “Future Forests”

The adaptation of complex social-ecological systems to global change is the subject of a Cluster of Excellence Initiative at the German Research Foundation. The aim of the cluster initiative is to develop, analyse and evaluate transformation pathways towards resilient forest-based social-ecological systems, their governance, management and use. The head of the Chair, Fritzi Lang, is one of the co-spokespersons of the cluster initiative.