Project properties
Title Disentangling the role of earthworms in cycling soil phosphorus using an isotopic approach
Group Soil Biology
Project type thesis
Credits 24-39
Supervisor(s) Alix Vidal, Hannah Vos
Examiner(s) prof.dr. Rachel Creamer
Contact info alix.vidal@wur.nl
Begin date 2023/05/01
End date
Description Earthworms play a key role in the soil nutrient cycling and thus participate in maintaining soil fertility. It is widely recognized that the phosphorus availability is higher in earthworm affected soil compared with the surrounding soil. Yet, the pathways resulting in the higher phosphorus availability in the presence of earthworm are poorly understood.
Here, we aim at disentangling the processes controlling phosphorus availability in the presence of earthworms. For this, the selected student, with the support of the project team, will test, develop and apply a state-of-the-art approach using 18Oxygen (a rare isotope of oxygen) as a proxy for the biological cycling of phosphorus. A six week pot incubation will be performed to investigate the role of earthworms on the phosphorus cycling, with or without litter. At the start of the incubation, the soil will be watered with 18Oxygen-enriched water and we will track the changes in the 18Oxygen-phosphorus of different phosphorus pools.
The incubation experiment will be performed at the Soil Biology Group at WUR (the Netherlands). The extraction and purification of the samples will be performed at Montpellier SupAgro (France), while the 18Oxygen-phosphorus will be measured at ETH Zürich (Switzerland). This topic represents a unique opportunity for the selected student to discover new laboratories and approaches abroad.
Used skills We are looking for a motivated student with creative thinking and problem solving skills who is willing to apply state-of-the-art approaches in collaboration with an international team.
Requirements Handbook for the generic thesis requirements at SBL, https://ssc.wur.nl/Handbook/Course/SBL-81836