Project properties
Title Settling the soil C saturation debate
Group Soil Biology
Project type thesis
Credits 24-39
Supervisor(s) Gabriel Moinet (SBL), Christopher Poeplau (Thunen institute, Germany)
Examiner(s)
Contact info Gabriel Moinet (gabriel.moinet@wur.nl)
Begin date 2024/01/02
End date
Description Managing terrestrial ecosystems to increase the carbon contained in soils has been described as a potent way to mitigate climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Soil carbon is also key to supporting ecosystem functioning and is therefore critical for sustainable land use. However, our understanding of soil carbon dynamics is still limited and hinders accurate predictions and the development and farming practices promoting or maintaining the broad range of ecosystem services supported by soil carbon. A critical point for debate is the existence of a saturation limit: a maximum soil carbon level after which carbon increase is no longer possible. The existence of such a limit would have critical implications for the actual climate mitigation potential of soil, and critical implications for farmers, as only those far from saturation levels would have the opportunity to increase carbon and get incentives from the carbon market.

The topic is currently highly debated in the sci3ntific community, as you can see in this online seminar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32BBECaJatk

In this project, you will use a large dataset from the German soil inventory, constituted of over 10,000 samples, to test for saturation as an explanatory mechanism of the spatial variability in soil C stocks across Germany. Additional measurements may be taken in archived samples to quantify additional indicators of soils’ stabilisation capacity. Your main task will be to statistically analyse and predictively model SOC spatial distribution.

Used skills Literature review, writing proposal and thesis, data analysis on large datasets, laboratory soil analyses.
Requirements Required courses for MSc thesis Soil Biology (see Mandatory Knowledge at https://wur.osiris-student.nl/#/onderwijscatalogus/extern/cursus/?cursuscode=SBL81836&collegejaar=huidig)