Project properties
Title Effects of solar parks on plant-derived organic matter input to sustain soil biodiversity and functioning
Group Soil Biology
Project type thesis
Credits 24-39
Supervisor(s) Luuk Scholten, Gerlinde de Deyn, Ron de Goede
Examiner(s) prof.dr. Rachel Creamer
Contact info Luuk Scholten (luuk.scholten@wur.nl); Gerlinde de Deyn (gerlinde.dedeyn@wur.nl)
Begin date 2024/05/01
End date
Description Introduction: Solar parks are a relatively new and rapidly expanding land use to produce renewable energy and meet CO2 reduction targets. However, their impact on soil quality raises concern. Solar parks cause shading and change the microclimate (temperature, moisture) below the panels, thereby influencing vegetation and soil processes. By reducing light availability to the vegetation, solar parks are expected to reduce plant carbon inputs, which is vital to maintain SOM, therefore risking soil degradation in solar parks. SOM and plant residues play important roles as food source for soil biota. It is unclear to what extent different levels of shade impact plant growth and net ecosystem exchange (e.g. the net balance of carbon input through photosynthesis and carbon output through respiration). It is also unclear how different vegetation communities respond to different light levels. To answer these questions an experimental solar park was built on Wageningen campus where a light gradient from very dark to full light is created by solar tables of different sizes. The experiment consists of 6 different light treatments and 3 different vegetation treatments (the previous vegetation, a shade tolerant mixture and a standard mixture commonly used for biodiversity purposes) in a full factorial design.
Aim: This thesis aims to research how different light levels influence plant growth and soil carbon balance. The work consists for a large part of measuring CO2 fluxes with a gas monitor and vegetation biomass measurement.
In addition, a shading experiment could be started in the greenhouse with the two vegetation mixtures and a selection of individual plant species to investigate the effect of shade on different plant communities and individual plant species in more detail.
Context: This research is part of the research program EcoCertified that aims to establish guidelines for ecologically sound design of solar panel parks. Your work will be carried out within a PhD project of the Soil Biology Group (SBL).
Used skills Literature review, writing proposal and thesis, field work and possibly a greenhouse experiment, measuring CO2 fluxes with gas monitor and plant biomass production, data analysis.
Requirements MSc SBL thesis requirements (SBL-81836)