AquaDiv@Jena

The research project "AquaDiv@Jena - Effects of biodiversity and land-use on matter transport in open catchments - How deep does above-ground biodiversity reach?" was funded 2008 within the "ProExzellenz" Initiative of the state of Thuringia at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena.

The project is launched to provide a broader knowledge of biodiversity and effects of land-use and ecosystem disturbances on matter and water transport, especially in the deeper pedo- and hydrosphere. 

Within a three years period four topics of this project will focus on:
 

1. Effects of biodiversity and invasive species on above-ground matter fluxes
   (Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Weisser):

• relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in biodiversity experiments and in natural and managed systems
• if and how the mechanisms identified in biodiversity experiments can be applied to more natural systems and vice versa

2. Belowground biodiversity and microbial functions (Prof. Dr. Kirsten Küsel):

• effects of aboveground biodiversity on belowground biodiversity and microbial functions in soils and aquifers
• elucidation of microbial communities and their function in aquifers
• conduction of metagenom- and proteom analyses
• pre-testing of the application of biosensors for assessing below-ground gas and matter fluxes

3. Water and matter dynamics in open catchments  (Prof. Dr. Kai Totsche):

• water and matter dynamics in the deeper pedo- and hydrosphere of open catchments
• integrative modelling approaches on water and matter fluxes at the catchment level
• review on the (structural) geological and hydro-geological characteristics of the experimental area
• application of minimum-invasive geo-physical monitoring techniques

4. Ecosystem disturbances and manipulations (Prof. Dr.  Beate Michalzik):

• effects of ecosystem disturbances and manipulations on (organic) matter dynamics in soils and the catchment run-off ecosystem
• disturbances and element cycling on the plot and sub-catchment scale
• conduction of pre-studies to assess the temporal-spatial effects of disturbance experiments on matter fluxes
• subsequent selection of suitable study sites for further manipulation experiments on a sub-catchment scale

• Junior Reserach Group (W1) Analytics of organic substances in soils and aquifers
• Junior Reserach Group (W1) Biosensor technologies for physical-chemical parameters
• Junior Reserach Group (W1) Ecological Modelling