Coordination Funds

在土壤团聚体系统中，微团聚体被认为是最重要的，因为它们与控制土壤组分相互作用、运输和周转的基本所有过程相关联。因此，它们与能量和地球化学循环密切相关。在成土过程中，微团聚体是由物理、化学和生物过程的复杂相互作用形成的。尽管土壤功能在很大程度上受团聚体结构形成的控制，但对微团聚体在空间和时间上的形成速率和控制仍然知之甚少。然而，这种知识是强制性的联系土壤的微结构，流体流动和运输，微生物的活动，营业额和元素的相互作用，以及微团聚体本身的稳定性。该研究单位（RU）的宏伟目标是获得这些基本土壤结构的形成，积累，组成，性质和稳定性的基于模型的机械理解，并将其与土壤的基本目标功能：栖息地，碳汇和蓄水。我们的目标是探索和定量表征的组成，微结构，稳定性和微聚集体的特性与高分辨率成像和分析技术的独特组合。因此，RU组织在不同的项目，提供互补的和具体的元素，化学，物理，地形和机械信息的土壤微团聚体在微米至亚微米尺度重叠的规模范围。我们预计，一个重大的进步的机械理解的目标功能的土壤将来自上述技术的同时应用到两个土壤微团聚体分离的土壤质地toposequence -在第二阶段，另外一个chronosequence -或收集到目前为止独特的多稳定同位素标记微观实验。通过标记试验，同时探讨了无机和有机质在土壤微团聚体形成中的关键组分和关键作用因子。我们的实验工作是集成了一个明确的建模方法，在连续尺度上，这将不仅用于-模型的可测量的-但测试已经存在的和新开发的理论和定量分析的数据为基础的理论概念的土壤微团聚体的形成，稳定性和营业额。在本提案中，我们提出了RU的中心协调任务以及我们计划如何完成这些任务。这些任务包括联合取样活动、中央微观世界实验、提供和生产标记化合物、联合制定和协调微团聚体分离和隔离协议、联合建模和解释奋进、数据处理战略和传播结果。

Within the soil aggregate system, microaggregates are supposed to be of primary importance, as they are linked with essentially all processes which control interaction, transport and turnover of soil constituents. As such, they are intimately connected with energy and biogeochemical cycles. During pedogenesis, microaggregates are formed by a complex interplay of physical, chemical and biological processes. Although soil functions are to a large degree controlled by the formation of an aggregate structure, still very little is known about the rates and controls on microaggregate formation in space and in time. Yet, this knowledge is mandatory to link the microarchitecture of soils to fluid flow and transport, activity of microorganisms, turnover and interactions of elements, as well as to the stability of the microaggregates themselves. The grand goals of this research unit (RU) are to gain a model-based mechanistic understanding of the formation, build-up, composition, properties and stability of these basic soil structures and to relate that to fundamental target functions of soil: habitat, carbon sink and water-storage. Our objectives are the exploration and the quantitative characterization of the composition, the microarchitecture, the stability, and the properties of microaggregates with a unique combination of high-resolution imaging and analytical techniques. Thus, the RU is organized in different projects that provide the complementary and specific elemental, chemical, physical, topographic and mechanical information on the soil microaggregates at the micron to submicron scale with overlapping scale ranges. We expect that a major advancement of the mechanistic understanding of the target functions of soil will derive from the concomitant application of the above-mentioned techniques to both soil microaggregates isolated from a soil texture toposequence - in the second phase additionally a chronosequence - or collected from a so far unique multi-stable-isotope labeling microcosm experiment. The labeling experiment is designed to explore simultaneously the role of mineral and organic matter key components and key - actors - in the formation of soil microaggregates. Our experimental work are integrated by an explicit modeling approach on the continuum scale which will be used not only to - model the measurable - but to test already existing and newly developed theories and to quantitatively analyze the data-based theoretical concepts of soil microaggregate formation, stability and turnover. In this proposal we present the central coordination tasks of the RU and how we plan to accomplish these. These tasks comprise joint sampling campaigns, the central microcosms experiment, the provision and production of labelled compounds, the joint development and harmonization of protocols for microaggregate separation and isolation, the joint modeling and interpretation endeavor, the data handling strategy, and the dissemination of results.