Soil macronutrient cycles beneath our feet: predicting how soil carbon and nitrogen manipulation regulates phosphorus cycling for environmental benefi

管理土壤磷是一个重大的全球问题，既需要最大限度地提高作物对磷的吸收（即最大限度地减少肥料资源投入需求），也需要减少对水的损失。这两个问题与土壤中磷周转的控制联系在一起，而土壤中磷周转又受到碳、氮、磷耦合循环的影响。这些通常是在空间上研究的，但没有理解我们如何通过管理来操纵这些相互作用的周期。解决这一问题确实需要综合的生物地球化学知识和解决问题的能力，这就需要培养能够将土壤、化学、生物和景观过程的综合知识升级为管理建议的科学家。最近由bbsrc资助的研究表明，土壤吸附、C和P状态特性在空间上对土壤固相P形态和有效性的控制。这里的博士研究培训机会是回答如何有效地控制这些土壤C、N、P过程，以提高P的效率，提高P的有效性和作物有效P形式的吸收，同时最大限度地减少这些形式的淋失。不同土壤类型的微生物C、N和P循环（以及响应变化的时间尺度）不同。变化周期对土壤溶液P形态的影响将P研究需求与重要的农艺管理和改善土壤质量的社会目标（如提高耕作土壤的有机质状况）相结合。该项目为学生提供了一个培训平台，让他们发展新知识，然后建立一个概念模型，从而提高预测能力，利用操作和土壤传感器，了解与微生物和土壤有机质质量变化相关的土壤P功能改善的时间尺度。具体来说，博士培训将解决升级土壤观测（包括新的原位传感器数据）以改进时空预测的挑战。

Managing soil phosphorus is a major global issue, both with requirements for maximising P uptake into crops (ie minimising fertiliser resource input needs) and for reducing losses to waters. Both issues are united by controls of P turnover in soils, in turn influenced by coupled C, N and P cycles. These are often studied spatially, but without understanding temporally how we can manipulate these interacting cycles over time through management. Tackling this truly requires integrated biogeochemical knowledge and problem solving, necessitating training scientists capable of upscaling combined knowledge of soil, chemistry, biology and landscape processes into management advice. Recent BBSRC-funded work from the supervisors has shown controls of soil sorption, C and P status properties on soil solid-phase P forms and availability, spatially. The PhD research training opportunity here is to answer how these soil C, N, P processes can be beneficially manipulated to improve P efficiencies with respect to greater P availability and uptake of crop available P forms, yet minimising these forms from leaching.Microbial C, N and P cycling (and timescales of response to change) differ across soil types. The impacts of changing cycles on soil-solution P speciation couples P research needs with important agronomic management and societal goals of improving soil quality (e.g. increasing organic matter status of farmed soils). This studentship provides a training platform for the student to develop new knowledge, then a conceptual model leading to predictive ability, using manipulations and soil sensors, to understand timescales of improved soil P functions associated with microbial and soil organic matter quality changes. Specifically the PhD training will address the challenges of upscaling soil observations (including novel in-situ sensor data) to improve spatio-temporal prediction.