Soil Science of Tropical and Subtropical Ecosystems

Externally funded research projects (on-going):


  • 'SIGNAL - Sustainable intensification of agriculture through agroforestry'
    Site: Germany
    Funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, BMBF (2021-2024)
    Sarah Choe (PhD candidate); 'Nutrient retention and nutrient response efficiencies in agroforestry versus monoculture croplands'.
    Raphael Manu (Post-doctoral fellow); 'Soil functions in agroforestry versus monoculture systems'.

  • Project A05: 'Optimizing nutrient management in oil palm plantations and upscaling greenhouse gas fluxes from plot to a rainforest-transformation landscape' of the Collaborative Research Center 990 (Ecological and Socioeconomic Functions of Tropical Lowland Rainforest Transformation Systems).
    Site: Sumatra, Indonesia
    Funded by the German Research Foundation, DFG (2020-2023)
    Dr. Najeeb Al-Amin Iddris (Post-doctoral fellow)
    [read more about CRC 990]

  • 'SIGNAL - Sustainable intensification of agriculture through agroforestry'
    Site: Germany
    Funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, BMBF (2018-2021)
    Xenia Bischel (PhD candidate); 'Nutrient retention and nutrient response efficiencies in long-term established agroforestry versus conventional monoculture croplands: effects of reduced fertilization rates'.
    Dr. Marcus Schmidt (Post-doctoral fellow); 'Soil ecological functions in agroforestry versus conventional monoculture systems'.

  • 'Nutrient response efficiency and leaching losses in newly and long-term established agroforestry versus conventional monoculture croplands'.
    Site: Germany
    Funded by the Chinese Scholarship Council (2018-2022) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, BMBF (2018-2021)
    Dan Niu (PhD candidate).

  • 'Soil greenhouse gas fluxes, nutrient leaching losses and nutrient response efficiency in a large-scale oil palm plantation: conventional versus reduced management practices'.
    Site: Indonesia
    Funded by the Chinese Scholarship Council (2018-2022) and the German Research Foundation, DFG (2020-2023)
    Guan-tao Chen (PhD candidate).

  • RELIANCE: nutRiEnt Limitations In A ugaNdan tropiCal forEst'.
    Site: Uganda
    Funded by the German Research Foundation, DFG (2017-2020)
    Principal Investigator: Dr. Oliver van Straaten
    Raphael Manu (PhD candidate).

  • 'Gross rates of soil nitrous oxide emission and uptake in cropland agroforestry and monoculture systems'.
    Site: Germany
    Funded by the Chinese Scholarship Council (2017-2021) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, BMBF (2018-2021)
    Jie Luo (PhD candidate).

  • ‘Soil greenhouse gas (N2O, CH4, CO2) fluxes from cropland agroforestry and monoculture systems’.
    Site: Germany
    Funded by the Chinese Scholarship Council (2017-2021) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, BMBF (2018-2021)
    Guodong Shao (PhD candidate).

  • 'Nutrient response efficiency, soil greenhouse gas (CO2, N2O, CH4) fluxes, and leaching losses in low and high fertilizer input vegetable production systems on Andosol soil'.
    Site: Philippines
    Funded by the German Academic Exchange Service, DAAD (20017-2020)
    Cecille Marie O. Quiñones (PhD candidate).