Biodiversity Seminar: Soil biodiversity and its response to drought and land management

Soils harbour an immense diversity of organisms, from tiny microorganisms to bigger soil fauna. Together, all these organisms support soil ecosystem functions, such as organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling, carbon storage and they support plant growth. Therefore, soils are vital for humanity, and play key roles in food security, biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation. However, they are often overlooked and underappreciated. Moreover, they are increasingly threatened by human-induced perturbations such as climate change or land use intensification. In this seminar, I will present an overview of my research on the responses of grassland soils and its biodiversity to drought and management. I will particularly focus on the interactive effects of drought intensity and frequency and the effects of multiple combined perturbations affecting the soils at the same time.

Our seminars are hybrid. Please send an email to events-biodiversity(at)wsl.ch if you would like to get access to the live stream.

The Biodiversity Seminar Series are organized by the WSL Biodiversity Center. Every two weeks, we aim to host a seminar speaker that presents research or outreach on topics relevant to the biodiversity community at WSL. The seminars are public and are usually broadcasted online.

To find out more about the WSL Biodiversity Center and a complete list of events, please visit our website. 

Please send an email to events-biodiversity(at)wsl.ch if you would like to be updated on the activities of the WSL Biodiversity Center.