Implications of energy and matter fluxes on microbial diversity and community complexity in soil systems – Microbial communities can be considered as the central engine promoting the turnover of soil organic matter (SOM), thereby sustaining biogeochemical cycles and other important ecosystem services. However, the importance of biodiversity for providing these services is still poorly understood. The objective of this research is to characterize the implications of energy and matter fluxes on microbial diversity and community complexity in order to gain a systems understanding of how energy and matter are processed in soil. The experimental studies of this project are especially linked to the three newly interdisciplinary central platform experiments of the German Research Council DFG SPP2322 established to elucidate the implications of different soils, substrates and boundary conditions (water potential, temperature) on energy and matter fluxes.

The application deadline for this position is 31 December 2021.