Plant-Soil-Interactions
Ongoing Projects
Rhizosphere functions in plant water uptake: Mechanistic link between carbon and water fluxes in the plant-soil system
Part of “Rhizosphere Spatiotemporal Organisation – a Key to Rhizosphere Functions” (SPP 2089, DFG)
from 02/2022 to 01/2025
PhD student: Ruth Adamczewski
Collaborative Partners: Mohsen Zare, Maire Holz
Homepage: https://www.ufz.de/spp-rhizosphere/
Up to date, we have fragmented knowledge on the spatiotemporal carbon flux pattern into individual roots and their rhizosphere and also how such patterns may link to the functioning of roots regarding water uptake. The lack of information is mainly related to the technical difficulties of monitoring water fluxes and carbon fluxes at the scale of individual roots and their rhizosphere and also the dynamic nature of root water uptake and root exudation in soil-grown plants. In this project, we aim to quantify water and carbon fluxes along the root system and then mechanistically link the pattern of carbon allocation into different root segments (i.e., root types and locations) and their rhizosphere to the functioning of roots in water acquisition from the soil. Our central hypothesis is that plants allocate more carbon to the production and maintenance of individual roots (type and regions) with greater functionality in water uptake. The combination of water and carbon flux measurements across the soil plant atmosphere continuum will allow us to mechanistically link the pattern of carbon flux to the individual roots and their rhizosphere to the functioning of roots in water uptake. This information will provide a deeper understanding of the feedback between carbon and water cycles across the soil plant atmosphere continuum.
Response mechanisms of old and modern wheat varieties to drought stress: new insights from diurnal dynamics
DFG/NSFC
from 11/2022 to 10/2025
Collaborative Partners: Prof. Dr. Xingliang Xu, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China