Jens Boy

Leibniz Universität Hannover · Institute of Soil Science

We quantified base metal deposition to Amazonian montane rain forest in Ecuador between May 1998 and April 2003 and assessed the response of the base metal budget of three forested microcatchments (8-13 ha). There was a strong interannual variation in deposition of Ca [4.4-29 kg ha-1 a-1], Mg [1.6-12], and K [9.8-30]). High deposition changed the C...

Mangroves play an important role in carbon sequestration, but soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks differ between marine and estuarine mangroves, suggesting differing processes and drivers of SOC accumulation. Here, we compared unde-graded and degraded marine and estuarine mangroves in a regional approach across the Indonesian archipelago for their SOC...

To overcome phosphorus (P) deficiency, about 80% of plant species establish symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), which in return constitute a major sink of photosynthates. Information on whether plant carbon (C) allocation towards AMF increases with declining availability of the P source is limited. We offered orthophosphate (OP), apa...

Catch crops increase plant species richness in crop rotations, but are most often grown as pure stands. Here, we investigate the impacts of increasing plant diversity in catch crop rotations on rhizosphere C input and microbial utilization. Mustard (Sinapis alba L.) planted as a single cultivar was compared to diversified catch crop mixtures of fou...

Phosphorus (P) bioavailability affects plant nutrition. P can be present in soils in different chemical forms that are not available for direct plant uptake and have to be acquired by different mechanisms, representing different resource niches. These mechanisms, of which many seem to be attributed to mycorrhiza, likely influence the diversity and...

Many natural and anthropogenic soils are phosphorus (P) limited often due to larger P stocks sequestered in forms of low bioavailability. One of the strategies to overcome this shortage lies in the symbiosis of plants with mycorrhizal fungi, increasing the plant P uptake of these hardly accessible sources. However, little is known about mycorrhizal...

Improving N cycling in agroecosystems is one of the key challenges in reducing the environmental footprint of agriculture. Further, uncertainty in precipitation makes crop water management relevant in regions where it has not been necessary thus far. Here, we focus on the potential of winter-killed catch crops (CCs) to reduce N leaching losses from...

Studies of hyper‐arid sites contribute to our understanding on how life adapted to extreme conditions. They are often used to further deduce implications for extraterrestrial biology by the so‐called analogue site‐approach. The Atacama Desert, Chile, is one of the most prominent analogue sites despite its neighboring productive ecosystems due to it...

Indonesian mangrove forests are of major local and global importance for ecological and economic reasons. Indonesia has both the largest area of mangrove forests and the highest mangrove deforestation rate by country. Using the mangrove-fringed Segara Anakan Lagoon on Java as a prime example, this chapter explains the ecosystem services provided by...

Improving N cycling in agroecosystems is one of the key challenges in reducing the environmental footprint of agriculture. Further, uncertainty in precipitation makes crop water management relevant in regions where it has not been necessary thus far. Here, we focus on the potential of winter-killed catch crops to reduce N leaching losses from N min...

Most terrestrial plants establish symbiotic associations with mycorrhizal fungi for accessing essential plant nutrients. Mycorrhizal fungi have been frequently reported to interconnect plants via a common mycelial network (CMN), in which nutrients and signaling compounds can be exchanged between the connected plants. Several studies have been perfo...

Most plants living in tropical acid soils depend on the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis for mobilizing low accessible phosphorus (P), due to its strong bonding by iron (Fe) oxides. The roots release low-molecular-weight organic acids (LMWOAs) as a mechanism to increase soil P availability by ligand exchange or dissolution. However, little is...

Comparing the belowground allocation of assimilated carbon (C) to roots and mycorrhizal fungi across biomes can reveal specific plant nutrient acquisition strategies in ecosystems and allows to predict consequences of environmental changes. Three natural ecosystems (arid shrubland, coastal matorral, humid-temperate forest) distinct in annual precip...

Low-molecular-weight organic acids (LMWOAs) are crucial for the mobilization and acquisition of mineral phosphorus by plants. However, the role of LMWOAs in mobilizing organic phosphorus, which is the predominant phosphorus form in at least half of the world's ecosystems, especially in humid climates, is unclear. The mechanisms of phosphorus mobili...

Drying and rewetting (D/W) of soil have significant impacts on soil organic matter (SOM) turnover. We hypothesised that frequent D/W cycles would release the labile organic matter locked away in soil aggregates, increasing the priming effect (PE) (acceleration or retardation of SOM turnover after fresh substrate addition) due to preferential utilis...

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Agricultural management is a key force affecting soil processes and functions. Triggered by biophysical constraints as well as rapid structural and technological developments, new management practices are emerging with largely unknown impacts on soil processes and functions. This impedes assessments of the potential of such emerging practices for s...

The potential of a plant species to acquire nutrients depends on its ability to explore the soil by its root system. Co-cultivation of different species is anticipated to lead to vertical root niche differentiation and thus to higher soil nutrient depletion. Using a qPCR-based method we quantified root biomass distribution of four catch crop specie...

Increased bioavailability of P can have a negative impact on plant biodiversity. In an approximately 9‐ha catchment under N + P‐limited megadiverse tropical montane forest in Ecuador, we budgeted all major P fluxes and determined whether the P fluxes changed from 1999 to 2013. Furthermore, we assessed which external drivers (rainfall, total P and a...

Microbial activity and functioning in soils are strongly limited by carbon (C) availability, of which a great proportion is released by living roots. Rhizodeposition and especially root exudates stimulate microbial activity and growth, and may shift the stoichiometric balance between C, N, and P. Thereby, exudates heighten microbial nutrient demand...

Nutrient supply in phosphorus (P)-limited ecosystems, with most P being associated with secondary minerals, has to rely on efficient nutrient allocation strategies, such as those involving mycorrhizal symbioses. Yet, little is known about the extent of photo-assimilate transfer to the fungal partner, who in turn mobilizes mineral-bound P sources re...

When one looks at the global distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, a few patterns emerge (Figure 3.1). The SOC density is not uniformly distributed and nitrogen (N) is strongly associated with it. Hot spots of SOC density exist primarily in the northern higher latitudes and again in smaller pockets in the equatorial regions. But even th...

The effects of climate and topography on soil physico-chemical and microbial parameters were studied along an extensive latitudinal climate gradient in the Coastal Cordillera of Chile (26° - 38°S). The study sites encompass arid (Pan de Azúcar), semiarid (Santa Gracia), mediterranean (La Campana) and humid (Nahuelbuta) climates and vegetation, rang...

In the last decades a drastic increase in air temperature but a stable precipitation regime in Mongolia has led to gradual drying conditions. Thus, we evaluated the effect of spatial and climatic characteristics on the soil-plant nitrogen dynamics in three representative larch stands (Larix sibirica) with different geographical and climatic conditi...

The Chilean Coastal Cordillera features a spectacular climate and vegetation gradient, ranging from arid and unvegetated areas in the north to humid and forested areas in the south. The DFG Priority Program "EarthShape" (Earth Surface Shaping by Biota) uses this natural gradient to investigate how climate and biological processes shape the Earth's...

The Chilean Coastal Cordillera features a spectacular climate and vegetation gradient, ranging from arid and unvegetated areas in the north to humid and forested areas in the south. The EarthShape project ("Earth Surface Shaping by Biota") uses this natural gradient to investigate how climate and biological processes shape the Earth's surface. We e...

Soil carbon stocks of 29 plots along a transect through tropical Brazil showed only minor soil carbon losses after land use shift, although replacement of forest-derived carbon was detectable in subsoil and topsoil, indicating that new equilibria in soil carbon stocks might not have been reached after deforestation. The proportion of carbon lost fr...

The calculation of robust estimates of future greenhouse gas emissions due to agriculture is essential to support the framing of the Brazilian climate change mitigation policy. Information on the future development of land use and land cover change (LULCC) under the combination of various driving factors operating at different spatial scale levels,...

This article describes the design of a new model-based assessment framework to identify and analyse possible future trajectories of agricultural development and their environmental consequences within the states of Mato Grosso and Pará in Southern Amazonia, Brazil. The objective is to provide a tool for improving the information basis for scientist...

By reducing soil organic matter and litter input, land-use changes are predicted to decrease total soil fungal di- versity, but at functional levels this have been poorly studied. It is expected, though, that increasing disturbance decreases saprotrophic and mycorrhizal fungi biodiversity. This study aimed to determine the effects of land-use chang...

To assess the susceptibility of the base metal budget of a remote tropical montane forest in Ecuador to environmental change, we determined the extent of biological control of base metal fluxes and explored the impact of atmospheric inputs and precipitation, considered as potential drivers of ecosystem change, on the base metal fluxes. We quantifie...

Although inter-and transdisciplinary research has found its way to the forefront of calls, funding and publications, interdisciplinary projects often start from scratch constructing their research environment. In this article we will point to the enormous potential, the learnings, as well as some of the difficulties and pitfalls frequently encounte...

The deforestation of tropical forests plays a key role in terms of carbon dioxide emissions and thus accelerates climate change. With the initiative Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), the UN spearheaded an approach to valorize ecosystems for their sequestered organic carbon (OC) to protect them for the sake of mit...

For millennia, warming and glacial retreat have been creating new land in Antarctica. A network of soil scientists, algae researchers and molecular geneticists is studying this process as it continues to be advanced by climate change. The process reveals how bare rock is transformed into fertile ground through the coevolution of plants and soil, pr...

We investigated glucose-6-phosphate (G6P) release from ferrihydrite by ligand-promoted dissolution by oxalate, ascorbate, and desferrioxamine-B in comparison to orthophosphate (OP). Overall, P release was poorly related to Fe dissolution. Initial release of G6P was higher as compared to OP, likely due to its preferential adsorption at outer surface...

Growth limitation induced by Al toxicity is believed to commonly occur in tropical forests, although a direct proof is frequently lacking. To test for the general assumption of Al toxicity, Al, Ca, and Mg concentrations in precipitation, throughfall, stemflow, organic layer leachate, mineral soil solutions, stream water, and the leaves of 17 native...

In the present study the biodiversity of the most abundant phototrophic organisms forming biological soil crust communities were determined, which included green algae, diatoms, yellow-green algae and lichens in samples collected on Ardley and King George islands, Maritime Antarctic. The species were identified by their morphology using light micro...

The search for new model organisms for space exploration missions in the Atacama Desert is traditionally limited to a rather narrow strip (Yungay, Chile) which is believed to have the most arid conditions on Earth (McKay et al., 2003) thus harboring the most desiccation-resistant microorganisms. However, it is not clear whether Yungay is indeed the...

Southern Chilean pristine temperate rainforests have been floristically stable during the Holocene, thus representing a pre-industrial baseline of forest ecology. Given this and its edaphic limitations, it is imperative to better understand these forests ecological patterns of mycorrhizal symbiosis. Therefore, here we compare the arbuscular mycorrh...

In der Antarktis entsteht seit Jahrtausenden durch Erwärmung und Gletscherrückzug neues Land. Ein Netzwerk von Bodenwissenschaftlern, Algenforschern und Molekulargenetikern studiert den durch den Klimawandel noch forcierten Prozess. An ihm zeigt sich für das ganze Ökosystem Erde, wie durch die Koevolution von Pflanzen und Böden aus Geröll fruchtbar...

Background and aims The southeastern part of the Amazon region is one of the largest agricultural frontiers in the world, leading to extensive land-use change. This paper provides evidence for the impacts of land-use change on soil organic carbon (OC) stocks along a large scale for Ferralsols and Acrisols including subsoil. Methods We took soil sam...

Background: Maritime Antarctica is severely affected by climate change and accelerating glacier retreat forming temporal gradients of soil development. Successional patterns of soil development and plant succession in the region are largely unknown, as are the feedback mechanisms between both processes. Here we identify three temporal gradients rep...

The genus Coccomyxa is frequently present in biological soil crusts from temperate regions but has also been found in Antarctic soils. Strain NIES 2166 (Coccomyxa subellipsoidea) from continental South Victoria Land is described as a model organism for cold adaptation (Blanc et al. 2012) although it has been cultivated for more than 50 years under...

Mangroves play an important role in carbon sequestration, but soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks differ between marine and estuarine mangroves, suggesting differing processes and drivers of SOC accumulation. Here, we compared undegraded and degraded marine and estuarine mangroves in a regional approach across the Indonesian archipelago for their SOC...

La formación de suelo es un aspecto de gran importancia para el soporte de la vida. La meteorización de la roca madre fundamental proporciona los nutrientes y minerales necesarios para la subsistencia de los organismos que colonizan un sustrato y el desarrollo del ecosistema terrestre. La Antártica es un laboratorio natural en áreas remotas sin con...

Antarctic soils are ideal places to study particular features of soil microalgae and cyanobacteria left unexplored so far. These include inferring pioneer species at the colonization of young soils poor in nutrients and the development of soil microalgal communities almost without anthropogenic influence and that of vascular plant cover under harsh...

In basaltic glass from the southern Mid-Atlantic-Ridge conducive environmental conditions for biogenic weathering resulted in excellent preserved microbial morphologies on glass surfaces. The distinct glass interface and open spaces between palagonite sheet and glass indicate a dissolution-reprecipitation mechanism of glass alteration potentially s...

During interdisciplinary fieldwork of social- and natural scientists it became apparent that biographic interview-based storylines could act as suitable tools for disseminating the complex results of both disciplines jointly on stakeholders’ level. Here we discuss the possible implications of using these tools in the context of REDD schemes and des...

The study forest regulates nutrient cycles as a supporting ecosystem service mainly via retention in the biosphere and the soil organic layer. How tight the nutrient cycles are depends on environmental conditions. In this chapter, we focus on the roles of (1) deposition from the atmosphere, (2) soil moisture regime, and (3) conversion to pasture in...

Anthropogenic disturbance of old-growth tropical forests increases the abundance of early successional tree species at the cost of late successional ones. Quantifying differences in terms of carbon allocation and the proportion of recently fixed carbon in soil CO(2) efflux is crucial for addressing the carbon footprint of creeping degradation. We c...

The spatial heterogeneity of tropical forest epiphytes has rarely been quantified in terms of biomass. In particular, the effect of topographic variation on epiphyte biomass is poorly known, although forests on ridges and ravines can differ drastically in stature and exposure. In an Ecuadorian lower montane forest we quantified epiphytic biomass al...

Tropical montane forests are frequently located on steep slopes with pronounced differences in topographic exposure, related microclimatic conditions and hence in composition and structure of the vegetation over small distances. The objective of this work was to test the hypothesis that topographic position significantly influences soil fertility a...