Directors

Prof. Susan E. Trumbore, PhD

Coupling of biogeochemical cycles with functional processes in ecosystems

The Department of Biogeochemical Processes explores the key processes and organisms that regulate exchanges of energy, water and elements between ecosystems and their surroundings. We use observations, experiments and models to improve understanding of how human activities are altering ecosystem function, and the consequences of those changes for sustainability and regional/global climate.

Prof. Dr. Sönke Zaehle

Interactions between land ecosystems, atmosphere, and climate

The aim of our Department Biogeochemical Signals is to improve our understanding of the interactions between element cycles of the land surface and of the atmosphere on local, regional and global scales, and thus to make better predictions on the impact of climate change. In addition to the essential and climate-relevant cycles of carbon and water, our research focuses on the plant nutrients nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) and their importance for plant growth, water balance and the carbon cycle.

Prof. Dr. Markus Reichstein

New modelling and model-data integration approaches for explaining global change processes

The Department of Biogeochemical Integration aims to better represent global climate-soil-vegetation interactions, to recognize the current state of the global terrestrial biosphere as well as predict the Ecosystems’ behavior under different past and future environmental conditions by developing new modelling and model-data integration approaches.