TropSOC
external pageTropSOC is short for Tropical Soil Organic Carbon dynamics along erosional disturbance gradients in relation to variability in soil biogeochemistry and land use. Situated in one of the most understudied, most volatile and fastest changing regions of the globe, the main objective of external pageTropSOC is to develop a mechanistic understanding of C sequestration and release in soils of Tropical Africa, studied in the Eastern part of the Congo Basin. This region provides a unique combination of (i) geologically diverse parent material for soil formation and (ii) different levels of disturbance by human activity, taking place under a humid, tropical climate regime, where pristine forests are converted into agricultural land at high rates.
TropSOC is part of the newly funded external pageCongo Biogeochemistry Observatory (CBO), an international consortium of researchers who study biogeochemical cycles in Tropical Africa with focus on the Congo Basin and the Great Lakes region.
external pageTropSOC is funded by the German Research Foundation DFG as an Emmy Noether Junior research group led by Sebastian Doetterl and hosted at Augsburg University (Germany) with collaborations to ETH's Soil Resources groups and many partners at CBO.
external pageCBO is interested in enlarging its network of collaborators and research areas. Contact Sebastian Doetterl if you would like to know more about external pageTropSOC or external pageCBO.
Impressions of field work in the Eastern Congo Basin
Logistical challenges and working under precarious security conditions have to be taken into account to conduct sampling campaigns and experimental work in severely degraded remote areas with fast growing populations.
