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From Pioneer to Soil Prophet: 40 years belowground - Farewell symposium Wietse de Boer
On Thursday April 4 we'll have the Farewell Symposium and reception for our long-time colleague Prof. Dr Wietse de Boer (Department of Microbial Ecology at NIOO and Wageningen University). -
Greenhouse gases
Climate change is amplified by greenhouse gas emissions. At NIOO, we work on the fundamental understanding of how gases such as methane, carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide influence ecosystems. Our knowledge of carbon and nitrogen cycles provides insight into the potential of greenhouse mitigation tools. In a Dutch freshwater lake or the soil of a tropical rain forest. -
The Centre for Soil Ecology goes national
Today, on World Soil Day, it is the perfect moment to present the new National Centre for Soil Ecology. All soil ecologists working in the Netherlands can now connect to the initiative that originally started in Wageningen. -
Film 'Onder het Maaiveld' revisited - English version
To honour the International Day of Biodiversity, with NIOO soil ecologists for Q&A afterwards! -
Enhancing Soil Biodiversity
At NIOO, we are on a mission to explore the strange world beneath our feet, to seek out new soil-borne life, uncover new miniature civilisations, and to boldly take humankind where it could not go before. -
Is agroforestry the answer for rainforest restoration?
The conversion of Amazon rainforest for agriculture has led to deforestation and soil degradation. Agroforestry has been suggested as a sustainable alternative, but NIOO's Eiko Kuramae says its impact on the soil needs to be more fully considered. -
Spotlight on living soil at COP15 biodiversity conference
The UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal (COP15) is discussing global action to reverse biodiversity loss. Healthy, living soil is of key importance. -
Getting to know your 'downstairs' neighbours
Between 23 September and 5 October, we're asking you to go on a safari in your own garden, do the survey, and spread the word to as many people as possible. -
Microbes for plant health
Microbes can act as bodyguards for plants and can foster plant growth in other ways as well. At NIOO, we are digging into the mechanisms: in what ways do they interact? And how can we stimulate this, to make our agriculture more sustainable? Let's rewild our microbes! -
Microbial Networks controlling soil greenhouse gases emissions
Soils are considered principally non-renewable resources. Soil ecosystem services have a large impact on numerous societal demands and are of high economic importance. Within the area of sustainable agriculture, it is expected that agricultural production will increasingly rely on the natural nutrient retention and recycling capabilities of soil. This project seeks to provide a fundamental scientific understanding of soil functioning and the resulting ecosystem services in Brazilian and Dutch bio-economies based on innovative microbial ecology and soil science studies. Focus is in sugarcane crop production systems by linking soil microbial composition and functioning, waste residues recycling, fertilizers, soil factors and greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions through integrating and complementing the strong expertise of Brazilian and Dutch researchers from different areas of agronomy, soil sciences, plant nutrition, biogeochemistry, soil ecology, microbial ecology, ecological genomics, molecular ecology and bioinformatics. We will quantify the microbial functional groups and microbial abundance of C and N cycle genes and measure GHG emissions (CO2, CH4 and N2O) from soils during the productive cycle of the plant under different management practices and verify the temporal and spatial variability of these emissions in the evaluated treatments with different concentrations of sugarcane vinasse residue combined with N mineral fertilizers in combination with straw additions, and determine the conditions under which such GHG emissions can be counteracted, or minimized most. The proposed project will enhance fundamental scientific understanding of the interactive role of the microbial networks operating in soil and the consequences of bio-based agricultural management practices for the functioning of soil systems.