Droevendaalsesteeg 10
6708 PB Wageningen
The Netherlands
Stijn van den Bergh
Netwerk
Over
I want to contribute to a more sustainable world through my research on the interface of microbial ecology and sustainable agriculture.
Biografie
After finishing my bachelor in Biology and master in Environmental Biology at Universiteit Utrecht, I started in January 2019 as a PhD candidate in the Microbial Ecology department at NIOO in the group of Paul Bodelier. My NWO-TTW Open Technology-funded project focuses on the occurrence and underlying mechanisms of organic residue-stimulated atmospheric methane uptake by agricultural soils.
Onderzoeksgroepen
Dossier
Koolstofopslag in de natuurCV
Employment
2019–Present
PhD candidate at NIOO-KNAW
Education
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2016–2018MSc Environmental Biology at Utrecht University
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2011–2016BSc Biology at Utrecht University
Publicaties
Peer-reviewed publicaties
Improved methane mitigation potential and modulated methane cycling microbial communities in arable soil by compost addition
https://doi.org/10.1093/ismeco/ycaf139The global atmospheric concentration of the potent greenhouse gas methane (CH4) is rising rapidly, and agriculture is responsible for 30%-50% of the yearly CH4 emissions. To limit its global warming effects, strong and sustained reductions are needed. Sustainable agricultural management strategies, as the use of organic amendments like compost, have previously proven to have a potent CH4 mitigation effect in laboratory experiments. Here we investigated, using an extensive field study, the effect of organic amendments on the CH4 mitigation potential and CH4 cycling microbial communities of arable soils. Organic-amended soils had higher potential CH4 uptake rates and an improved potential to oxidize CH4 to sub-atmospheric concentrations. Also, we showed for the first time that the methanotrophic and methanogenic microbial communities of arable soils were unequivocally altered after organic amendment application by increasing in size while getting less diverse. Compost-amended soils became dominated by the compost-originating methanotroph Methylocaldum szegediense and methanogen Methanosarcina horonobensis, replacing the indigenous methane cycling community members. However, multivariate analyses didn't point out type Ib methanotrophs like M. szegediense as significant driving factors for the observed improved soil CH4 uptake potential. Conventional type IIa methanotrophs like Methylocystis sp. also had higher differential abundances in organic-amended soils and are speculated to contribute to the improved CH4 uptake potential. Altogether, the results showed that compost serves as a vector for the introduction of CH4 cycling microbes and improves the soil's CH4 uptake potential, which emphasizes the potential of organic fertilization with compost to contribute to CH4 mitigation in agricultural soils.
Soil aggregate stability governs field greenhouse gas fluxes in agricultural soils
Agriculture is responsible for 30–50% of the yearly CO2, CH4, and N2O emissions. Soils have an important role in the production and consumption of these greenhouse gases (GHGs), with soil aggregates and the inhabiting microbes proposed to function as biogeochemical reactors, processing these gases. Here we studied, for the first time, the relationship between GHG fluxes and aggregate stability as determined via laser diffraction analysis (LDA) of agricultural soils, as well as the effect of sustainable agricultural management strategies thereon. Using the static chamber method, all soils were found to be sinks for CH4 and sources for CO2 and N2O. The application of organic amendments did not have a conclusive effect on soil GHG fluxes, but tilled soils emitted more CO2. LDA was a useful and improved method for assessing soil aggregate stability, as it allows for the determination of multiple classes of aggregates and their structural composition, thereby overcoming limitations of traditional wet sieving. Organic matter content was the main steering factor of aggregate stability. The presence of persistent stable aggregates and the disintegration coefficient of stable aggregates were improved in organic-amended and no-tilled soils. Predictive modelling showed that, especially in these soils, aggregate stability was a governing factor of GHG fluxes. Higher soil CH4 uptake rates were associated with higher aggregate stability, while CO2 and N2O emissions increased with higher aggregate stability. Altogether, it was shown that sustainable agricultural management strategies can be used to steer the soil's aggregate stability and, both consequently and outright, the soil GHG fluxes, thereby creating a potential to contribute to the mitigation of agricultural GHG emissions.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2024.109354The intrinsic methane mitigation potential and associated microbes add product value to compost
Conventional agricultural activity reduces the uptake of the potent greenhouse gas methane by agricultural soils. However, the recently observed improved methane uptake capacity of agricultural soils after compost application is promising but needs mechanistic understanding. In this study, the methane uptake potential and microbiomes involved in methane cycling were assessed in green compost and household-compost with and without pre-digestion. In bottle incubations of different composts with both high and near-atmospheric methane concentrations (∼10.000 & ∼10 ppmv, respectively), green compost showed the highest potential methane uptake rates (up to 305.19 ± 94.43 nmol h−1 g dw compost−1 and 25.19 ± 6.75 pmol h−1 g dw compost−1, respectively). 16S, pmoA and mcrA amplicon sequencing revealed that its methanotrophic and methanogenic communities were dominated by type Ib methanotrophs, and more specifically by Methylocaldum szegediense and other Methylocaldum species, and Methanosarcina species, respectively. Ordination analyses showed that the abundance of type Ib methanotrophic bacteria was the main steering factor of the intrinsic methane uptake rates of composts, whilst the ammonium content was the main limiting factor, being most apparent in household composts. These results emphasize the potential of compost to contribute to methane mitigation, providing added value to compost as a product for industrial, commercial, governmental and public interests relevant to waste management. Compost could serve as a vector for the introduction of active methanotrophic bacteria in agricultural soils, potentially improving the methane uptake potential of agricultural soils and contributing to global methane mitigation, which should be the focus of future research.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2023.07.027Effect of pre-treatment processes of organic residues on soil aggregates
Process technologies, such as composting, anaerobic digestion, or lactic acid fermentation, greatly influence the resulting organic amendments (OAs) characteristics even when the same raw material is used. However, it is still unclear how these process technologies indirectly modify the effect of OAs on soil microbial activity and soil aggregation. To determine the effect of OA produced using pre-treatment technologies on the soil microbial activity and soil aggregation, we ran a soil column experiment in which we applied compost, digestate and lactic acid fermentation product made of the same model bio-waste. The results indicated that OAs produced under anaerobic conditions (fermented product and digestate) increased microbial activity, biomass, and soil micro- and macro-aggregation compared to compost and control treatments. Soil microbial activity strongly correlated to C, Ca, Mg, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), fungal biomass, and macroaggregate formation (, ). Simultaneously, soil macroaggregate formation strongly correlated to water-extractable C, EPS, cation exchange capacity, K, Mg, Na, and bacterial biomass (, ). This study demonstrated that the effect of an organic substrate on soil properties can be modified towards desired effects using different pre-treatment technologies, suggesting the possibility of “engineer” OAs.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eti.2023.103104
Projecten & samenwerkingen
Projecten
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SmartResidue
This project will investigate residue-stimulated atmospheric methane oxidation, and aims to elucidate its occurrence in field conditions, responsible microorganisms, underlying mechanisms and controlling factors.
Outreach
Categorieën
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Getagd in
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Koning op werkbezoek bij het NIOO
Koning Willem-Alexander bracht vandaag een werkbezoek aan het Nederlands Instituut voor Ecologie (NIOO-KNAW) in Wageningen. Naast een rondleiding kreeg de Koning uitleg over de onderzoeksthema's van het NIOO én nam hij deel aan een aantal praktische metingen en experimenten.