K III

Ilka Engell

K III - Soil biology and soil ecology

Commission III scientifically studies organisms living in soil (mainly microorganisms and soil fauna) and their activities. The focus of the work of commission III is on the interactions of soil organisms with each other and with their habitat, the soil, which defines the physical and chemical environment of the organisms. We also study the role of the organisms and their interactions in ecosystems and their significance for maintaining soil functions. A central aim of Commission III is applying and further developing methods for the observation and quantification of soil organisms and their functions for different soil processes. A particular focus is the analysis of the consequences of human activities, in particular related to land use, on soil organisms and their activities.

Lumbricus terrestris. Photo: Ilka Engell

Working groups

AG Humusformen

Newsletter

We send newsletter in irregular frequencies with information about upcoming events and other topics related to soil biology. If you want to receive these newsletters you have to actively register, by setting a tick on the appropriate box on the mailing list website of the DBG internet page.

News

Various events and activities are scheduled around the topic of soil biology and ecology, plenty of them within the framework of the priority progamm „SoilSystems – Systems ecology of soils“: latest announcements can be checked on the homepage of the SPP 2322 under the category “events” (https://soilsystems.net/events/);

Several conferences, meetings or workshops with a focus or themes within soil biology and ecology are scheduled within the year 2025:

Ø  General Assembly of the European Geoscience Union EGU, of which the sessions of the SSS4 „Soil Biology, Microbiology and Biodiversity“ may be of specific interest
27.4.-2.5.2025, Wien, Austria
abstract deadline: 15.1.2025
https://www.egu25.eu/

Ø  17th Symposium on Bacterial Genetics and Ecolody (BAGECO)
Bacteria drive our planet's health
1.7.-4.7.2025, Graz, Austria
abstract deadline: 28.2.2.05
https://bageco.org/

Ø  Annual Meeting of the German Soil Science Society (DBG)
#GesundeBödenKlimaschutz
13.9.18.9.2025, University of Tübingen, Germany
abstract deadline: 24.1.2025
https://dbg2025.de/call-for-abstracts.html

Ø  VII Eurosoil 2025 & X Congreso Ibérico de la Ciencia der Suelo
8.9.-12.9.2025, Sevilla, Spanien
abstract deadline: 15.5.2025
https://eurosoil2025.eu/EUROSOIL2025

Ø  Ecology of Soil Microorganisms
Networking across scales
15.6.-19.6.2025, Helsinki, Finland
abstract deadline: 24.2.2.05
https://www.lyyti.fi/p/Ecology_of_Soil_Mircoorganisms2025_9620

 

Contact

Anja Miltner, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research- UFZ Leipzig, Department of Molecular Environmental Biotechnology

e-mail

Deputy chair:

Michaela Dippold, Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen

e-mail

 

 

Imprint Data privacy AGB