Publications

Schmidt M., Corre M., Kim B., Morley J., Göbel L., Sharma A., Setriuc S., Veldkamp E. (2021.0). Nutrient saturation of crop monocultures and agroforestry indicated by nutrient response efficiency. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 119(1), 69-82. doi:10.1007/s10705-020-10113-6

Efficient use of nutrients is a key requisite for a sustainable intensification of agriculture in order to meet the increasing global crop demand while minimizing deleterious environmental impacts. Agroforestry systems exhibit tree–crop interactions, which potentially contribute to nutrient-efficien…

Graß R., Malec S., Wachendorf M. (2020.0). Biomass Performance and Competition Effects in an Established Temperate Agroforestry System of Willow and Grassland—Results of the 2nd Rotation. Agronomy, 10(11), 1819. doi:10.3390/agronomy10111819

Agroforestry systems (AFSs) are promoted as environmentally friendly and climate-change-resilient cultivation systems with the potential of increasing ecosystem services. Especially under temperate climatic conditions, the implementation in agricultural practice is low so far, inter alia due to the …

Markwitz C., Knohl A., Siebicke L. (2020.0). Evapotranspiration over agroforestry sites in Germany. Biogeosciences, 17(20), 5183-5208. doi:10.5194/bg-17-5183-2020

Abstract. In the past few years, the interest in growing crops and trees for bioenergy production has increased. One agricultural practice is the mixed cultivation of fast-growing trees and annual crops or perennial grasslands on the same piece of land, which is referred to as one type of agroforest…

Wachendorf C., Piepho H., Beuschel R. (2020.0). Determination of litter derived C and N in litterbags and soil using stable isotopes prevents overestimation of litter decomposition in alley cropping systems. Pedobiologia, 81-82(), 150651. doi:10.1016/j.pedobi.2020.150651

Litter decomposition is an important ecosystem process mediated by soil organisms. It has been widely estimated by determining mass loss rates of plant residues applied in litterbags. However, catabolic degradation of litter by soil organisms is overestimated when the transfer of undecomposed or par…

Beule L., Karlovsky P. (2020.0). Improved normalization of species count data in ecology by scaling with ranked subsampling (SRS): application to microbial communities. PeerJ, 8(), e9593. doi:10.7717/peerj.9593

Background Analysis of species count data in ecology often requires normalization to an identical sample size. Rarefying (random subsampling without replacement), which is the current standard method for normalization, has been widely criticized for its poor reproducibility and potential distortion …

Schiwek S., Beule L., Vinas M., Pfordt A., von Tiedemann A., Karlovsky P. (2020.0). High-Resolution Melting (HRM) Curve Assay for the Identification of Eight Fusarium Species Causing Ear Rot in Maize. Pathogens, 9(4), 270. doi:10.3390/pathogens9040270

Maize plants are often infected with fungal pathogens of the genus Fusarium. Taxonomic characterization of these species by microscopic examination of pure cultures or assignment to mating populations is time-consuming and requires specific expertise. Reliable taxonomic assignment may be strengthene…

Guerra V., Beule L., Lehtsaar E., Liao H., Karlovsky P. (2020.0). Improved Protocol for DNA Extraction from Subsoils Using Phosphate Lysis Buffer. Microorganisms, 8(4), 532. doi:10.3390/microorganisms8040532

As our understanding of soil biology deepens, there is a growing demand for investigations addressing microbial processes in the earth beneath the topsoil layer, called subsoil. High clay content in subsoils often hinders the recovery of sufficient quantities of DNA as clay particles bind nucleic ac…

Beuschel R., Piepho H., Joergensen R., Wachendorf C. (2020.0). Impact of willow-based grassland alley cropping in relation to its plant species diversity on soil ecology of former arable land. Applied Soil Ecology, 147(), 103373. doi:10.1016/j.apsoil.2019.103373

undefined (2020.0). Correction: Conversion of monoculture cropland and open grassland to agroforestry alters the abundance of soil bacteria, fungi and soil-N-cycling genes. PLOS ONE, 14(7), e0220713. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0220713

Beule L., Lehtsaar E., Corre M., Schmidt M., Veldkamp E., Karlovsky P. (2020.0). Poplar Rows in Temperate Agroforestry Croplands Promote Bacteria, Fungi, and Denitrification Genes in Soils. Frontiers in Microbiology, 10(), . doi:10.3389/fmicb.2019.03108

Agroforestry, which is the integration of trees into monoculture cropland, can alter soil properties and nutrient cycling. Temperate agroforestry practices have been shown to affect soil microbial communities as indicated by changes in enzyme activities, substrate-induced respiration, and microbial …