European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly in Vienna

"Denitrification in soils under field conditions - advances in quantification, controlling factors and process-based modelling"(SSS41)

Denitrification plays a key role in the soil N cycle due to its implication for losses of reactive N from soil and emission of gaseous N-oxides to the atmosphere. Despite a long research history on soil denitrification and numerous recent technological advances, we still lack a comprehensive, quantitative understanding of denitrification rates in soils. This is in part due to methodical difficulties in measuring N2 production and emission at atmospheric background concentrations of 78%. Because controlling factors of soil denitrification have been mostly investigated under laboratory conditions, the effective control at the field scale and the spatial variability of denitrification on a landscape scale is still not satisfactorily clarified. Due to the lack of suitable data-sets, process-based denitrification models have rarely been validated and results of their application on site and regional scales are highly uncertain. Recent technological advances in measurements of N2 fluxes and linking structure and activity of denitrifying microbial communities with denitrification rates offer new opportunities in this area.

We invite contributions from the following fields: Methodical advances in measuring and modelling of denitrification in soils; measuring N2 and N2O fluxes from denitrification and controlling factors under field-like conditions using quantitative methods like incubation under He atmosphere, 15N-Tracer technique or high precision N2/Ar ratios; method comparisons; process-based modelling of denitrification at various scales; linking denitrification rates to parameters of the denitrifying community.

Information on our session and abstract submission can be found here:

http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2009/session/1005

General information on the EGU General Assembly 2009 can be found here:

http://meetings.copernicus.org/egu2009/

IMPORTANT DEADLINES:

Deadline for Receipt of Abstracts - 13 January 2009
Deadline for Support Applications - 7 December 2008

We look forward to seeing you in Vienna!

Dr. Reinhard Well
Soil Science of Temperate and Boreal Ecosystems
Buesgen Institute, University of Goettingen
Buesgenweg 2
37077 Goettingen
Germany
Phone: +49-551-395507
Fax: +49-551-393310
E-mail: rwell@gwdg.de

Prof. Dr. Klaus Butterbach-Bahl
Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research
Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe
Kreuzeckbahnstr. 19
82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Phone: +49-(0)8821-183136
Fax:     +49-(0)8824-183294
email: klaus.butterbach-bahl@imk.fzk.de

Prof. Dr. Heiner Flessa
Soil Science of Temperate and Boreal Ecosystems
Buesgen Institute, University of Goettingen
Buesgenweg 2
37077 Goettingen
Germany
Phone: +49-551-393507