TY - GEN A1 - Schillem, Steffi A1 - Schneider, Bernd Uwe A1 - Zeihser, Uwe A1 - Hüttl, Reinhard F. T1 - Effect of N-modified Lignite Granulates and Composted Biochar on Plant Growth, Nitrogen and Water Use Efficiency of Spring Wheat T2 - Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science N2 - Organic soil amendments such as biochar are increasingly used to improve the fertility of degraded soils and marginal lands, plant growth, water retention and carbon sequestration. The performance of biochar depends on the parent material, the pyrolysis conditions and the nutrient enrichment process, accounting for the variability of the final products. Recently lignite granulates came into focus offering an alternative characterised by homogeneity, vast availability of the raw material and a standardised production process including nitrogen enrichment through oxidative ammonolysis. In a greenhouse experiment the effects of N-modified lignite granulates (NLG) and composted biochar (BC) on the growth of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum) in a sandy, carbon-free substrate were compared. Additionally, the effect of different NLG application rates (5, 7.5, 11, 15, 28 t ha−1) was investigated. Yields as well as nitrogen and water use efficiency of the soil-plant system were determined at the end of the experiment. Both organic amendments increased yields relative to control plants. An increase in yield, nitrogen and water use efficiency for NLG even at low application rates and a better growth performance compared to BC were observed. Present findings, therefore, indicate, that such granulates offer an alternative to existing organic soil amendments. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/03650340.2019.1582767 SN - 1476-3567 SN - 0365-0340 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Raab, Alexandra A1 - Bonhage, Alexander A1 - Schneider, Anna A1 - Raab, Thomas A1 - Rösler, Horst A1 - Heußner, Karl-Uwe A1 - Hirsch, Florian T1 - Spatial distribution of relict charcoal hearths in the former royal forest district Tauer (SE Brandenburg, Germany) T2 - Quaternary International N2 - Historical charcoal production has long been an unconsidered type of forest utilization in lowland areas. The archaeological discovery of a large charcoal burning area in the forefield of the active opencast lignite mine J€anschwalde in SE Brandenburg (North German Lowlands) has highlighted the need for multidisciplinary research in the study of the dimensions of historical charcoal burning. The charcoal produced in our study area, the former royal forest district Tauer, provided energy for the nearby Peitz ironworks during its operation from the mid-16th to the mid-19th century. Here, we aimed to record the amount, size and distribution of relict charcoal hearths (RCHs) to examine their context with respect to the ironworks and to better understand the potential impacts on late Quaternary landscape change. The applied methods combined archaeological research with shaded-relief mapping of RCHs. To evaluate the detection success of RCHs in the shaded-relief maps (SRMs), we compared the results with the results from specific archaeological surveys and conventional forest site mapping. Furthermore, we analyzed our dataset with descriptive, comparable and spatial statistics. Additionally, dendrochronological dating of charcoal fragments from selected RCHs was used to investigate the temporal relationships among the RCHs. Approximately 6000 circular RCHs were manually digitally identified in the SRMs of the 109-km2 evaluable area. However, ground truthing showed that the shaded-relief maps could not completely capture all RCHs in our study area due to local conditions. At the regional scale, two focus areas with high RCH site densities were found. Statistical analysis revealed that the diameters of the RCHs range widely from 4 to 30.5 m. Spatial statistics were applied to the RCH diameters to aggregate areas with larger or smaller RCHs. At the small scale, no systematic arrangement of RCHs was obvious in the SRMs. Dendrochronological dating of selected RCHs lying close together could not detect significant spatiotemporal relationships or patterns. The dating results also showed that some areas have been preferentially used for charcoal production for over 300 years. Due to the homogeneity of the physiogeographical location factors, we assume that these factors are not superficially responsible for site selection. Instead, economic location factors and contemporary regulations are more likely responsible for the distribution of RCHs. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2017.07.022 SN - 1040-6182 VL - Vol. 511 SP - 153 EP - 165 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Boldt-Burisch, Katja A1 - Schneider, Bernd Uwe A1 - Naeth, M. Anne A1 - Hüttl, Reinhard F. T1 - Root exudation of organic acids of herbaceous pioneer plants and their growth in steriled and non-steriled nutrient-poor, sandy soils from post-mining sites T2 - Pedosphere N2 - Nutrient-poor, sandy soils form the prevailing substrate at post-mining sites and present a challenge for plants. We studied the organic acid quantity and composition of three commonly occurring pioneer plant species, the legumes Lotus corniculatus L. and Trifolium arvense L. and the grass Calamagrostis epigeios (L.) Roth, to determine if plant growth and exudation differed with (nonsterile soil) and without (sterile soil) an indigenous soil microbial community. We investigated whether organic acids were found in the rhizosphere and surrounding soil and whether this influenced nutrient mobilization. This study consists of linked field investigations and a greenhouse experiment. Plants were grown in the greenhouse in either steriled or non-steriled sandy soil from a reclamation site in the Lusatian mining landscape (Welzow S¨ud, East Germany). After seven months, the plant biomass, root morphology, organic acids, and water-soluble nutrients and root colonization with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and dark septate endophytes (DSE) were analyzed. Roots of all three plants in the field and greenhouse experiments were highly colonized with AMF. Calamagrostis epigeios and T. arvense had a significantly higher colonization frequency with DSE than L. corniculatus. The quantity and composition of organic acids strongly differed among plant species, with the highest number of organic acids found for L. corniculatus and lowest for C. epigeios. The quantity of organic acids was greatly reduced in all plants under steriled soil conditions. However, the composition of organic acids and plant growth in steriled soil were reduced for both legumes, but not for C. epigeios, which had a higher biomass under steriled conditions. Changes in nutrient concentrations in the field rhizosphere soil relative to those in the control were measurable after seven months. While the spectrum of organic acids and the growth of legumes seemed to be dependent on a highly diverse soil microbial community and a symbiotic partner, the grass C. epigeios appeared capable of mobilizing enough nutrients without an indigenous microbial community, and might be more competitive on sites where soil microbial diversity and activity are low. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/S1002-0160(18)60056-6 SN - 1002-0160 VL - 29 IS - 1 SP - 34 EP - 44 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Boldt-Burisch, Katja A1 - Naeth, M. Anne A1 - Schneider, Bernd Uwe A1 - Hüttl, Reinhard F. T1 - Linkage between root system development of three pioneer plant species and soil nitrogen during the initial phase of ecosystem development of the artificial watershed Hühnerwasser T2 - Geophysical Research Abstracts N2 - ln 2005, a 7-ha artificial watershed (Hühnerwasser) was built an a post mined Iandscape in Lusatia, Germany from sandy Substrates of Pleistocene origin, commonly used in reclamation. The watershed was developed to investigate the initial phase of soil and ecosystem development under natural conditions. At this early stage, nutrients in young sandy soils are limited and pioneer plants become key components of natural succession. Local abundant pioneering legumes Lotus corniculatus and Trifolium arvense and one pioneer grass species Calamagrostis epigeios were investigated 5 years after watershed construction. ln the present study, we investigated the influence of spatial root distribution of these species an soil nitrogen accumulation and on nutrient redistribution. Soil, including roots, was sampled from field monoliths covered with the aforementioned plant species. Root systems of both legumes were mainly restricted to the upper 20 cm of soil, whereas roots of C. epigeios also developed strongly at greater depths. A positive relationship was found, with higher plant densities associated with higher root densities, which were related with higher nodule densities for legumes and which were all associated with significantly higher soil nitrogen concentration relative to non-vegetated areas. This research provides rare information on the role root systems of pioneer legumes play in soil nitrogen input and development of nutrient patterns in the early stage of soil and ecosystem development during revegetation by natural succession. Y1 - 2019 UR - https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2019/EGU2019-5362.pdf VL - 21 ER -