Projects - dr.ir. TFJ (Tess) van de Voorde

"Ecology of the biobased economy: soil amelioration with biochar in a natural ecosystem", being a joint project of WUR and NIOO-KNAW at the Nature Conservation and Plant ecology group.

This project is in cooperation with Liesje Mommer (Wageningen UR), Martijn Bezemer (NIOO) and Jan-Willem van Groenigen (Wageningen UR)

Climate change and the depletion of fossil fuels urge mankind to adopt sustainable, so called „bio-based? energy sources. This change will fundamentally affect management of our ecosystems. First of all, biomass will be removed from (agro-) ecosystems to produce biofuel. Second, large amounts of recalcitrant carbon rest products (e.g. „biochar?) with unique biochemical properties will be applied to the soil. In this project I study the ecological dimension of soil amendment with biochar, by focusing on potentially altered interactions between plants and soil organisms.
 

A 4-year field experiment in a nature restoration area at the Veluwe will elucidate the biochar effects on interactions at a relevant ecological scale in time and space. Additional mesocosm experiments will add detailed information on altered nutrient competition, -cycling and food webs. This project provides novel insights into the effects of biochar on ecosystems, and will contribute to the general awareness of the (hidden) ecological dimension of the bio-based economy.