Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 17-50 |
| Number of pages | 34 |
| Journal | Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science |
| Volume | 187 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 8 Feb 2024 |
Abstract
The functions of soils are intimately linked to their three-dimensional pore space and the associated biogeochemical interfaces, mirrored in the complex structure that developed during pedogenesis. Under stress overload, soil disintegrates into smaller compound structures, conventionally named aggregates. Microaggregates (<250 µm) are recognized as the most stable soil structural units. They are built of mineral, organic, and biotic materials, provide habitats for a vast diversity of microorganisms, and are closely involved in the cycling of matter and energy. However, exploring the architecture of soil microaggregates and their linkage to soil functions remains a challenging but demanding scientific endeavor. With the advent of complementary spectromicroscopic and tomographic techniques, we can now assess and visualize the size, composition, and porosity of microaggregates and the spatial arrangement of their interior building units. Their combinations with advanced experimental pedology, multi-isotope labeling experiments, and computational approaches pave the way to investigate microaggregate turnover and stability, explore their role in element cycling, and unravel the intricate linkage between structure and function. However, spectromicroscopic techniques operate at different scales and resolutions, and have specific requirements for sample preparation and microaggregate isolation; hence, special attention must be paid to both the separation of microaggregates in a reproducible manner and the synopsis of the geography of information that originates from the diverse complementary instrumental techniques. The latter calls for further development of strategies for synlocation and synscaling beyond the present state of correlative analysis. Here, we present examples of recent scientific progress and review both options and challenges of the joint application of cutting-edge techniques to achieve a sophisticated picture of the properties and functions of soil microaggregates.
Keywords
- aggregate dispersion and fractionation, in silico soil aggregates, microbial biogeography of aggregates, soil interfaces, spectromicroscopy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Soil Science
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Plant Science
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In: Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, Vol. 187, No. 1, 08.02.2024, p. 17-50.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Architecture of soil microaggregates
T2 - Advanced methodologies to explore properties and functions
AU - Amelung, Wulf
AU - Tang, Ni
AU - Siebers, Nina
AU - Aehnelt, Michaela
AU - Eusterhues, Karin
AU - Felde, Vincent J.M.N.L.
AU - Guggenberger, Georg
AU - Kaiser, Klaus
AU - Kögel-Knabner, Ingrid
AU - Klumpp, Erwin
AU - Knief, Claudia
AU - Kruse, Jens
AU - Lehndorff, Eva
AU - Mikutta, Robert
AU - Peth, Stephan
AU - Ray, Nadja
AU - Prechtel, Alexander
AU - Ritschel, Thomas
AU - Schweizer, Steffen A.
AU - Woche, Susanne K.
AU - Wu, Bei
AU - Totsche, Kai U.
N1 - Funding information: This work was supported by , ( 251268514), particularly subprojects , To and To . W. Amelung additionally acknowledges support from the under , , - . The µ-XANES research described in this paper was performed at the Canadian Light Source, a national research facility of the University of Saskatchewan, which is supported by the (), the (), the (), the (), the , and the . Authors thank for helping performing the experiments at the SXRMB-Beamline, for performing epi-fluorescence microscope measurements, and for performing NanoSIMS measurements. Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft research unit RU 2179 MADSoil project number Am 134/25-2 184/23-2 184/24-2 Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Germany's Excellence Strategy EXC-2070-390732324–PhenoRob the cluster of excellence PhenoRob robotics and phenotyping for sustianable crop production Canada Foundation for Innovation CFI Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council NSERC National Research Council NRC Canadian Institutes of Health Research CIHR Government of Saskatchewan University of Saskatchewan J. Hu Tongyan Yao Carmen Höschen
PY - 2024/2/8
Y1 - 2024/2/8
N2 - The functions of soils are intimately linked to their three-dimensional pore space and the associated biogeochemical interfaces, mirrored in the complex structure that developed during pedogenesis. Under stress overload, soil disintegrates into smaller compound structures, conventionally named aggregates. Microaggregates (<250 µm) are recognized as the most stable soil structural units. They are built of mineral, organic, and biotic materials, provide habitats for a vast diversity of microorganisms, and are closely involved in the cycling of matter and energy. However, exploring the architecture of soil microaggregates and their linkage to soil functions remains a challenging but demanding scientific endeavor. With the advent of complementary spectromicroscopic and tomographic techniques, we can now assess and visualize the size, composition, and porosity of microaggregates and the spatial arrangement of their interior building units. Their combinations with advanced experimental pedology, multi-isotope labeling experiments, and computational approaches pave the way to investigate microaggregate turnover and stability, explore their role in element cycling, and unravel the intricate linkage between structure and function. However, spectromicroscopic techniques operate at different scales and resolutions, and have specific requirements for sample preparation and microaggregate isolation; hence, special attention must be paid to both the separation of microaggregates in a reproducible manner and the synopsis of the geography of information that originates from the diverse complementary instrumental techniques. The latter calls for further development of strategies for synlocation and synscaling beyond the present state of correlative analysis. Here, we present examples of recent scientific progress and review both options and challenges of the joint application of cutting-edge techniques to achieve a sophisticated picture of the properties and functions of soil microaggregates.
AB - The functions of soils are intimately linked to their three-dimensional pore space and the associated biogeochemical interfaces, mirrored in the complex structure that developed during pedogenesis. Under stress overload, soil disintegrates into smaller compound structures, conventionally named aggregates. Microaggregates (<250 µm) are recognized as the most stable soil structural units. They are built of mineral, organic, and biotic materials, provide habitats for a vast diversity of microorganisms, and are closely involved in the cycling of matter and energy. However, exploring the architecture of soil microaggregates and their linkage to soil functions remains a challenging but demanding scientific endeavor. With the advent of complementary spectromicroscopic and tomographic techniques, we can now assess and visualize the size, composition, and porosity of microaggregates and the spatial arrangement of their interior building units. Their combinations with advanced experimental pedology, multi-isotope labeling experiments, and computational approaches pave the way to investigate microaggregate turnover and stability, explore their role in element cycling, and unravel the intricate linkage between structure and function. However, spectromicroscopic techniques operate at different scales and resolutions, and have specific requirements for sample preparation and microaggregate isolation; hence, special attention must be paid to both the separation of microaggregates in a reproducible manner and the synopsis of the geography of information that originates from the diverse complementary instrumental techniques. The latter calls for further development of strategies for synlocation and synscaling beyond the present state of correlative analysis. Here, we present examples of recent scientific progress and review both options and challenges of the joint application of cutting-edge techniques to achieve a sophisticated picture of the properties and functions of soil microaggregates.
KW - aggregate dispersion and fractionation
KW - in silico soil aggregates
KW - microbial biogeography of aggregates
KW - soil interfaces
KW - spectromicroscopy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85171883710&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/jpln.202300149
DO - 10.1002/jpln.202300149
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85171883710
VL - 187
SP - 17
EP - 50
JO - Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science
JF - Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science
SN - 1436-8730
IS - 1
ER -