Laboratory for Sediment and Soil Analysis (SEDILAB) HUN-REN Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Geographical Institute
PROJECTS
The role of soil organic matter stability in the adsorption and desorption of pharmaceutically active compounds – with a focus on environmental differences
Project number: K142865
Project summary: The project aims to clarify soil organic matter (SOM) stability's role in the adsorption and desorption (availability) of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs). This research will also focus on the effects of antibiotics and fungicides on SOM stability and, thus, the desorption of PhACs. We will focus on the following questions: (A.) What differences can be found between the SOM stability of the studied soils? (B.) Is there a difference between the effect of antibiotics and fungicides on SOM degradation (among studied soils)? (C.) How does SOM degradation affect the desorption of hydrophobic and hydrophilic PhACs? (D.) what are the differences in the processes mentioned above in the studied soils? The results of the research are also related to nowadays's acute environmental problems. Treated wastewater serves as direct irrigation water in the water-scarce areas. The PhACs content of treated wastewater can also influence human health. Irrigation by treated wastewater can be a practice in Hungary and South-Eastern Europe due to climate change. Our research can contribute to estimating the real degree of this environmental hazard
Total budget: 47 861 000 HUF
Supported by: National Research, Development and Innovation Fund, Hungary
Principal investigator: Zoltán Szalai
Project duration: 01.12.2022 – 30.11.2026
Effect of cover crop on soil aggregation, erosion and carbon storage
Project number: K143005
Project summary: According to the climate models, the amount of precipitation will not change considerably in the Carpathian Basin, but its distribution will be different. As it could be observed during the last years, the long periods of droughts are getting more frequent, which are followed by a few days of very intensive rainfall. These heavy rainfalls are deeply eroding the soil of the agricultural lands, which are already strongly degraded. Besides, flash floods caused by them lead to significant damage, as well. The effectiveness of infiltration of the abrupt, large amounts of precipitation depends mainly on soil structure and on the presence of water-stable soil aggregates. The application of winter cover crop may considerably increase the amount of mycorrhiza fungi in the soil. As a result, more glomalin is formed in the soil, which has a considerable role in the formation of water-stable aggregates and in the retention of organic matter, in other words, in C sequestration. The proposed research will explore the role of cover crop and of glomalin in the formation of soil aggregates. It will also investigate the relative contribution of the aggregate binding agents to the aggregate stability in each aggregate fraction and find out in which fraction the most effective they are. The speed of the build-up of the soil structure is also in question. And finally, as a result of the application of the cover crop, how much the improved soil structure is able to reduce runoff, soil erosion and improve water management, and which cover crop species are best to use on luvisols in sub-humid climate?
Total budget: 47 250 000 HUF
Supported by: National Research, Development and Innovation Fund, Hungary
Principal investigator: Balázs Madarász
Project duration: 01.12.2022 – 30.11.2026
Stabilization mechanisms of soil organic matter pools in calcareous and acid soils
Project number: FK142936
Project summary: Despite the growing number of researches focusing on the study of different SOM stabilization processes in recent years, there is a lack of works evaluating the role of the individual mineral groups on SOM stabilization under both acidic and base saturated soil conditions. Therefore, the objectives of the research are to i) study the mineralogical composition of soils in detail and to specify the SOM stabilization effect of the individual mineral groups, ii) compare the different physical and chemical SOM stabilization mechanisms in calcareous and acid top- and subsoils and iii) examine the effect of soil microbial community on SOM stabilization. Detailed mineralogical and microbiological composition of the bulk topsoil and subsoil samples and the turnover time and chemical characteristics of SOM fractions representing different stabilization mechanisms (aggregate protection and binding to mineral surfaces by cation bridges and ligand exchange) will be determined and relationship between these factors will be studied.
Total budget: 41 805 000 HUF
Supported by: National Research, Development and Innovation Fund, Hungary
Principal investigator: Dóra Zacháry
Project duration: 01.12.2022 – 30.11.2026
Complex interpretation of grain size and particle shape analysis of paleosols
Project number: FK128230
Project summary: The purpose of this project is to develop a new methodology in which the combined results of grain size analysis and particle shape analysis can be used to quantify the degree of weathering and categorize in situ vs reworked or relocated paleosols. Using such a technique on paleosol-loess sequences, especially from the Carpathian Basin, can provide crucial information to better understand the geomorphological processes during Pleistocene climate changes. During glacial and interglacial periods, the deposition of loess-paleosol sequences could take place in a variety of surfaces, depending on the paleogeomorphology. Furthermore, sometimes the paleosol layers got redeposited due to external forces. During soil formation, submicron grain-size clay minerals are formed from the aluminosilicates (mainly feldspars) originated from the in-situ loess. Paleosols are often reworked by external forces and undergo some weathering processes, resulting in reduced particle size with signs of dissolution in the shape of some relict minerals. Hence, examining changes in the morphology of aluminosilicates from paleosol-loess sequences can be used to determine the in situ paleosol position and/or to identify the parameters of reworked paleosol. To examine the largest variety of paleosols, our intention is to sample loess and paleosol sequences from several locations in the Carpathian Basin. Thus, we can study: 1) in situ, i.e. not reworked, paleosols (from Basaharc and Bátaapáti); 2) greatly reworked paleosols, which is mixed with loess (from Basaharc, Zebegény); 3) paleosol strata with slope (from Kicsind) and 4) paleosols which are moving/sliding to date (from Kulcs).
Total budget: 16 904 000 HUF
Supported by: National Research, Development and Innovation Fund, Hungary
Principal investigator: Csilla Hényel-Király
Project duration: 01.10.2018 – 30.04.2025
Organic and inorganic carbon dynamics in calcareous soils
Project number: 2019-2.1.7-ERA-NET-2022-00037
Project summary: The aim of the French, Hungarian, Canadian and Italian consortium is to study a wide spectrum of soils with diverse organic (SOC) and inorganic (SIC) carbon content, quality and dynamics. The research primarily focuses on the examination of the solid phases of SOC and SIC using a database with a large number of topsoil (0‒30 cm) and subsoil (> 30 cm) samples (approximately 350), characterized by varying composition, origin, bedrock and land uses (under agricultural cultivation or not under cultivation). The aim of the project is to i) determine the content and the isotopic characterization of the various SOC and SIC forms of the samples; ii) identify the organic matter stabilization mechanisms in the case of different SIC forms and iii) examine the organic and inorganic contribution of carbon flows between soils and the atmosphere using incubation experiments. The expected results can contribute to obtaining a more detailed picture of the processes of organic matter decomposition by examining calcareous soils of varied composition and land use.
Total budget: 54 135 000 HUF
Supported by: National Research, Development and Innovation Fund, Hungary, European Union Horizon 2020
Principal investigator of the Hungarian research group: Dóra Zacháry
Project duration: 01.10.2018 – 30.04.2025
The temperature sensitivity of the decomposition of physical fractions of organic matter of soils with different vegetation coverage
Project number: K132191
Project summary: The research aims to clarify the effect of temperature changes on the decomposition of soil organic matter, and also examines how certain factors modify the temperature dependence of decomposition, such as (i) the availability of substrate for microorganisms and (ii) the quality of the substrate. Fractions (DOM, POM, s+a, s+c, rSOC) derived from the physical fractionation of soil organic matter from areas under four different plant cover (agricultural, deciduous forest, evergreen forest, pasture) are incubated for 1 year at 3 different temperatures. During the incubation, the CO2 production is measured to characterize the kinetics of the decomposition of the organic material and to calculate the Q10 factor characteristic of the decomposition temperature.
Our research results can provide data (Q10 coefficient) for mechanistic climate and C models encountering problems with the quality and availability of organic matter. This can also help to better understand how the C sequestration capacity of soils varies under different climatic and temperature conditions.
Total budget: 42 528 000 HUF
Supported by: National Research, Development and Innovation Fund, Hungary
Principal investigator of the Hungarian research group: Tibor Filep
Project duration: 01.12.2019 – 31.12.2024