Steven de Goede, PhD student at NIOO and Wageningen University & Research.
Background. As an interdisciplinary researcher rooted in soil sciences and biogeochemistry, one of my goals is to bring various (sub)disciplines within the field of earth and life sciences closer together. My main research interest is to better understand the effects of environmental changes on plants and soils across various spatiotemporal scales. I focus on the cycling of soil organic matter, integrating both physicochemical and biological perspectives, aiming for a better representation of soil life in modeling soil organic carbon dynamics. In recent years I have developed a particular interest for soil fungi, both in relation to biological conservation and their role in soil and ecosystem functioning.
This project. My part of the project focuses on the belowground perspective of the climate-smart forestry project (2021-2025). More specifically, I study how harvest intensity and drought affect soil organic carbon cycling, and I hone in on the role of soil fungi. My PhD project consists of four parts, each targeting different aspects. (1) I have done a plot-based field sampling together with the HoliSoils project [link https://holisoils.eu/] in 2022 and will look at how different harvest intensities affect soil microbes and soil organic matter. (2) In 2021, MSc student Renske ter Haar (WUR) and I have samples around trees and stumps within the field experiment, zooming in on how fungal biomass and community composition (especially ectomycorrhizal vs saprotrophic fungi) has been affected by different harvest intensities. (3) I have simulated a summer drought in 2022 with rainout shelters in the Scots pine plots, following over time how soil fungal communities, soil organic matter decomposition and soil respiration were affected. BSc student Daniëlle de Hoog (HAN) studied how soil extracellular enzyme activities have changed between pre, peak and post drought. (4) At NIOO, we have set up a large pot experiment with young Scots pine trees (Dec 2022 – Nov 2023) and exposed them to a drought duration gradient. Herein, I trace how soil fungal communities change over time and with stable-isotope probing I look at how carbon is allocated in the plant-soil system across the drought gradient. MSc student Jelle Peijffers (WUR) zooms in on carbon allocation between different plant parts, and I focus more on allocation to soil microbes and mineral soil.
Climate Smart Forestry 