Katharina John

Research interests

The soil fauna plays a key role in the regulation of element cycling and energy flow due to both their direct trophic and indirect interactions with soil microorganisms. These interactions are of fundamental relevance to most natural and agricultural ecosystems and their ecosystem functions. The main focus of my work lays in the investigation of the temporally dynamic establishment of soil food webs, the structural and functional biodiversity of soil communities and how they are affected by anthropogenic influences (management, fertilization, compaction, etc.).

The following methods are used: soil sampling, extraction and taxonomic processing of soil organisms, soil food web modeling, stable isotope analysis (GC-IRMS), phospholipid fatty acid analysis, greenhouse gas emission measurements (GC) in the laboratory and at the field sites, microcosm experiments, soil ecological standard methods for soil characterization.

Research projects

RESOILIENCE (DFG Biodiversity Exploratories)
Since 2018: Resilience of invertebrate communities in grassland soils.

ICON (DFG Research Unit „Introducing non-flooded crops in rice-dominated landscapes: impact on carbon, nitrogen and water budgets“)
SP3 (2015-2018): Impact of soil fauna on C and N cycling in rice cultivation systems.
SP3 (2011-2015): Trophic interactions in the soil of rice-rice and rice-maize cropping systems.