Bachelor /Master Projects 1. PriOrity Effect Mechanisms (POEM)

Bachelor and master projects carried out as part of the POEM project will use a unique grassland field experiment set up in 2020 by our research group in Niederhaverbeck, in the Lüneburger Heide. The main objective of this experiment is to understand better how the order of arrival of three plant functional groups (forbs, grasses, and legumes) affect the structure and functioning of dry grassland plant communities (both aboveground and belowground). Project 1.1: How does plant functional group order of arrival during assembly affect carbon and nitrogen leaching in a grassland field experiment? This project will consist of the following tasks: (1) collecting soil solution samples from the experimental plots at specific time points using suction cups, (2) process the samples in the lab and measure a number of important chemical parameters (pH, nitrate concentration, and dissolved organic N/C concentration), (3) analyse the data and interpret the results, and (4) present your findings in a bachelor or master thesis written as a scientific paper. Car driving license: Yes Contact: Benjamin Delory (Benjamin.Delory@leuphana.de) and Vicky Temperton (Vicky.Temperton@leuphana.de)

Project 1.2: How does plant functional group order of arrival during assembly affect the structure and functioning of dry grassland plant communities? This project will consist of the following tasks: (1) collecting the plant biomass of each individual species located inside randomly positioned quadrats in our experimental plots (harvests organised in July/August), (2) process the samples in the lab (drying biomass) and measure the total shoot dry weight of each species in each quadrat, (3) analyse the data and interpret the results, and (4) present your findings in a bachelor or master thesis written as a scientific paper. Car driving license: Yes Contact: Benjamin Delory (Benjamin.Delory@leuphana.de) and Vicky Temperton (Vicky.Temperton@leuphana.de)

Project 1.3: How does plant functional group order of arrival during assembly affect plant functional traits? This project will consist of the following tasks: (1) measuring one whole plant trait (plant height) and 5 leaf traits (area of a leaf, leaf dry-matter content, specific leaf area, and carbon and nitrogen content) on all target species that managed to establish, (2) process leaf samples in the lab (measuring leaf area, drying biomass, measuring leaf C/N content), (3) analyse the data and interpret the results, and (4) present your findings in a bachelor or master thesis written as a scientific paper. Car driving license: Yes Contact: Benjamin Delory (Benjamin.Delory@leuphana.de) and Vicky Temperton (Vicky.Temperton@leuphana.de)

Project 1.4: How does plant functional group order of arrival during assembly affect root productivity and vertical root distribution of dry grassland plant communities? This project will consist of the following tasks: (1) regularly taking high resolution pictures of roots growing at different depths along minirhizotron tubes installed in our experimental plots using a state of the art camera (VSI-BARTZ MS-190). During the growing season, root images quill be acquired every two weeks; (2) classifying and annotating root images taken in the field, (3) segmenting roots present in the images using a manual root image analysis software (rhizoTrak) and/or software tools relying on deep machine learning, (4) calculate root traits (e.g., total root length in each image, growth rate, etc.), and (5) present your findings in a bachelor or master thesis written as a scientific paper. Car driving license: Yes Contact: Benjamin Delory (Benjamin.Delory@leuphana.de) and Vicky Temperton (Vicky.Temperton@leuphana.de)

2. Regenerative Agriculture: Haidehof Holistic Grazing Project

Assessing impact of holistic grazing approach in the Haidehof, near Hamburg. This project started just over a year ago, and is a collaboration with the people running the regenerative agriculture Haidehof near Hamburg (privately owned farm area). Here, they are testing Alan Savoury’s holistic grazing concept for the first time in Germany (as far as we know). They are using local cows and moving them from one patch of the species-poor grassland to another every day. This started in 2020 and we have taken some time zero data within previous bachelor projects in the grasslands on the farm, as well as in a reference farm nearby with “normal” grazing regime and the same kind of cows. The aim is to assess to what extent the holistic grazing leads to increased plant diversity in the grassland, as well as increases in soil organic carbon stocks in the soils, and other potential multifunctional outcomes.

Project 2.1: The focus in 2021 will be to assess the vegetation on farm and on the reference farm in more detail than previously (so some knowledge of grasslands species would be important), as well as measuring hay biomass across the sites. In addition an analysis of previous and current and planned land use (history) would be a complementary part of the overall project tasks.

Project 2.2: Assess pollinator visits to flowers on the farm grassland and in the reference conventional livestock farm. This would involve assessing at larger scale taxonomic specificiation which pollinator groups are around and which flowers they visit.

This could be two bachelor or two master projects.

Car driving license: yes Starting date: spring 2021 Duration: spring/summer 2021 for field work. Contact: Prof. Vicky Temperton (Vicky.Temperton@leuphana.de), Dr. Thomas Niemeyer (thomas.niemeyer@leuphana.de)