GRK2530 - Role of biota in the carbon cycle of estuaries

Since August 2025, our research group has been participating in the Research Training Group 2530 “Role of Biota in the Carbon Cycle of Estuaries.” The aim of this project, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), is to systematically investigate the role of organisms (biota) in the carbon cycle of estuaries.

The focus is on processes that take place in different habitats:

in the rhizosphere of marshes,
on sediment surfaces of mudflats,
on pelagic aggregates.
Ecological, biochemical, and molecular methods are used. The interdisciplinary project combines biology and geosciences, thus opening up new perspectives on material flows in transition zones between land and sea.

The Research Training Group 2530 aims to close existing gaps in knowledge about biota-mediated processes in the carbon cycle—both under present conditions and with regard to future scenarios of global change.