933308 Soil fertility and soil ecology in organic agriculture


Type
Lecture and exercise
Semester hours
2
Lecturer (assistant)
Friedl, Johannes , Tiefenbacher, Alexandra
Organisation
Offered in
Sommersemester 2025
Languages of instruction
Englisch

Content

Introduction Soil fertility: Definition and components, significance in organic farming
Effects of organic farming on the soils: Results of comparative experiments
Selected components of soil fertility and assessment methods
Exercise and practice: Practice in field, application of methods, protocol

Objective (expected results of study and acquired competences)

Graduates of this course can

- Identify components of soil fertility (“soil functions”) that are significant in organic farming
- List and apply methods to assess these functions
- Understand dependence of soil functions on soil properties
- Understand interactions between soil minerals, soil organic matter, soil organisms and plants: feedback loops, soil food web, "microbial loop", "active nutrient mobilisation" by plants
- Deduce site-specific particularities and weak points of soil functions
- Understand how they are affected by soil management
- Develop management methods to further soil functions under site-specific conditions
You can find more details like the schedule or information about exams on the course-page in BOKUonline.