Research Interests
The main research focus of Prof. Martin Schroth is on greenhouse-gas (GHG) turnover in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, with specific emphasis on microbial methane oxidation in various habitats including aquifers, landfill-cover soils, peat bogs, and glacier forefields. Research projects often involve quantitative field-scale and/or intermediate-scale laboratory experimentation aimed at better understanding GHG turnover and associated microbial communities in these environments.
Another important research focus of Prof. Schroth is the development of novel tools for the field-scale quantification of microbial and geochemical processes in soils and aquifers by combining hydrological, stable isotope, molecular, and soil-physical methods. Prof. Schroth is a co-developer of the push-pull test method for the in-situ quantification of biogeochemical processes in aquatic ecosystems (Istok et al., 1997), and he is the principal developer of the gas push-pull test method for in-situ quantification of greenhouse-gas turnover in soils (Urmann et al., 2005; Gomez et al., 2008; Gonzalez-Gil et al., 2008). Since their development, these methods have been employed by many scientific research groups as well as practitioners involved in Environmental Science and Engineering. In the group of Prof. Schroth, these methods were successfully employed in the field to quantify CH4 turnover in soils (Urmann et al., 2008; Gomez et al., 2009; Schroth et al., 2012) and in a peat bog (Urmann et al., 2007).
At earlier stages of his professional career, Prof. Schroth focused on physical, chemical, and biological processes affecting the fate of nonaqueous-phase liquids such as petroleum products and chlorinated solvents in laboratory settings as well as natural subsurface environments.
Recent Research Projects
Methane turnover in glacier-forefield soils
Microbial CH4 oxidation in upland soils is an important mechanism for the removal of this potent greenhouse gas from the atmosphere, but little is known about this important function in young soils of glacier forefields. In field-based studies, we investigated spatial and temporal variability of atmospheric-CH4 oxidation and associated MOB communities along soil chronosequences in Alpine glacier forefields, aiming at better understanding the factors that shape the sink for atmospheric CH4 in these young soil ecosystems. Presently we investigate origin, distribution, and fate of CH4, which we recently discovered to be entrapped in calcareous glacier-forefield soils.
Chiri, E., Nauer, P.A., Rainer, E.M., Zeyer, J., Schroth, M.H., 2017. High Temporal and Spatial Variability of Atmospheric-Methane Oxidation in Alpine Glacier Forefield Soils. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 83(18).
Chiri, E., Nauer, P.A., Henneberger, R., Zeyer, J., Schroth, M.H., 2015. Soil-methane sink increases with soil age in forefields of Alpine glaciers. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 84: 83-95.
Nauer, P.A., Chiri, E., Zeyer, J. and Schroth, M.H.. Technical Note: Disturbance of soil structure can lead to release of methane entrapped in glacier forefield soils. Biogeosciences, 11(3): 613-620, DOI 10.5194/bg-11-613-2014, 2014.
Nauer, P., Dam, B., Liesack, W., Zeyer, J. and Schroth, M.H.. Activity and diversity of methane-oxidizing bacteria in glacier forefields on silicious and calcareous bedrock. Biogeosciences, 9(6): 2259-2274, DOI 10.5194/bg-9-2259-2012, 2012.
Novel tools for field-scale quantification of biogeochemical processes
Quantitative approaches are needed to assess biogeochemical processes and the link between microbial community structure and function in situ at the field scale. To quantify CH4 turnover with high spatial resolution, we developed a novel tool to assess soil-gas transport in various soil environments, including skeleton-rich soils of glacier forefields. We also developed and tested a novel combination of tools to quantitatively assess active CH4 oxidizing microbial communities in a landfill-cover soil.
Henneberger, R., Chiri, E., P.E.L. Bodelier, P. Frenzel, C. Lüke, Schroth, M.H., 2015. Field-scale tracking of active methane-oxidizing communities in a landfill cover soil reveals spatial and seasonal variability. Environmental Microbiology, 17(5): 1721-1737.
Henneberger, R., Chiri, E., Blees, J., Niemann, H., Lehmann, M.F. and Schroth, M.H.. Field-scale labelling and activity quantification of methane-oxidizing bacteria in a landfill-cover soil. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 83(2): 392-401, DOI 10.1111/j.1574- 6941.2012.01477.x, 2013.
Nauer, P.A., Chiri, E., Schroth, M.H., 2013. Poly-Use Multi-Level Sampling System for Soil-Gas Transport Analysis in the Vadose Zone. Environmental Science & Technology, 47(19): 11122-11130.
Knecht, K., Schroth, M.H., Schulin, R. and Nowack, B.. Development and evaluation of micro push-pull tests to investigate micro-scale processes in porous media. Environmental Science & Technology, 45(15): 6460–6467, 2011.
Nauer, P.A., and Schroth, M.H.. In-situ quantification of atmospheric methane oxidation in near-surface soils. Vadose Zone Journal, 9(4): 1052-1062, 2010.