Professor Dr Susan Trumbore

Susan Trumbore is a US-American geologist. She researches the ecosystems of earth, where her focus lies on the role of soils and vegetations for these cycles. She investigates how different forms of cultivation and species communities affect the amount of carbon storage in the soil. Here, she wants to understand how land use and climate mutually affect each other. With her findings, she wants to contribute to the development of sustainable strategies in agriculture.
Soils are the biggest terrestrial repository for carbon and one of the most important natural sources for carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. The amount of greenhouse gases that are deposited or released depends, amongst other things, on the mixture of the soil and the concentration of organic substances. Together with her team, Susan Trumbore researches how climatic and environmental changes bear on the concentration of carbon in soils.
For example, she wants to find out whether a warming climate accelerates degradation processes under ground and releases more CO2. Dead plant matter, which is decomposed by soil inhabitants, is the most important supplier of carbon dioxides in the ground. These microorganisms alter the carbon in the ground to CO2 (mineralisation). The team around Susan Trumbore found that the mineral composition of the soil plays a special role for carbon-retainment. Soils, in which the carbon is largely bound to minerals, emit less CO2.
To trace the path of carbon in the soil, Susan Trumbore developed new research methods. She marked plants with stable isotopes (12C, 13C). The isotope ratio remains constant during the process of degradation. With that, she can determine the ‘plantal’ amount of carbon and thereby compare the degradation processes by various soil organisms. She further employs accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) to determine the median age of the carbon on soil-samples. In experiments, she attempted to mobilise mineral-bound carbon in order to remove it.
During further research she analysed the dependence of CO2-Emisson from the soil to temperature, moisture, and various other soil qualities. She asks how different land use, vegetation, forms of cultivation, fertilization, and species communities bear on the retainment of carbon within the soil.
Furthermore, Susan Trumbore researches whether the efficiency of carbon retainment in tropical forests can be altered. She investigates the mechanism of drought-induced forest decline and the role of biodiversity in the material cycle of the elements. Susan Trumbore conducts her research globally. With her work, she wants to contribute to the development of sustainable strategies in agriculture.