Lutz Merbold

My research focuses on the detailed understanding of greenhouse gas exchange (H2O, CO2; , N2O and CH4) in a variety of ecosystems worldwide including wetlands, woodlands, forests, savannas and managed grasslands (see details below)

By applying micrometeorological methods such as the eddy covariance technique I aim to define major meteorological as well as biological factors influencing ecosystem greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes and link the biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen and water.

Besides studying the ecosystem scale, I am further interested in exchange of GHGs at the process level (leaf and soils using GHG chambers) and larger scales (regional to global) using modeling (empirical, semi-empirical and process-based biogeochemical models) and remote sensing approaches.

Beyond the quantification of greenhouse gas fluxes I am interested in a more integrated ecosystem understanding trying to answer a simple questions: How do ecosystems function now and how will ecosystem function in the future?

Besides doing fundamental research I am motivated to educate undergraduate and graduate students in biology and environmental sciences but also to apply recent research findings in the real world.