Prof. Dr. Youri Rothfuss

Research group

The aim of the Research Unit “Plant-Soil-Atmosphere Exchange Processes” is the quantification of matter and isotope fluxes between plants, soil and the atmosphere and elucidation of the biogeochemical and physical processes behind them in a range of ecosystems from cropland and grassland to forest. The analytical methods used comprise a range of techniques from enzyme assays at the leaf scale, chamber and cuvette measurements, classical gas chromatography and isotope ratio mass spectrometry up to online isotope-specific laser absorption spectrometry. The ultimate goal is to contribute to constraining global greenhouse gas budgets through process-oriented research and to help to develop management strategies for greenhouse gas emission reduction. For this, basic research is complemented with application-oriented projects.

Research focus

My research focuses on understanding and testing hypotheses formulated regarding soil-plant water relations in agricultural settings. For this, I use the water hydrogen and oxygen isotopic abundances (δ²H and δ¹⁸O) monitored in-situ, non-destructively and continuously, and at high temporal resolution and across spatial scales, in soil and plant tissues. These measurements are ultimately fed to physically-based, isotope-aided, numerical models for identifying and quantifying fluxes across the interfaces of the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum.

Research interests

• Plant water uptake plasticity and resilience against extreme water events
• Prevalence and magnitude of plant hydraulic redistribution of water
• Determinants of the partitioning of crop evapotranspiration from the plant to the field scale