SFB 1253 Catchments as Reactors: Metabolism of Pollutants on the Landscape Scale
The fate and behavior of anthropogenic pollutants on the landscape scale is one of the greatest challenges in environmental sciences. The past decade of research has highlighted that pollutant transformation rates determined in laboratory experiments are often in stark contrast with rates documented in natural systems. This disparity stems from our incomplete knowledge of the relevant processes governing pollutant turnover on the catchment scale. In CAMPOS we have hypothesized that processes become effective in the field which are elusive on the laboratory scale.
While laboratory research may miss slow but essential processes, conventional monitoring campaigns in the field are hampered by the dynamics of hydrology that triggers shifts of biogeochemical gradients at which significant pollutant transformations occur. The major goal of CAMPOS is to predict future trends in soil and water quality as a function of changing land use and climatic conditions. We have identified reactive landscape elements and quantified process dynamics with detailed field studies on biogeochemical pollutant transformations at high resolution. Towards this end we have combined novel analytical and sensing techniques (e.g., compound-specific isotope analysis, non-target screening, bioanalysis, in-situ sensors, ‚omics’-technologies, and field scale experiments with labelled substances), and developed stochastic modeling methods.