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It‘s a change that often goes unnoticed: while tropical agricultural regions are delivering ever higher yields, soils may be changing at a faster pace than we think — and not for the better. From March 2026, a new Emmy Noether Research Group at the University of Augsburg, led by soil scientist Dr. Pedro Batista, will focus on this barely visible but globally significant process.
The research will focus on Brazil: the largest producer of soy, coffee and sugar cane, as well as the guardian of vast water and forest resources. But the success of intensive agriculture has a downside. Especially in the Cerrado, the savannah-like biome in the centre of the country, soil erosion has increased massively due to deforestation and agricultural intensification. How much this is changing the soil – and what this means in the long term for food security, water balance and climate protection – has hardly been researched to date.
This is where the new Emmy Noether Research Group comes in. Dr. Pedro Batista's team wants to trace the ‘life cycles’ of tropical soils in the 21st century for the first time. Using field data, modern erosion measurement techniques and newly developed computer models, the team aims to reveal how quickly soils lose their functions – and what chain reactions this triggers: for harvests, for water storage, for the carbon cycle. This is because the soil is a central reservoir for water and carbon. Its loss therefore has an impact on agricultural yields, regional water cycles and global climate protection.
‘Tropical soils are particularly vulnerable,’ explains Batista. They are often very old, heavily weathered and have only a thin, slightly-more-fertile topsoil layer. Once this is eroded away, the damage is difficult to undo and the consequences are hard to predict’.
For the soil scientist, the topic is more than just a research project. He comes from a rural region of Brazil and experienced the consequences of soil erosion at an early age. Nevertheless, he emphasises that curiosity is at the heart of his work: ‘My greatest motivation is basic research – the desire to understand processes and find out new things.’
‘At the Water and Soil Resource Research Group at the University of Augsburg, a new model approach for analysing tropical soil systems is being developed. This can then be used to simulate large-scale scenarios: How do soils change? What does this mean for harvests, carbon storage or water regulation?’ says Prof. Dr Peter Fiener, at whose Batista is based with his project. The research aims to close key knowledge gaps and create tools for early detection and better management of soil degradation in the tropics.
The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding the project with around 1.78 million euros. The Emmy Noether Programme enables outstanding young scientists to establish their own research groups at an early stage.
The research group works in an international network with partners from Germany, Brazil, the USA, Great Britain and France.
Partners of the University of Augsburg in the project:
Federal University of Lavras (Brazil)
Federal University of Santa Maria (Brazil)
Agronomic Institute of Campinas (Brazil)
Lancaster University (UK)
Northern Arizona University (USA)
French Atomic and Alternative Energy Commission (France)
Colorado State University (USA)
University of Tübingen (Germany)
University of Bonn (Germany)
Dr. Pedro Batista
Emmy-Noether Group Leader
Water and Soil Resource Research
University of Augsburg
E-Mail: pedro.batista@geo.uni-augsburg.de
Prof. Dr. Peter Fiener
Water and Soil Resource Research
University of Augsburg
phone: +49 821 598 2665
e-Mail: peter.fiener@geo.uni-augsburg.de
Example of degraded tropical soil in a road cut (Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil).
Quelle: Pedro Batista.
Copyright: University of Augsburg
Large ephemeral gully formed on a maize field over sandy soil near Sapezal, Mato Grosso, Brazil.
Quelle: Franciso Nogueira Vilaça
Copyright: University of Augsburg
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