Excursions

Here you will find an overview of the planned excursions. All excursions are subject to a sufficient number of registered participants.

​Overview map of the excursions​

​(1)    Tübingen City Tour (Eck)
14.09.202514.09.2025; 1h(2)    Botanical Garden (Kehl)
14.09.2025, 18.09.202514.09.2025, 18.09.2025; 1hThe guided tour introduces the University of Tübingen's Botanical Garden with its over 10,000 plant species from around the world. The outdoor areas feature a wide variety of landscapes, from the local Swabian Alb to mountain plants in the Alpinum and Asian species nestled within a natural valley. The greenhouses showcase additional habitats from various climate zones, including a Tropicarium, an arid house with succulent plants and a humid subtropical house.

(3)    Tour through the labs of the Geo and Environmental Research Centre (GUZ) (Banfield)
14.09.2025, 18.09.202414.09.2025, 18.09.2025; 2hOur two-hour lab tour offers exclusive insights into the state-of-the-art facilities and research activities of the soil scientific working groups at the Geo and Environmental Research Centre (GUZ) at the University of Tübingen, including further impressions of the environmental research of the Department of Geosciences.The tour will give you an understanding of our current research and how we combine approaches from molecular biology, wet chemistry, analytical chemistry and imaging and apply them to a wide range of scales and ecosystems worldwide.  A highlight of the tour will be a visit to our isotope labs, e.g. DNA-SIP, TC/EA-IRMS, including radionuclide labs (preparative chromatography).

(4)    Description of soils with the KA6 (Fleck, Eberhardt)
14.09.202514.09.2025 (half-day)In the Keuperbergland of the northern Schönbuch near Hildrizhausen, three typical soils are presented and described according to the new edition of the German Soil Survey Guidelines (KA6). Significant innovations compared to the former edition (KA5) are in the centre of attention. A Normpelosol, a Braunerde-Pelosol and a Pseudogley-Parabraunde developed from loamy and clayey solifluction layers serve as demonstration profiles.

(5)    Ecohydrological functions of forest soils and moss communities - Current research projects in the Schönbuch Nature Park (Seitz, Gall)
14.09.202514.09.2025 (half-day)Drought stress is considered to be one of the most serious effects of climate change on forests. In this context, the hydrological function of forest soils is of great importance. Moreover, mosses are an important ecohydrological factor under forest e.g. as a water reservoir, but also act as a soil stabiliser. They influence infiltration, surface runoff and provide effective protection against soil interferences, especially in disturbed areas after forestry operations. We will visit several research projects on these topics in the Schönbuch Nature Park (climate and soil measuring station, mobile rainfall simulator) and in the laboratories and greenhouses of the University of Tübingen within walking distance of the conference site.

(6)    The Land-Atmosphere Feedback Observatory (LAFO) of the University of Hohenheim (Ingwersen, Streck)
14.09.202514.09.2025 (half-day)The Land-Atmosphere Feedback Observatory (LAFO), which was set up at Heidfeldhof/Hohenheim in 2016, brings together a unique combination of measurement methods to quantify processes and feedbacks in the soil-plant-atmosphere system. In 2024, a DFG Research Unit (FOR 5639 Land-Atmosphere Feedback Initiative, LAFI) was acquired, in the context of which the methodological spectrum was once again greatly expanded. As part of this research group, a large measurement campaign will be carried out at LAFO in 2025.The equipment includes scanning Raman lidar and differential absorption lidar (DIAL) systems for spatially resolved measurement of temperatures and water vapour concentrations in the atmospheric boundary layer, a micro rain radar, three Doppler lidars for three-dimensional measurement of the wind vector, a fiber-optic distributed sensing (FODS) system for high-resolution measurement of temperatures in the boundary layer, vegetation and soil as well as four (eddy covariance) energy balance stations with sensors at heights of 2 and 10 m, and moisture and temperature sensors for plant physiological and soil physical measurements. In addition, there is a measuring platform for stable isotopes as well as sap flow sensors and mini-lysimeters for separating evapotranspiration into its components. During the excursion, the measuring devices and their interaction will be presented and initial results discussed.The study site is located on a slope declining slightly to the south-east. A classic loess catena has developed along the slope. We will show soil profiles of a Pseudogley-Parabraunerde, an eroded Parabraunerde-Pseudogley and a Pseudogley-Kolluvisol. Furthermore, there will be the opportunity to also visit the large system trial of the NOcsPS project (Agriculture 4.0 without chemical-synthetic plant protection).

(7)    UNESCO Global Geopark and Swabian Alb Biosphere Reserve (Megerle)
19.09.202512.09.2025 (one day)The Swabian Alb has five UNESCO awards, including a biosphere reserve and one of the oldest geoparks in the world. The Alb's special geopotentials, such as its soils, are the essential basis for its natural characteristics as well as for the valorisation of tourism and environmental education. During a visit to the two overlapping UNESCO areas (biosphere reserve and geopark), the special geopotentials and the resulting consequences for agriculture and settlement development are explained.

(8)    Trees under stress – what will the forests of the future look like? (Schäffer, Hein, Spangenberg)
13.09.202513.09.2025 (one day)The water balance of forest soils in the Keuperbergland and in the Jura landscape is subject to a high degree of variability, which is triggered by the geogenic diversity of the original substrates, their over-shaping by periglacial flow processes and the topographical movement of the landscape. High temporal resolution studies of growth reactions of native and non-native tree species combined with information on the soil water balance enable improved site-specific forecasts of climate change-related cultivation risks and the adaptation of silvicultural concepts to the rapidly changing growth conditions. The results of forest growth analyses and accompanying pedological surveys are presented for two sites each in the Keuper and Jura landscapes.

(9)    Soils of the Schönbuch with special consideration of parent rock and periglacial layers (Fleck, Haas, Henkner-Sennock)
13.09.202513.09.2025 (one day)In the Schönbuch Nature Park, a forest near Tübingen, Pelosols, Braunerden and Parabraunerden are widespread, they formed from periglacial solifluction layers overlying in-situ Keuper rocks. The differences of the geological stratification are mostly defined by fine soil, the content and distribution of coarse clasts, the proportion of loess and soil colour. In addition to the vertical layering of the selected profiles, the horizontal changes of layers along the relief and underlying bedrock are also discussed along a catena. The focus of the one-day excursion is on identifying periglacial layers and in-situ soil parent rocks.

(10)  Climate protector forest soil: Results on greenhouse gas fluxes from forest environmental monitoring (Hölscher, Puhlmann, Hartmann)
14.09.202514.09.2025 (one day)The excursion leads to the northern Black Forest (Altensteig) to a measurement area of the Intensive Forest Monitoring programme (ICP Forest Level2). There, measuring equipment for recording long-term series of greenhouse gas fluxes in the forest soil will be presented and the results of more than 25 years of monitoring will be discussed. Along the excursion route, soil profiles from the third soil condition survey (BZE) will also be visited, where the initial, currentfirst results of the BZE will be discussed. On the return journey from Altensteig, further study sites will be visited where work on the influence of deadwood on the carbon balance and the importance of the forest soil microbiome for greenhouse gas production and consumption will be presented.

(11)  Soils in the Upper Gäu near Herrenberg - deep insights into a soil landscape characterised by karst (Fleck, Baumann, Liedtke)
19.09.202519.09.2025 (one day)On the wooded plateaus west of Herrenberg, dry valleys, karst troughs and sinkholes indicate intense karstification of the Upper Muschelkalk (mainly limestones). On the flat elevations of the undulating relief, Braunerden and Terrae fuscae with transitions to Parabraunerden are widespread. On the other hand, in the enclosed hollows, thick, often loess-rich solifluction deposits and colluvial sediments have accumulated, where Parabraunerden or Kolluvisols, frequently overlaying older soil formations, are common. The fillings, which are rich of fine soil material, are usually several meters thick and trace a more intense palaeorelief created by karstification. In the eastwards adjoining Lower Keuper, arable soils are developed of Würmian loess, often with a fossilised Kt horizons in the subsoil.

(12)  The central Swabian Alb – geomorphodynamics and landscape genesis (Eberle)
19.09.202519.09.2025 (one day)This geomorphological excursion runs through the foreland of the Swabian Alb and the well-known landslide areas near Mössingen to the plateau of the Swabian Alb in the Salmendingen area. From there, the route crosses the Kuppenalb and follows the Echaz valley back to Tübingen. The mass movements on the Albtrauf near Mössingen are a focal point of the tour. In addition, key aspects of the geology, landscape genesis, (palaeo)soil formation and land use potential of the escarpment landscape south of Tübingen are explained.

(13)  Natural soil productivity and agricultural utilisation - Soils of the Swabian Alb compared with soils in the Alb foreland (Hildbrand, Zeller, Rilling, Baumann, Keil)
19.09.202519.09.2025 (one day)This full-day excursion leads to selected key sites of the German soil evaluation (Bodenschätzung) across the foreland of the Swabian Alb and to its plateau near Hohenstein. The soil profiles will be discussed with regard to both the German Soil evaluation (Bodenschätzung) and the German soil systematics. The field trip focuses on the land use of sites with extremely differing yield capacities and distinct spatial variabilities of soil properties; particularly, the supposedly poor and difficult to cultivate marginal yield sites of the Swabian Alb.

(14)  Cross section through Langenauer Ried and Ostalb (Stahr)
19.09.202519.09.2025 (one day)The excursion begins in the Danube lowland with Chernozem and fens, followed by highly developed soils on Jurassic limestone plateau up to ferrallite. Finally, important points of landscape history such as Heldenfinger Kliff (tertiary coastline), Sontheim meteor crater and Brenztopf (carstic spring) are visited.

(15)  Sites, soils, current and historical land use in the upper Wolf valley in the Black Forest (Herrmann, Schmieder)
19.09.202519.09.2025 (one day)The special feature of the upper Wolf valley around Schapbach is the occurrence of Permian substrates, which locally are the source material for soil formation, particularly in the area of the upper Sulz. On these substrates red soils with extraordinary physical stability have developed. The latter differ significantly from the soil formations on red sandstone and Schapbach gneiss.According to the legends, land use in the upper Wolf valley reaches back to the Celtic settlement period, due to mineral deposits worth mining. A lot of wood was needed for the mines and glassworks.Deforestation therefore occurred early on. Medieval land use was based on slash-and-burn agriculture and grassland farming with rye cultivation. The clearing activities as well as the forestry have left their historical marks in the landscape.The excursion attempts to understand the landscape from this historical perspective during a hike, even on steeper terrain. There will also be discussions with local land users.During the excursion, an attempt is made to holistically understand the landscape. Therefore geology, soils, vegetation and land use (including water meadows) in its historical dimension are tackled. The main discussion centres on the interaction between land use and site characteristics.

(16)  The story of colluvial deposits and buried soils - Prehistoric land use in SW Germany (Scherer, Henkner-Sennock, Höpfer)
19.09.202519.09.2025 (one day)Soils not only archive signals of current but also of land use in the past. In particular, colluvial deposits and buried soils can provide information about prehistoric land use (e.g. agriculture and animal husbandry) and landscape changes (e.g. vegetation composition). During this full-day excursion we will visit prehistoric settlement sites on the Baar and in the Hegau (SW Germany) and present multi-layered colluvial profiles. In addition to the cultural-historical background, the pedo- and chronostratigraphy of colluvial profiles will be discussed. The focus of the excursion will be on the dating and molecular marker analysis of selected colluvial horizons. Archaeobotanical results (charcoal, pollen) will provide a general overview of the vegetation history in SW-Germany and provide the landscape context for the pedological and archaeological results.

(17)  Soils and forests in and around the Black Forest National Park: Soil science cross-section of the perhumid northern Black Forest and forest ecological consequences (Lang, Stahr)
13.–14.09.202513.–14.09.2025 (two days)The northern Black Forest consists of periglacial and glacial layers derived from Buntsandstein and other crystalline material. Soils range from Regosols, Cambisols, Podzols and soils with iron bandings to Stagnogleys and bogs. In addition to relevant soil-forming processes, the excursion will focus on the formation and classification of the forest floor according to KA5 and KA6. The principle challenges for the National Park are the preservation of cultivated pastures (Grinden) and disruptions caused by climate change (pest infestation, drought, windthrow). Interactions between these disturbances and soil properties will also be discussed.