Root and soil sampling @AmazonFACE

In October 2025, we had the first (of hopefully many) collaborative soil root and soil sampling campaign at the AmazonFACE site with researchers from the UNICAMP, INPA, TUM and Uni Vienna - the steadily growing plant-soil interactions team!

We started with a kick-off seminar day at INPA, where we learned a lot about the work that has been done, samples that had been collected and planned a lot of future work! Thanks everyone for all the awesome presentations!

From left to right:

Franziska Steiner (TUM), Lucia Fuchslueger (UniVienna), Nathalia Marinho (INPA), Rafaela Gurgel (INPA), Maria Pires (INPA), Nathielly Martins (TUM), Laynara Lugli (INPA), Gabrielly Machado (UNICAMP), Sara Adrian (UNICAMP).

Then we headed to the forest to see the plots for the big FACE experiment almost ready to go, so impressive! The next days we spent collect samples from all plots, coring soil, sorting roots and freezing samples away, with perfectly prepared sampling kits! Amazing preparation! Even though it rained in the dry season, we could finish our work as planned.

We made it back to Manaus in time, and then started working on the samples in the lab, to analyze microbial biomass and activity rates. After an intense week, we finished, and we could even start measuring samples for their nutrient concentrations.

This was only possible because of a great team, a big THANK YOU to all! It was intense, but also a lot of fun, and we deserved a day at the river!

Watch out for what is to come in 2026!