Soil and Plants

Several teaching activities were performed by Prof. Marian Kazda at the University of Life Sciences in Tartu in November 2016.
The first lecture "Plant – soil interactions" was held for Bachelor students. The sub-topics "plants as producers of organic material",
"turn-over of organic material" and "interactions related to plant growth" provided insight in processes influencing plant growth and nutrient cycling.
The second lecture, "Soil anoxia and plant response" revealed plant reactions and adaptations under hypoxic and anoxic conditions. This lecture was designed for Master students and provided a basis for further practical teaching and courses. For this purpose, optical oxygen sensors with a measuring unit were brought to the partner university. In practical exercises students acquired knowledge of the system and applied it to soil samples previously collected by teachers from Tartu. In the practical part of the teaching, students monitored oxygen depletion in soils of different properties. The teaching gave them the possibility to enlarge their knowledge and to combine the results with previous ones.