Until the completion of FIREMAN, I have published one scientific paper in Catena, titled “Unravelling the role of soil microflora from micro and macro aggregates in plant growth during primary and secondary successions” (open access:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4024807(si apre in una nuova finestra)). Work pertinent to FIREMAN was presented in conferences: Title: Pyrogenic carbon from wildfire or the laboratory at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly (EGU) on 25 May 2022 (Virtual EGU22-2442), and Title: Surface hydraulic traits of pyrogenic carbon: an overlooked property in shaping microbial community assemblage development at Ecology of Soil Microorganisms on 19-23 June 2022 (Prague, Czech Republic). I gave lectures in the Hot topic of environmental sciences course (MO550C06E) at Charles University, Czech Republic in 2021. The course deals with the theoretical basis and principles of interactions between plants, soil and microorganisms and their practical implications, e.g. on soil management, soil fertility, and the circular economy. I have been serving as an Associate Editor in land degradation and development and Journal of Environmental Quality. Moreover, I was interviewed by Southbohemian TV (Jihočeská televize) and Mobility Flows of Researchers in the Context of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. I also propsed grant applications in GACR-2022 and ERC-starting (score B): 2022 – 2023 Czech governmental subsidy for ERC-starting excellence (€ 2,000).
I implemented the project FIREMAN aiming at my personal career development including solving the questions, networking and exploitation, following the work packages (WPs) with slight changes if necessary.
WP 1: Training and project management
I have taught a course at Charles University that covers aspects related to soil microorganisms and their practical implications. I have also contacted the secondment (Dr. Michael Bonkowski at University of Cologne). WP1 (Task 1.3): with changes of putting the project onto Tweeter, I build up one website (www.daquansun.com) for its public access. WP1 (Task 1.4): I have attended project management and communication training in department of business administration of Biology Centre CAS as planned.
WP 2: Protection role of pyrogenic carbon on CBMs
For WP2 (Task 2.1) we used two pairs of contrasting soil samples, each from two areas where soil and vegetation were well characterized by our previous studies: primary succession on post-mining sites near Sokolov, Czech Republic, and secondary succession on restored meadows in the White Carpathians, Czech Republic.
For WP2 (Task 2.2-2.4) the plant residue derived PyChar was obtained from KARBOTECH biogas plants according to the standardized procedures.
WP 3: CBMs compositions and their functions to responsive plant species
For Task 3.1 two herbs (Centaurea jacea and Plantago lanceolata) and one grass (Festuca rubra) are common plant species in the restored meadows, but the other two herbs (Filipendula vulgaris and Prunella grandiflora) and one grass (Phleum phleoides) are common plant species in the ancient meadows. Paired-end Raw sequences in fastq format were processed using QIIME2 (Task 3.3). The results (Task 3.5) were presented in conferences at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly (EGU) on 25 May 2022 (Virtual EGU22-2442), and at Ecology of Soil Microorganisms on 19-23 June 2022 (Prague, Czech Republic).
WP 4: Dissemination, communication and exploitation
I have given a talk at SOWA about the story of my successful grant application. Results (Task 4.3) were also posted on my personal website (www.daquansun.com). About the bio-waste management and pyrolysis, I was interviewed by Southbohemian TV (Jihočeská televize) and Mobility Flows of Researchers in the Context of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.
