Thibaud Peyrollaz
Master of Biogeosciences
thibaud.peyrollaz@unine.ch
Main themes
- Soil quality in an agricultural context
Project
Soil is a complex ecosystem whose properties are linked to various ecosystem services through numerous functions. In order to assess a soil’s ability to fulfill its functions, the concept of soil quality has been developed. This concept is particularly important in an agricultural context, where maintaining good soil quality will be necessary to ensure food production for a growing population. Agricultural practices have an impact on soils and can degrade their properties and therefore their functions. The increasing intensity of certain agricultural practices tends to reduce the multifunctionality of soils.
The Noyers farming estate in La Chaux-de-fond was recently taken over by Billy Nussbaumer, who wants to transform it into an agroecological micro-farm. The estate’s various plots are currently farmed by different farmers with divergent practices. The aim of this master’s thesis will be to carry out an initial assessment of the quality of the estate’s soils. To this end, five plots will be analyzed, focusing on two soil properties: structure and biological activity.
