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. 2025 Sep 2;122(35):e2520876122.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.2520876122. Epub 2025 Aug 27.

Profile of Johannes Lehmann

Jill Langlois

Profile of Johannes Lehmann

Jill Langlois. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

Soil scientist Johannes Lehmann has spent his career examining how to improve soil quality to secure agricultural production, regulate climate, and keep water clean. His work with dark earths in the Brazilian Amazon led to the discovery of the importance of biochar in soil fertility and nutrient recycling from excreta. For more than 24 years, Lehmann has held a faculty position at Cornell University, where his research initially focused on carbon and nutrient cycles and went on to challenge the existence of soil humus and delve into the role of functional complexity in soil management.

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References

    1. Lehmann J., et al. , Inorganic and organic soil phosphorus and sulfur pools in an Amazonian multistrata agroforestry system. Agrofor. Syst. 53, 113–124 (2001).
    1. Lehmann J., Droppelmann K., Zech W., Runoff irrigation of crops with contrasting root and shoot development in northern Kenya: Water depletion and above- and below-ground biomass production. J. Arid Environ. 38, 479–492 (1998).
    1. Lehmann J., et al. , “Slash-and-char: A feasible alternative for soil fertility management in the Central Amazon?” in 17th World Congress of Soil Science (2002).
    1. Kimetu J. M., et al. , Reversibility of soil productivity decline with organic matter of different quality along a degradation gradient. Ecosystems 11, 726–739 (2008).
    1. Lehmann J., Kleber M., The contentious nature of soil organic matter. Nature 528, 60–68 (2015). - PubMed

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