Location
The Fuchsenbigl CZO is an agricultural research station to study soil productivity and other soil functions in heavily managed arable land. It represents an important economic asset where soil is under threat from intensive agricultural practices.
About 0.05 km² agricultural area in the easternmost part of Austria (see map and aerial photo) on sandy-calcaric, loess-like Danube sediments. Geologically, the Marchfeld is situated in the tectonically active Vienna Basin. The soil is a fine sandy-loamy haplic Chernosem. Cultivated crops include winter wheat, barley and sugar beet. It is a research site of the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety. The direct distance of the site to the Danube river, from which the sediments derive, is about 8 km. Between the site and the Danube comprehensive research on soil formation was carried out, with the establishment of a chronosequence, from the youngest Danube river sediments to the oldest sediments close to the Fuchsenbigl research site. On the site, 14C-labeled wheat straw and farmyard manure were used in different field experiments, since 1967, which allow to trace soil organic matter turnover processes in the soil very exactly.