Mats Larsbo

I am mainly doing research on solute transport in the unsaturated zone. My work spans from studies at the pore scale using X-ray tomography to the field scale where leaching of pesticides is the main focus. Numerical models are important tools in my research.

Ongoing projects:
- Effects of SOC on soil structure, hydraulic properties and solute transport
- Pore network characteristics and preferential transport in cultivated soils
- Soil structure dynamics
- The two-way interactions between soil organic carbon and soil structure
- Earthworm bioturbation responses to environmental constraints
- Effects of drainage well covers on pesticide leaching

Program leader for the program ‘Chemical pesticides in soils and losses to the aquatic environment’ at the Centre for chemical pesticides (CKB) at SLU (2013–)

Course leader and teacher for Soil science for the environmental engineering program (MV0192)

Teacher in the courses Soil science (MV0219), Soil water processes in agroecosystems (MV0216) and Soil and water chemistry (MX0170)

Keller, T., A. Etana, Y. Bösch, E. Hellstedt, M. Larsbo, T. Colombi, R. Hosseinpour-Ashenaabad, H. Sjulgård, E. Arrázola-Vásquez, M. Viketoft, A. Taylor, Å. Myrbeck and S. Hallin. 2027. Little impact of tillage system on crop yield and soil properties in a 43-years old field experiment on a clay soil in humid continental climate. Soil and Tillage Research 265: 107403.

ter Borg, R. N., M. Larsbo, Y. Capowiez, P. Benard, A. Taylor, D. Iseskog and T. Keller. 2026. Quantification of field earthworm burrowing rates using repeated X-ray scanning of open soil cores. Geoderma 470: 117838.

Chilipamushi, M., C. von Brömssen, T. Colombi, T. Kätterer and M. Larsbo. 2026. Within-field variation in root-to-shoot ratios and root traits in spring barley: Implications for estimating carbon inputs. Soil and Tillage Research 260: 107103.

Chilipamushi, M., C. von Brömssen, T. Colombi, T. Kätterer and M. Larsbo. 2026. Oxalate-extractable aluminium is a key predictor of organic carbon content in Swedish agricultural topsoils. Geoderma Regional 44.

Leuther, F., D. Iseskog, T. Keller, M. Larsbo, B. K. Pandey and T. Colombi. 2025. Root circumnutation reduces mechanical resistance to soil penetration. Plant, Cell & Environment.

Mamy, L., J. M. Marín-Benito, L. Alletto, E. Justes, M. Ubertosi, N. Munier-Jolain, B. Nicolardot, C. Bonnet, J. Moeys, M. Larsbo, V. Pot, C. Bedos, P. Benoit and E. Barriuso. 2024. Measurement and modelling of water flows and pesticide leaching under low input cropping systems. Science of the Total Environment 957: 177607.

Fukumasu, J., N. Jarvis, J. Koestel and M. Larsbo. 2024. Links between soil pore structure, water flow and solute transport in the topsoil of an arable field: Does soil organic carbon matter? Geoderma 449: 117001.

Arrázola-Vásquez, E. M., M. Larsbo, Y. Capowiez, A. Taylor, A. M. Herrmann and T. Keller. 2024. Estimating energy costs of earthworm burrowing using calorimetry. European Journal of Soil Biology 121.

Jarvis, N., E. Coucheney, E. Lewan, T. Klöffel, K. H. E. Meurer, T. Keller and M. Larsbo. 2024. Interactions between soil structure dynamics, hydrological processes, and organic matter cycling: A new soil-crop model. European Journal of Soil Science 75(2): e13455.

Klöffel, T., M. Larsbo, N. Jarvis and J. Barron. 2024. Freeze-thaw effects on pore space and hydraulic properties of compacted soil and potential consequences with climate change. Soil and Tillage Research 239: 106041.

Casali, E., M. Larsbo, J. Koestel and N. Jarvis. 2024. Macropore flow in relation to the geometry and topology of soil macropore networks: Re-visiting the kinematic wave equation. Journal of Hydrology 630: 130732.

Larsbo, M., J. Koestel, E. J. Krab and J. Klaminder. 2024. Quantifying earthworm soil ingestion from changes in vertical bulk density profiles. European Journal of Soil Biology 120: 103574.

Schwenk, A. E., N. Jarvis, M. Larsbo and J. Koestel. 2023. Three-dimensional X-ray imaging of macropore flow. Geoderma 440: 116721.

Blanchy, G., Bragato, G., Di Bene, C., Jarvis, N., Larsbo, M., Meurer, K. and Garré, S.  2023.  Soil and crop management practices and the water regulation functions of soils: a synthesis of meta-analyses relevant to European agriculture. Soil, 1-37.

Klaminder, J., Krab, E.J., Larsbo, M., Jonsson, H., Fransson, J. and Koestel, J.  2023.  Holes in the tundra: Invasive earthworms alter soil structure and moisture in tundra soils. Science of the Total Environment 859, 160125.

Jarvis, N., Larsbo, M., Lewan, E. and Garré, S.  2022.  Improved descriptions of soil hydrology in crop models: The elephant in the room? Agricultural Systems 202, 103477.

Arrázola-Vásquez, E., Larsbo, M., Capowiez, Y., Taylor, A., Sandin, M., Iseskog, D. and Keller, T.  2022.  Earthworm burrowing modes and rates depend on earthworm species and soil mechanical resistance. Applied Soil Ecology 178, 104568.

Hosseinpour-Ashenaabad, R., Keller, T., Larsbo, M. and Hallett, P.D.  2022.  Dual-platform micromechanical characterization of soils: Oscillation shear rheometry and spherical indentation. Soil and Tillage Research 223, 105467.

Bösch, Y., Jones, C.M., Finlay, R., Karlsson, M., Larsbo, M., Keller, T. and Hallin, S.  2022.  Minimizing tillage modifies fungal denitrifier communities, increases denitrification rates and enhances the genetic potential for fungal, relative to bacterial, denitrification. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 170, 108718.

Fukumasu, J., Jarvis, N., Koestel, J., Kätterer, T. and Larsbo, M.  2022.  Relations between soil organic carbon content and the pore size distribution for an arable topsoil with large variations in soil properties. European Journal of Soil Science 73(1), e13212.

Koestel J., Fukumasu J., Larsbo M., Herrmann A.M., Ariyathilaka P., Magdysyuk O.V., and Burca, G. 2022. Potential and limitations of combined neutron and X-ray imaging to quantify local carbon contents in soil. European Journal of Soil Science 73(1), e13178.

Fukumasu, J., Poeplau, C., Coucheney, E., Jarvis, N., Klöffel, T., Koestel, J., Kätterer, T., Nimblad Svensson, D., Wetterlind, J., and Larsbo, M. 2021. Oxalate-extractable aluminum alongside carbon inputs may be a major determinant for organic carbon content in agricultural topsoils in humid continental climate. Geoderma. 402:115345.

Koestel, J., Fukumasu, J., Garland, G., Larsbo, M., Nimblad Svensson, D. 2021. Approaches to delineate aggregates in intact soil using X-ray imaging. Geoderma. 402:115360.

Bölscher, T., J. Koestel, A. Etana, B. Ulen, K. Berglund, and M. Larsbo. 2021. Changes in pore networks and readily dispersible soil following structure liming of clay soils. Geoderma. 390.

Parvin N, Sandin M, Larsbo M. 2021. Seedbed consolidation and surface sealing for soils of different texture and soil organic carbon contents. Soil and Tillage Research. 206:104849.

Colombi, T., N. Kirchgessner, D. Iseskog, S. Alexandersson, M. Larsbo and T. Keller. 2021. A time-lapse imaging platform for quantification of soil crack development due to simulated root water uptake. Soil and Tillage Research 205: 104769.

Meurer, K., J. Barron, C. Chenu, E. Coucheney, M. Fielding, P. Hallett, A. M. Herrmann, T. Keller, J. Koestel, M. Larsbo, E. Lewan, D. Or, D. Parsons, N. Parvin, A. Taylor, H. Vereecken and N. Jarvis. 2020. A framework for modelling soil structure dynamics induced by biological activity. Global Change Biology 26: 5382–5403.

Koestel, J., M. Larsbo and N. Jarvis. 2020. "Scale and REV analyses for porosity and pore connectivity measures in undisturbed soil." Geoderma 366: 114206.