Karl Hurle

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Karl Hurle (born May 8, 1939 in Mindelheim ) is a German agricultural scientist specializing in herbology , he is emeritus of the University of Hohenheim.

Live and act

Karl Hurle grew up on a farm in southern Germany and studied at the universities in Berlin and Hohenheim . As a research assistant to Professor Bernhard Rademacher , he received his doctorate in 1969 at the Institute for Plant Protection. agr. Topic of the dissertation: The influence of long-term repeated use of the herbicides DNOC, 2,4-D and MCPA on their breakdown and the supply of weed seeds in the soil .

He then continued his studies in the USA at the Department of Agricultural Chemistry at Oregon State University , where he researched the sorption of herbicides in the soil. Back in Hohenheim, Hurle completed his habilitation in 1979 in the field of phytomedicine with a topic on the degradation of herbicides in soils.

In 1983, he succeeded Werner Koch as head of the Herbology Department at the Institute for Phytomedicine at the University of Hohenheim, and in 1989 he received a professorship for Herbology from the University. He did not accept a call to the Technical University of Berlin.

With his work and his national and international commitment, Hurle has made a significant contribution to the fact that herbology is now recognized as an important discipline within agricultural sciences.

From 1975 to 2004 he organized the German working meeting founded by Rademacher on issues of weed biology and control, which took place every two years at the University of Hohenheim and was editor of the conference proceedings. This conference, known as the “weed conference”, has developed beyond national borders into an important meeting point for herbology.

Research priorities

The main research areas of his working group were the biology and ecology of weeds, weed control and the environmental behavior and ecotoxicology of pesticides, especially herbicides.

Investigations into the population dynamics of weeds in agricultural crops provided basic information for prognostic models for the development of weed populations and developed strategies for control in agricultural production systems. This work was supplemented by studies on the distribution and ecology of weed species. Further research projects dealt with the development of resistance of weed species to herbicides and the molecular changes in the affected populations. A special focus of the later work was on the investigation of the mutual influence of cultivated plants and weeds ( allelopathy ), in particular the identification and quantification of the responsible chemical compounds.

Chemical, mechanical and biological processes were examined for their suitability for weed control. In chemical control, a particular focus was on reducing the use of herbicides. This also included studies with herbicide-tolerant genetically modified crops.

In the projects on the environmental behavior of plant protection products, the focus was initially on degradation and displacement in the soil. This was followed by work on the occurrence in groundwater, surface water and rainwater as well as transport in the atmosphere and the assessment of the ecotoxicological relevance of the concentrations found.

The results of the research were reflected in 38 doctoral theses and more than 200 publications.

Commitments and awards

  • Dean of the Agricultural Faculty of the University of Hohenheim (1994–1996)
  • Vice President of the University of Hohenheim (1998–2000)
  • Coordinator of the Euroleague for Life Sciences (ELLS, 2001-2004)
  • President of the European Weed Research Society (EWRS, 1996–1998)
  • Visiting professor at the University of Prague-Suchdol (since 1996)
  • Member of the Committee of Experts for the Approval of Plant Protection Products (BML, 1987–2002)
  • Member of the DFG Senate Commission Assessment of Substances in Agriculture (1988–1999)
  • Member of the German Phytomedical Society (DPG)
  • Commemorative Medal Jozef van den Brande from the University of Ghent (1996)
  • Honorary Member of the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA, 2002)
  • Honorary member of the European Weed Research Society (EWRS, 2007)
  • International Plant Protection Award of Distinction - International Association for the Plant Protection Sciences (2011)
  • Honorary doctorate to Dr. hc from the University of Prague-Suchdol (2013)
  • Badge of Honor of the University of Hohenheim (February 2019)

Works (selection)

  • Werner Koch & Hurle Karl: Basics of weed control. Ulmer, Stuttgart 1978; ISBN 9783800124343
  • Karl Hurle, Allan Walker: Persistence and its prediction . In: RJ Hance (Ed.): Interactions between herbicides and the soil . Academic Press, 1980, ISBN 0-12-323840-4 , pp. 83-112 .
  • Karl Hurle: Investigations into the degradation of herbicides in soils . Parey, 1982, ISBN 3-489-60526-8 .
  • Karl Hurle, Jörg Mehrtens, Georg Meinert: Maize: weeds, pests, diseases . Mann, Gelsenkirchen 2005, ISBN 3-7862-0101-3 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl Hurle on the website of the University of Hohenheim
  2. ↑ Karl Hurle in the Hohenheimer Professorenlexikon: The Academic Teachers at the University of Hohenheim 1968-2005 (with K. Quast) , Stuttgart 2008 pdf page 204 f Ed .: Ulrich Fellmeth
  3. ↑ New methods in weed control: 21st workshop on weed biology , March 7, 2002
  4. ↑ Badge of Honor from the University of Hohenheim for Prof. Dr. Dr.hc Karl Hurle
personal data
SURNAME Hurle, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German agricultural scientist
DATE OF BIRTH May 8, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Mindelheim