Das Projekt "Impact of transgenic crops on fertility of soils with different management history" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau Deutschland e.V. durchgeführt. What impact does transgenic maize have on soil fertility? Among the factors that determine soil fertility is the diversity of the bacteria living in it. This is in turn affected by the form of agriculture practiced on the land. What role do transgenic plants play in this interaction? Background Soil fertility is the product of the interactions between the parental geological material from which the soil originated, the climate and colonization by soil organisms. Soil organisms and their diversity play a major role in soil fertility, and these factors can be affected by the way the soil is managed. The type of farming, i.e. how fertilizers and pesticides are used, has a major impact on the fertility of the soil. It is known that the complex interaction of bacterial diversity and other soil properties regulates the efficacy of plant resistance. But little is known about how transgenic plants affect soil fertility. Objectives The project will investigate selected soil processes as indicators for how transgenic maize may possibly alter soil fertility. The intention is in particular to establish whether the soil is better able to cope with such effects if it contains a great diversity of soil bacteria. Methods Transgenic maize will be planted in climate chambers containing soils managed in different ways. The soil needed for these trials originates from open field trials that have been used for decades to compare various forms of organic and conventional farming. These soils differ, for example, in the way they have been treated with pesticides and fertilizers and thus also with respect to their diversity of bacteria. The trial with transgenic maize will measure various parameters: the number of soil bacteria and the diversity of their species, the quantity of a small number of selected nutrients and the decomposition of harvest residues. It will be possible to conclude from this work how transgenic plants affect soil fertility. Significance The project will create an important basis for developing risk assessments that incorporate the effects of transgenic plants on soil fertility.
Das Projekt "Palaeo-Evo-Devo of Malacostraca - a key to the evolutionary history of 'higher' crustaceans" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Greifswald, Zoologisches Institut und Museum, Abteilung Cytologie und Evolutionsbiologie durchgeführt. In my project I aim at a better understanding of the evolution of malacostracan crustaceans, which includes very different groups such as mantis shrimps, krill and lobsters. Previous studies on Malacostraca, on extant as well as on fossil representatives, focussed on adult morphology.In contrast to such approaches, I will apply a Palaeo-Evo-Devo approach to shed new light on the evolution of Malacostraca. Palaeo-Evo-Devo uses data of different developmental stages of fossil malacostracan crustaceans, such as larval and juvenile stages. With this approach I aim at bridging morphological gaps between the different diverse lineages of modern malacostracans by providing new insights into the character evolution in these lineages.An extensive number of larval and juvenile malacostracans is present in the fossil record, but which have only scarcely been studied. The backbone of this project will be on malacostracans from the Solnhofen Lithographic Limestones (ca. 150 million years old), which are especially well preserved and exhibit minute details. During previous studies, I developed new documentation methods for tiny fossils from these deposits, e.g., fluorescence composite microscopy, and also discovered the first fossil mantis shrimp larvae. For malcostracan groups that do not occur in Solnhofen, I will investigate fossils from other lagerstätten, e.g., Mazon Creek and Bear Gulch (USA), or Montceaules- Mines and La-Voulte-sur-Rhône (France). The main groups in focus are mantis shrimps and certain other shrimps (e.g., mysids, caridoids), as well as the bottom-living ten-footed crustaceans (reptantians). Examples for studied structures are leg details, including the feeding apparatus, but also eyes. The results will contribute to the reconstruction of 3D computer models.The data collected in this project will be used for evaluating the relationships within Malacostraca, but mainly for providing plausible evolutionary scenarios, how the modern malacostracan diversity evolved. With the Palaeo-Evo-Devo approach, I am also able to detect shifts in developmental timing, called heterochrony, which is interpreted as one of the major driving forces of evolution. Finally, the reconstructed evolutionary patterns can be compared between the different lineages for convergencies. These comparisons might help to explain the convergent adaptation to similar ecological niches in different malacostracan groups, e.g., life in the deep sea, life on the sea bottom, evolution of metamorphosis or of predatory larvae.As the project requires the investigation of a large number of specimens in different groups, I will assign distinct sub-projects to three doctoral researchers. The results of this project will not only be published in peer-reviewed journals, but will also be presented to the non-scientific public, e.g., during fossil fairs or museum exhibitions with 3D models engraved in glass blocks.
Das Projekt "AURORa - Investigation of the Radar Backscatter of Rain Impinging on the Ocean Surface" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Hamburg, Zentrum für Meeres- und Klimaforschung, Institut für Meereskunde (IfM) durchgeführt. Over land, observations of rain rates are more or less operational. To obtain information about precipitation at the coastal zones, weather radars are used. However, over the oceans, especially away from the main shipping routes, no direct precipitation measurements are performed. In these regions, satellite data can provide information about precipitation events. Satellites deploying passive and active microwave sensors can operate independently of cloud cover and time of day. Passive microwave sensors give crude estimates of rain rates over large areas but cannot resolve small-scale rain events of short duration as are often observed in the tropics, for example. Active microwave sensors with high resolutions, such as synthetic aperture radars can provide more reliable information. Though the effect of rain on the atmosphere is a very topical area of research, the radar backscattering mechanisms at the water surface during rain events combined with wind are still not well understood. The purpose of this project is to investigate the radar backscattering from the water surface in the presence of rain and wind in order to interpret satellite radar data produced by active microwave sensors. Furthermore, the results should be embedded into models of the radar backscattering from the water surface to allow for estimating rain rates by using satellite data. Research topics: Rain impinging on a water surfaces generates splash products including crowns, cavities, stalks and secondary drops, which do not propagate, and ring waves and subsurface turbulence. We are investigating this phenomena at the wind-wave tank of the University of Hamburg. The tank is fitted with an artificial rain simulator of 2.3 m2 area mounted 4.5 m over the water surface. Rain drops of 2.1 and 2.9 mm in diameter with rain rates up to 100 mm/h have been produced. Wind with speeds 10 m/s and monomolecular slicks act on the water surface. The influence of the rain on the water surface is measured with a resistance type wire gauge, a two dimensional laser slope gauge and an coherent 9.8 GHz (x band) continuous wave scatterometer operating at VV-, HH- and HV-polarization. The influence of rain below the water surface is measured with colored raindrops which are observed with a video camera to investigate the turbulent motion and the depth of the mixed layer. At the North Sea Port of Buesum in Germany, a scatterometer operating at all polarizations and five frequencies will be mounted during summer of this year. The radar backscatter of the sea surface during rain events will be measured in combination with meteorological observations. With help of these measurements, existing radar backscatter models of the water surface will be improved for the presence of rain events. To validate the improved models, ERS-2 SAR-images will be compared with weather radar data.
Das Projekt "Developing a model for sustainable water and waste management for rural areas in Bulgaria" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Technische Universität Hamburg-Harburg, Institut für Abwasserwirtschaft und Gewässerschutz B-2 durchgeführt. The Municipalities of Stara Zagora and Varna will be the targets for a 2,5 year project by WECF and its NGO partners from Bulgaria and the Netherlands; the Earth Forever Foundation, the Institute of Ecological Modernization and WASTE and IRC Netherlands. The project receives financial support from the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs MATRA programme. The Institute of Wastewater Management (TUHH) is supporting this project with respect to the introduction of ecological sanitation and extensive wastewater treatment technologies like planted soil filters. Workshops are given and technical knowledge regarding the design, construction and operation of these facilities is provided. This will help to improve the current situation in the villages and will provide an example for further distribution of appropriate wastewater management in Bulgarian villages. Currently, only a very small part of the population is connected to a central sewer system, which discharges the wastewater without any further treatment into the environment. The remaining families are depending on outdoor pit latrines, soakaways and septic tanks which are very often subject to clogging. Thus, overflowing and discharging of wastewater onto streets is a very common problem.
Das Projekt "Product ban versus risk management by setting emission and technology requirements. The effect of different regulatory schemes taking the use of trichloroethylene in Sweden and Germany as an example" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Passau, Lehrstuhl für Wirtschafts- und Sozialpolitik durchgeführt. Vergleich der Ergebnisse der Umweltgesetzgebung in Schweden und Deutschland bezüglich der Emissionen in der Reinigung von Metalloberflächen.
Das Projekt "Trees in multi-Use Landscapes in Southeast Asia (TUL-SEA): A Negotiation Support Toolbox for Integrated Natural Resource Management" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Hohenheim, Institut für Tropische Agrarwissenschaften (Hans-Ruthenberg-Institut), Fachgebiet Pflanzenbau in den Tropen und Subtropen (490e) durchgeführt. Trees use water while storing carbon; tree crops replace natural forest while reducing poverty; market-oriented monocultures compete with risk-averse poly-cultures, trading off income and risk; plantations displace smallholders, trading off local rights and income opportunities; national reforestation programs use public resources, promising an increase in environmental services that may not happen. Trees in all these examples are closely linked to tradeoffs and conflict, exaggerated expectations and strong disappointment. Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) requires site-specific understanding of tradeoffs between and among the goods and services that trees in agro-ecosystems can provide. It is thus costly when compared to readily scalable green revolution technologies. Replicable, cost-effective approaches are needed in the hands of local professionals with interdisciplinary skills to help stakeholders sort out positive and negative effects of trees in multi-use landscapes ( agroforestry) on livelihoods, water and (agro) biodiversity, associated rights and rewards, and thus on Millenium Development Goals (reducing poverty - promoting equitable forms of globalisation - building peace). ICRAF in SE Asia has developed a negotiation support approach for reducing conflict in multi-use landscapes. The approach aims to bridge perception gaps between stakeholders (with their local, public/policy and scientific knowledge paradigms), increase recognition and respect for these multiple knowledge systems, provide quantification of tradeoffs between economic and environmental impacts at landscape scale, and allow for joint analysis of plausible scenarios. Building on the achievements of participatory rural appraisal, we can now add quantitative strengths with the toolbox for tradeoff analysis. The TUL-SEA project (NARS, ICRAF and Hohenheim) will in 3 years lead to: Tests of cost-effectiveness of appraisal tools for tradeoff analysis in a wide range of agroforestry contexts in SE Asia represented by 15 INRM case studies; building on ASB (Alternatives to Slash and Burn; http://www.asb.cgiar.org/) benchmark areas with significant positive local impacts on poverty, environment and peace (www.icraf.org/sea/Publications/searchpub.asp?publishid=1290); Enhanced national capacity in trade-off analysis, information-based INRM negotiations and ex ante impact assessments; An integrated toolbox ready for widespread application. The toolbox consists of instruments for rapid appraisal of landscape, tenure conflict, market, hydrology, agrobiodiversity and carbon stocks, and simulation models for scenario analysis of landscape-level impacts of changes in market access or agroforestry technology.
Das Projekt "The role of gap dynamics for the regeneration of the natural spruce forests in the Harz Mountains" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Biowissenschaften - Institut für Biologie, Institutsbereich Geobotanik und Botanischer Garten durchgeführt. In Central Europe only few places are known where vegetation regeneration after natural disturbances can be studied in natural or near-natural Picea abies forests; one example are the slopes of Mt. Brocken. Although being mono-dominant, the spruce forests at Mt. Brocken are unique because they contain autochthonous Picea abies genotypes. In addition, the herb layer is comparably species-poor with a high proportion of clonally reproducing species. Based on the assumption that gap dynamics are equally important for regeneration of the tree and herb layer as in other forest types, the project seeks to test four main hypotheses. For the tree layer, it will be tested whether gaps promote the establishment of allochthonous genotypes of Picea abies and whether the proportion of autochthonous genotypes increases with gap age due to strong environmental selection. For herb layer regeneration the hypotheses are tested that generative reproduction is enhanced in gaps for the abundant clonal species Vaccinium myrtillus, Calamagrostis villosa and Trientalis europaeus and that clone size increases with gap age. To attain its goal the project employs GIS, dendrochronology and molecular genetic approaches. Using aerial photographs, gaps will be stratified according to age and sampled for species composition and population structure of target species. The field observations will be supplemented by experiments on establishment, frost hardiness and vegetative regeneration capacity of spruce as well as on clonal growth of target herbs.
Das Projekt "Quantifying and Understanding the Earth System - JI Forest-Climate-Projects in North-West Russia" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von GFA Envest GmbH durchgeführt. The QUEST project builds capacity through the development of new REDD+ like methodologies for Joint Implementation forest. This includes the development of the first methodology for Improved Forest Management based on 'Forest Management' under Article 3.4 of the Kyoto Protocol. These methodologies may be applied by other JI project developers. The QUEST project will, therefore, strenghten project activities in Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry sector. QUEST also involves the application on four demonstrator forestry projects in Russia and Romania allowing for the investigation of the projects impact with respect to energy use, policy, verification and methodological issues and social, environmental and hydrological concerns with Agriculture Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) in a 'hands on', 'learning by doing' approach. It is the projects intention to contribute to the conservation of the Dvinsky, one of intact forest as well as to generate emission reductions. A successful implementation of the Dvinsky Climate Action Project might serve as a lighthouse example for the JIs potential to conserve Russias endangered HCV forests. The project activity will improve existing forest practices aiming at an increment of biomass volume in forests under concession. Carbon finance will enable logging firms to switch from the traditional clear cutting to a group felling system, thereby reducing the negative impact of forest management on the ecological system. Concluding, JIFor explores the LULUCF framework, develops baseline and monitoring methodologies, facilitates forest climate projects based on 'Forest Management', Art. 3.4. This provides important lessons learnt for a future REDD+ policy scheme under a follow up agreement to the Kyoto Protocol. GFA ENVEST contributes to: Assessment of the policy context of LULUCF and JI in Europe including permanence, issuance of AAUs for LULUCF projects, issuance of RMUs for LULUCF projects (considering the design of the IET) and evaluation of annual- vs- five year accounting on a national level; Baseline and monitoring methodologies for JI; development of methodologies for Improved Forest Management and Forest Conservation; JI Project Design Document development - Dvinsky Forest Conservation in Russia; JI Project Design Document development - Svetloserskles Improved Forest Management in Russia; Development of tools, Transferability, Scalability, and Identification of Future Projects and Research Needs; Assessment of carbon rights ownership for forestry projects in Russia.
Das Projekt "Mechanistic effect models for the ecological risk assessment of chemicals (CREAM)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung GmbH - UFZ, Department Ökologische Systemanalyse durchgeführt. There is widespread concern about how production and use of chemicals affect the environment. Yet food production and benefits of chemical products are vital for the functioning of European societies. In order to ensure sustainable use, EU regulations require extensive risk assessment before a chemical is approved for use. Current risk assessments focus on risk at the level of individual organisms, but according to EU directives the protection goal aims at achieving sustainable populations. Population-level effects depend not only on exposure and toxicity, but also on important ecological factors that are impossible to fully address empirically. Mechanistic effect models (MEMs) enable the integration of these factors, thus increasing the ecological relevance of risk assessments as well as providing vital understanding of how chemicals interact with ecosystems. Such understanding is crucial for improving risk mitigation strategies and ecosystem management. So far, however, regulators and industry have lacked understanding of the potential benefits that MEMs can deliver, and academics have been inconsistent in the approaches applied. This has led to scepticism about models, preventing a wider use of MEMs in risk assessment. Examples clearly demonstrating the power of MEMs for risk assessment are urgently needed, and industry, academia and regulatory authorities across Europe need scientists that are trained in both MEMs and regulatory risk assessment. CREAM will develop and experimentally validate a suite of MEMs for organisms relevant for chemical risk assessments. The consortium includes the main sectors involved (industry, academia, regulators) and will formulate Good Modelling Practice that will be followed in all individual projects, thus leading to consistency and transparency. CREAM will provide world class training for the next generation of ecological modellers, emphasizing transparency and rigorous model evaluation as core elements of the modelling process.
Das Projekt "Towards improved properties of biodegradable polymers made from Sugar Cane, PLA" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Institut für Physik durchgeführt. In daily life, construction polymers play an important role. Most of products are not reusable for different reasons (cost, hygiene, ) so the need of an environment saving production and disposal is evident. To besides from the obvious task on saving resources and environment, there is also a growing economical interest in this issue. On of the most promising candidates for a thermoplastic construction polymer that can be manufactured from bio-renewable resources and is biodegradable is Polylactic acid (PLA), for which Corn starch (in the U.S.) or sugarcanes (rest of world) are the common feedstock. Polylactic acid can be processed like most thermoplastics into fiber (for example using conventional melt spinning processes) and film. However, the low glass transition temperature prohibits many applications, like usage for coffee cups that will simply soften and flow away upon filling with hot drinks. One popular option to cope with this is the modification with other polymers, either conventional product or even enantiomers of PLA itself. For example, the melting temperature can be increased 40-50 C and the Heat Deflection temperature of PLLA can be increased from approximately 60 C to up to 190 C for by physically blending the polymer with PDLA (poly-D-lactide). PDLA and PLLA are known to form a highly regular stereocomplex with increased crystallinity. The maximum effect in temperature stability is achieved when a 50-50 blend is used, but even at lower concentrations of 3-10Prozent of PDLA a substantial effect is achieved. In the latter case PDLA is used as a nucleating agent, thereby increasing the crystallization rate. Due to the higher crystallinity of this stereo-complex, the biodegradability will become slower. The interesting feature is that the polymer blend remains transparent, which is one to the desirable properties that must be kept upon modification.
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