Das Projekt "Long-term Driving Factors & Land Use Policies in Europe" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Forstliche Versuchs- und Forschungsanstalt Baden-Württemberg durchgeführt. The basic and unifying question of this project is to what extent and how ecosystems maintain their resilience towards the different impacting factors (i.e. climate change). This again impinges on biodiversity conservation strategies. Of special interest hereby is how different/similar ecosystems and species react in different vegetation zones and eco-regions under different climatic conditions and disturbance/driving factors? What are the thresholds of the resilience of ecosystems under increasing temperatures due to climatic change, and what will be the response of communities that have not experienced such disturbances in the past? This project will cover the whole northern boreal region using pristine Russian forests as a reference. It would provide a careful evaluation of this long geographical, political and historical gradient of different land-use politics and their biodiversity effects from Russia via the Baltic countries to central Europa. This would be helpful in understanding and predicting the future changes and choosing management strategies. Although there is a great deal of interest in the biological diversity in species/ecosystem and genetic level, it is only recently that researchers have started to investigate the processes that exert parallel influences on these different levels of biodiversity. Policy aimed at conserving biodiversity has focused on species diversity. Loss of genetic diversity, however, can affect population resistance, evolutionary genetic potential, and population fitness. Species diversity and genetic diversity may be correlated as a result of processes acting in parallel at the two levels. However, no intensive studies have been conducted so far to predict the conditions under which different relationships between species diversity and genetic diversity might arise and therefore when one level of diversity may be predicted using the other. In this project all these levels of biodiversity will be included in a interdisciplinated study. This project will address the integration of data depicting long-term landscape history with present day data (such as statistical, GIS and Remote Sensing data, etc.) and models predicting future developments.
Das Projekt "Entwicklung und Anwendung einer zellfreien in vitro-Methode für die Bestimmung des Effektes zellulärer Transportprozesse auf die Biokonzentration von Umweltchemikalien in Fischen" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Technische Universität Dresden, Institut für Hydrobiologie, Professur für Limnologie (Gewässerökologie) durchgeführt. In my PhD thesis project I address the question: How do cellular transport proteins influence the actual dose of environmental chemicals in an organism through active transport? Chemicals in the environment can accumulate in tissues of organisms. This is called 'bioconcentration'. If a chemical has a high potential to bioconcentrate it can be more deleterious to an organism. Therefore, information on the bioconcentration potential of a chemical is necessary for determining its human and environmental health risiks and needs to be obtained, as for instance regulated by the REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) framework of the European Union. For determining bioconcentration of a chemical animal experiments need to be carried out. A way to avoid the animal experiments could be to use computer models that predict bioconcentration of a chemical. However, current models generally provide inaccurate predictions, because they do not take into account biological processes that are important for the uptake of a chemical by an organism. Thus, organisms are protected by an 'active barrier' that determine if a chemical can enter the organism or not. Consideration of these biological processes will help to improve computer models. Information on interaction of chemicals with important biological processes influencing the bioconcentration can also be obtained with animal-free in vitro tests. Within my PhD work I develop an in vitro test for determining interaction of chemicals with active cellular transport proteins that constitute an important component of the 'active barrier' of an organism against chemicals. Eventually, this test may be part of a tool kit of 'intelligent testing' that comprises in vitro tests and a computer model. This tool kit may contribute to the 3 Rs (reduce - refine - replace) of animal tests and make animal tests obsolete.
Das Projekt "Network for Habitat Monitoring by Airborne-supported Field work An innovative and effective process in implementation of the Habitat Directive (CHANGEHABITATS 2)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, Institut für Biowissenschaften, Arbeitsgruppe Biologie,Ökologie durchgeführt. The aim of CHANGEHABITATS 2 is the initiation of a long lasting intersectoral and international network in the field of environmental monitoring between industry and academia. Its aim is to develop operable, time and cost effective procedures, and (software) solutions for monitoring habitats using innovative airborne data acquisition techniques. Within the project two complementary data acquisition methods which are currently becoming established in the market will be concentrated on: airborne laser scanning and airborne hyperspectral imagery. These methods will be evaluated and their potential for manual and automatic derivation of habitat parameters - an unsolved problem so far - will be investigated for selected sites. Added value of the developed methods beyond habitat mapping will be explored, e.g. for river basin management. These aims will be achieved by tight integration of data producers, data processors and end users, building the network both from industry and academia. The project will support EU s NATURA2000 Directive, which prescribes repeated monitoring of over 50 million ha of habitat sites in Europe. The complexity and importance of habitat monitoring by airborne techniques will ensure close cooperation within the network beyond the project duration. Cost savings in an order of up to 3.4 Billion Euros at European level could be achieved by reducing expensive and laborious field work for habitat mapping by automated analysis of airborne sensed data, which is cheaper in acquisition and more homogeneous than subjective perception during the field work. The contributing SMEs will gain economic benefits and clear competitive advantages. For device manufacturers a new market for data acquisition devices will be opened, and for service providers faster and more accurate habitat mapping will result in enlarged project execution capacity, supporting national and regional administrative bodies in their environmental protection duties.
Das Projekt "The effect of time and environmental factors on lignin turnover in soils" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Zürich, Geographisches Institut durchgeführt. Soils store about twice as much carbon (C) than exists in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (CO2). Terrestrial ecosystems are driving forces in the global carbon cycle and, if acting as carbon sinks, can become key to mitigate increasing CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere. Global warming probably will affect soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposition and will determine how much carbon will be transferred to the atmosphere or sequestered in soils. The project takes up urgent tasks, also pointed out during the IPCC meeting on terrestrial carbon stocks (IPCC, 2003), including a) factoring out effects causing carbon stock changes, b) employing high-technology measurements, e.g. isotope tracers, molecular markers, and c) elucidating soil mechanisms in addition to measuring fluxes. The aspects b) and c) are especially considered for the project. Lignin is one of the main constituents of the cell walls of woody plants and a large contributor to soil organic matter (SOM). The lignin macromolecule is generally believed to be relatively resistant against microbial degradation. Consequently, lignin residues are considered to form a large proportion of the stock of old, slowly degradable organic matter in the soil. However, analytical information of lignin biodegradation has mostly been addressed in short-term (days to weeks) in-vitro experiments. In-vivo experiments mimic natural processes in soils over many years much better but are sparse. Direct molecular-level information on long-term lignin turnover could come from field studies using the natural stable isotopic difference between C4 plant and C3 plant isotopes. When C4 vegetation replaces C3 vegetation, the new isotopically heavier C4-derived carbon subsequently replaces the old decaying C3 carbon. Thus, increasing ?13C values are directly related to the proportion of the new C4-derived biomass, and can be used to estimate the residence time and pool size of individual soil organic matter components. Stable carbon isotope analysis has been successfully applied to bulk soil organic matter and solvent-extractable compounds such as soil n-alkanes, but only very recently to individual lignin monomers, although analytical limitations still exist. In the project we will expand the number (arable soil, grassland) and types (forest) of studied ecosystems combined with different treatments (time, soil pH, nitrogen (N) availability, tillage). This project may provide a novel, improved analytical tool to gain isotopic information of lignin in plants and soil organic matter. It may also help to clarify our fundamental understanding of the global carbon cycle and thus carbon sequestration in soils, and will improve urgently needed plot based and global turnover models.
Das Projekt "How Do Extreme Climate Events Affect Plant/Soil Interactions in Agroecosystems?" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Zürich, Geographisches Institut durchgeführt. A very high percentage of the agronomically used area in Switzerland is covered by grasslands. This land use type is present at various altitudes (up to alpine regions), where environmental conditions, community structure, nutrient dynamics and productivity vary in a wide range. Results obtained during phase 1 of the NCCR Climate, but also by other research groups globally, lead to the conclusion that - besides an increase in mean temperature - temperature variability will increase considerably in Central Europe (Schär et al. 2004). However, the response of entire grassland systems to drought and heat remains unclear. Many earlier studies focused only on soil or vegetation (often only above-ground; e.g. Pfisterer and Schmid 2002), but did not consider the entire ecosystem with its interactions between different ecosystem components (e.g., Kahmen et al. 2004). We know that heat affects photosynthesis and - as a consequence - net carbon fluxes and plant productivity, as reported for example for oak (NCCR Phase 1; Haldimann and Feller 2004). How climatic factors affect above- and below-ground processes in temperate grasslands and how to implement safe management strategies to mitigate changes is less known. We will focus on drought and heat effects on managed grasslands. In grasslands, much of the biological activity and resource turnover happens below-ground; here carbon stocks can be as large as the annual above-ground harvested biomass. However, harvest and grazing typically take place above a certain height (typically 3 - 7 cm above ground), leaving behind large quantities of organic carbon as stubble (standing living and dead biomass) and litter. While the plant biomass above the cutting/grazing height is important for agricultural purposes (yield), biomass below this height is relevant for regrowth after cutting/grazing, for the development and maintenance of the root system and therefore resource use, for the transfer but also loss of carbon, nitrogen and other nutrients to the soil, and for soil carbon sequestration (Avice et al. 1996). The quantities and contributions of these various components to the total ecosystem depend on the allocation of assimilates and nutrients in the plants, on the metabolic activities and on the redistribution during senescence (Avice et al. 1996, Jeuffroy et al. 2002) as well as on microbial activities in the soil. The so far poorly quantified transfer rate for carbon from above-ground litter to below-ground organic matter is a key issue in this context (Lal 2004). In addition, all these processes are influenced by climatic and environmental conditions. For example, Palta and Gregory (1997) reported that wheat allocated relatively more assimilates to the roots under limited water conditions compared to adequate soil water. Kahmen et al. (2004) found stable above-ground productivity but increased below-ground productivity under drought conditions in grasslands of varying species richness. (abbrevia
Das Projekt "Global change and biodiversity feedbacks as drivers of the carbon cycle in the plant soil system" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Zürich, Geographisches Institut durchgeführt. Research aims - The aim of this project is to demonstrate whether increased biodiversity and net primary production lead to increased carbon storage in the ecosystem, especially in the largest carbon pool, the mineral soil, and thus reduces the release of greenhouse gases. Climate change (nitrogen deposition, summer droughts, vegetation fire) - We will analyse plant-soil feedbacks in laboratory experiments, using our newly build Multi Isotope labelling in Controlled Environment (MICE) facility, and in three of the field sites (tropical, temperate, boreal) using transplanted model mini-ecosystems. Global change includes many processes, and we focus on three processes, key to the terrestrial carbon cycle, i.e. increasing chronic atmospheric nitrogen deposition, widespread summer droughts, and more frequent wildfires, with yet unknown consequences for the carbon cycle. We will use the MICE facility to manipulate mini-ecosystems (plants and soil from the three field sites) and expose them to four climatic scenarios: todays equivalent climate (corresponding to the site), increased nitrogen deposition, drought and post-fire conditions (by pyrolising the plant biomass). The plant-soil system will be labelled with stable isotopes (13C, 15N) in order i) to investigate the changes in organic matter dynamics when climate changes are applied and ii) to produce highly labelled experimental material that could be traced in the field. We will transplant the manipulated mini-ecosystem, from the MICE facility to the three URPP GCB sites Siberia, Laegeren and Borneo (tropical, temperate, boreal). The mini-ecosystems will contain highly labelled material (13C and 15N in fresh biomass and charred biomass) in order to follow fluxes related to C losses from the soil (CO2 and organic matter dissolved in water), as well as processes involved in the stabilisation of soil C (microbial, physical and chemical mechanisms). Using a large number of replicates will allow us to follow the underlying processes of C stabilisation in soil and vegetation at a high spatial and temporal precision. Biodiversity experiment - We will use the MICE chambers to grow different species of trees and grasses labelled with 13C (and potentially 15N, 18O and 2H) under todays climatic conditions. Then we recombine the different species (1, 2, 4, 8 species) and transplant them to the temperate site at Laegeren. In the field we can follow the total carbon fluxes and the contributions from the isotopically labelled decomposing biomass, and the living biomass.
Das Projekt "Developing a Pool of Novel and Eco-Efficient Applications of Zeolite for the Agriculture Sector (ECO-ZEO)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentaries durchgeführt. The agriculture sector is vital for food, feed and bio-fuel production, but at the same time it is a major cause of environmental pollution and natural resource depletion. Sustainable solutions are demanded that will enable agriculture to produce more with less : become more productive and less harmful to the environment and human health. ECO-ZEO aims at the development of a new pool of Green crop protection products delivering a wide range of beneficial effects including reduced water consumption, increased crop yield, lower chemical input, crop protection and tolerance to abiotic stress and healthier conditions to workers in agriculture and agrochemical sectors. The ECO-ZEO products will rely on the innovative application of Zeolite 4A to the surface of leaves and fruits, adapted strategies for sustainable crop protection (such as chromatic masking, behavior interference and biocontrol), novel use of sustainable active ingredients and pigments, and?new configurations of additives for enhanced performance of the coating. The developed crop protection solutions will be lab- and field trialed for four crops: apple, tomato, table grape and orange. The best performing solutions will be validated through demonstration with European farmers. Sustainability, eco-efficiency and Life-cycle analyses will be performed throughout the project. Achieving both environmental and economic sustainability is one of the main added values of ECO-ZEO. ECO-ZEO will be achieved by means of a new innovation process in agricultural green products based on the alliance of Academia, Agro-Biotech SMEs and Industry. Firm plans for the full-scale exploitation of the developed products and technology will ensure this alliance will translate into market presence. The participation of SMEs is further enhanced by the allocation of 40,8% of EC Contribution to SMEs.
Das Projekt "Influence of permafrost on chemical and physical weathering" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Zürich, Geographisches Institut durchgeführt. With increasing temperatures, permafrost is continuously thawing. This will lead in future to different thermal and hydrological conditions in the soil and regolith in cold regions. Therefore, climate change is assumed to cause a marked change in weathering conditions in high Alpine areas. Long-term chemical weathering and physical erosion rates are interrelated processes. In order to better understand landscape response to climate change, it is important to quantify both processes. The planned investigations generally aim at the estimate of element denudation/weathering rates and short- and long-term erosion of high Swiss Alpine soils (Upper Engadine: Albula and Val Bever). Both types of sites will be considered: a) with and b) without permafrost. The main objectives include 1) the evaluation of chemical weathering mechanisms using tracers such as immobile elements and Sr-isotopes 2) the determination of soil erosion rates (long-term) using two different techniques: a) in situ produced cosmogenic 10Be in soil sections and b) the inventory of meteoric 10Be in soils. Short-term erosion rates will be estimated using 137Cs as tracer. 3) determination of organic matter stocks in soil and characterisation and 14C dating of labile and stable (resistant to a H2O2 treatment) organic matter fractions. 4) Mapping of present day permafrost distribution and monitoring of near-surface and ground surface temperatures is essential for the understanding and prediction of the weathering behaviour of high Alpine regions. An important and innovative aspect is that chemical weathering and particularly erosion rates will be characterised using a multi-method approach. A cross-check of all the methods used will allow an extended interpretation and mutual control of the results. Furthermore, novel or very recently developed methods (erosion rates determined by meteoric 10Be using a non-steady-state approach; spatial on-site detection and characterisation of permafrost using a highly novel 3-D geophysical approach, 14C dating of stable (H2O2-resistant) soil organic matter, etc.) will be applied for the first time in high Alpine regions. The expected new insights will lead to a better understanding of the processes of high mountain soils and are a further step towards improving climate-related modelling of fast warming scenarios and increasing system disequilibria.
Das Projekt "Bioassay to assess lignin stabilization in soil" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Zürich, Geographisches Institut durchgeführt. The development of this novel method aims at giving us a new tool to understand the stabilization of lignin in soil. As this method would mimic the real processes that are occurring in the soil, it will be possible to apply it to both mechanistic, short term experimentations and long-term stabilized-C evaluation. If successful, this method would allow us to assess the three mechanisms of lignin stabilization by a common method and allow comparisons between them. This experimental approach would be applied to different cases where the lignin turnover was already studied. Particularly, it will be applied to experimental sites where C3-C4 crop chronosequences permit calculation of the turnover of lignin.
Das Projekt "INQUA Project 1216 - RAISIN: Rates of soil forming processes obtained from soils and paleosols in well-defined settings" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Zürich, Geographisches Institut durchgeführt. The project RAISIN represents a core project of the Focus Area Group PASTSOILS. One of the major goals of the Focus Area Group will be achieved through RAISIN: Rates of soil forming processes in different climates, obtained from soils and paleosols in settings where climatic conditions and duration of soil development are known, will be assessed and documented. Thus, the project will provide a solid base for future interpretation of paleosols in the frame of palaeo-environmental reconstructions. Numerous data on soil development with time, many of them based on soil chronosequence studies in various regions, have been published in the past decades. The main aim of the project is hence to bring together scientists working on rates of soil-forming processes in different regions of the world to share and discuss their results, review and compare published data and finally produce a document representing the current state of knowledge on soil formation rates in different climates. The outcome of the project will be published in a special issue of Quaternary International to make it available to the scientific public. Thus, a common standard for interpreting paleosols in soil-sediment successions in terms of duration and environmental conditions of soil development will be created. Moreover, gaps in our current knowledge will be identified in the process of reviewing existing data in the frame of the project. This will stimulate future research and possibly lead to collaborative projects aiming on closing the identified gaps step by step.
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