This dataset provides information on soil chemistry and soil bulk density as part of the Grassworks project, which investigates the restoration of species-rich grasslands in Germany. Grasslands are globally threatened ecosystems, and the project aims to identify factors that contribute to successful restoration, focusing on ecological complexity and stakeholder engagement. Data was collected from 187 grassland sites across three regions in North, Central, and South Germany, each with distinct socio-economic and ecological characteristics. Sampling occurred between 2022 and 2023 and included 40–41 restored grassland sites and 20–25 reference sites (10–12 positive, 10–13 negative) per region. At each site in March or early April at each vegetation plot, we took soil samples (pooled from six soil cores, 20 mm diameter) that were further pooled into one sample per site and analyzed for total soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen content, pH, and soil texture as well as microbial biomass (carbon based). Additionally, soil bulk density was measured at vegetation plots per site, to enable future assessment of carbon sequestration over time. Soil and bulk density samples were taken at two depths: 0–10 and 10–30 cm.
The data presented herein originates from a mesocosm study conducted as part of the BMBF CDRmare, Retake project (grant agreement no. 03F0895A), aimed at investigating the ecological ramifications of ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE). Twelve mesocosms were deployed in Helgoland South Harbor, Germany, and systematically sampled using integrated water samplers over the period spanning from March 12th to April 20th, 2023. Six alkalinity levels under two dilution scenarios were established to differentiate between localized and uniform OAE additions. Alkalinity was increased stepwise to ΔTAmax = 1250 μmol kg-1 (250 μmol TA kg-1 increments) using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) with calcium chloride (CaCl2) to simulate cation release during calcium-based mineral dissolution, causing strong carbonate chemistry perturbations (e.g., pHT > 9.25). The dataset encompasses a spectrum of sediment trap particle flux data, water column biogeochemistry including pigment variables, inorganic nutrients, carbonate chemistry parameters. The study and data set offer insights into impacts of alkalinity enhancement on marine ecosystems and their associated biogeochemistry.
Salt marshes along the Wadden Sea coast are often shaped by anthropogenic alterations to their hydrology and sedimentation. To investigate the effects of hydrological restoration through summer dike openings on soil carbon storage capacities, soil samples were collected from four study sites along the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea coast, Germany. Each site featured restored areas, i.e., former summer polders reconnected to tidal exchange, and reference salt marshes adjacent to the polders. The polders varied in restoration age, i.e., 0 (control, not restored), 8, 14, and 28 years, forming a chronosequence for temporal analysis, while the reference salt marshes remained unchanged. Soil samples were taken along transects that represented different marsh zones, including pioneer, lower salt marsh, and upper salt marsh. The soil samples covered soil layers down to a depth of 100 cm and were collected in five sections of 20 cm using an Edelman corer. Total carbon, organic carbon, and inorganic carbon were analyzed using CN-elementary analysis and calcimeter methods. This dataset provides valuable insights into the potential of hydrological restoration measures to enhance soil carbon sequestration in salt marshes.
The impacts of climate change pose one of the main challenges for agriculture in Central Europe. In particular, an increase of extreme and compound extreme climate events is expected to strongly impact economic revenues and the provision of ecosystem services by agroecosystems. A highly relevant, still open question is how grassland farming systems can cope best with these climate risks to adapt to climate change. A prominently discussed economic instrument to relieve income risks is the formal insurance, but natural and social insurances are newly under discussion as well. Natural insurances include specific grassland management practises such as maintaining species-rich grasslands. Social insurances, in our terminology, comprise all forms of societal support for farmers’ climate risk management. This includes in particular arrangements of community-supported agriculture that reduce income risks for farmers, or payments for ecosystem services if their design takes risk into account. Formal, natural and social insurances may be substitutes or complements, and affect farmer behaviour in different ways. Thus, policy support for any of the three forms of insurance will have effects on the others, which need to be understood. InsuranceGrass takes an innovative interdisciplinary view and assesses formal, natural and social insurances: on how to cope best with impacts of climate extremes on grasslands, integrating social and natural sciences perspectives and feedbacks between them. Based on this holistic analysis, InsuranceGrass will provide recommendations for policy and insurance design to ensure effective risk-coping of farmers and to enhance sustainable grassland farming, considering economic, environmental and social aspects. Impacts of extreme and compound extreme events on the provision of ecosystem services (e.g. magnitude and quality of yield, climate regulation via carbon sequestration, plant diversity) by permanent grasslands in Germany and Switzerland are quantified based on long-term observations and field experiments. Cutting-edge model-based approaches will be based on behavioural theories and empirically calibrated. With the help of social-ecological modelling, InsuranceGrass explicitly incorporates feedbacks between farmers’ and households’ decision, grassland management options, and ecosystem service provision in a dynamic manner. The contributions of different insurance types are developed, discussed and evaluated jointly with different groups of stakeholders (i.e., farmers, insurance companies, public administration). A scientifically sound and holistic assessment of the role of formal, natural, and social insurances for the sustainability of grassland farming under extreme events requires both disciplinary excellence and seamless interdisciplinary collaboration. InsuranceGrass brings together four groups from Zürich and Leipzig, with unique disciplinary expertise and a track record of successful collaboration.
In dem Vorhaben soll auf technische Möglichkeiten zur Effizienzverbesserung bzw. Energieeinsparung eingegangen werden (bspw. Nutzung der Windkraft) und eruiert werden, in welcher Höhe Energieeinsparungen realistisch zu erwarten sind, für welche Schiffstypen diese jeweils in Frage kommen, wie weit der Energiebedarf des internationalen Seeverkehrs sich damit senken ließe und ob bzw. unter welchen Bedingungen diese Maßnahmen wirtschaftlich sind oder einer Förderung bedürfen. In die Betrachtung sollen bestehende und zukünftige Maßnahmen auf EU- und internationaler Ebene einfließen. In einem zweiten Arbeitspaket sind die Treibhausgasminderungsmöglichkeiten durch Carbon Capture on board (OCC) zu beleuchten. Es soll (beschränkt auf das System Schiff) eine detaillierte Betrachtung des Energieaufwands zur Abscheidung, Speicherung und Transport des CO2 sowie den dadurch verursachten zusätzlichen CO2eq-Emissionen erfolgen. Darüber hinaus sollen zudem auch die Auswirkungen auf die schiffsspezifische Energieeffizienz betrachtet werden und für welche Schiffstypen dies wirtschaftlich darstellbar ist. Es sind Beratungsleistungen für die Verhandlungen unter der Klimarahmenkonvention zu dem Agendapunkt der 'bunker fuels' und ein Ad-hoc-Beratungsbudget für den See- und Luftverkehr vorzusehen.