Das Projekt "Unravelling the role of an autonomous pathway component in FTi control in Arabidopsis and barley" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Technische Universität Dresden, Lehrstuhl für Molekulare Zellphysiologie und Endokrinologie durchgeführt. We will compare the role of an RNA-binding protein in floral transition in Arabidopsis thaliana and Hordeum vulgare. The RNA-binding protein AtGRP7 promotes floral transition mainly by downregulating the floral repressor FLC via the autonomous pathway. Based on our observation that AtGRP7 affects the steady-state abundance of a suite of microRNA precursors, we will globally compare the small RNA component of the transcriptome during FTi regulation in wild type plants and AtGRP7 overexpressors by deep sequencing. This will extend the knowledge on small RNAs associated with floral transition and provide insights into the regulatory network downstream of this RNA-binding protein. Further, we will address the question how AtGRP7 orthologues function in crop species lacking FLC homologues. A barley line with highly elevated levels of the AtGRP7 orthologue HvGR-RBP1 shows accelerated FTi and preanthesis development when compared to a near-isogenic parent with very low expression of this gene. We will characterize in detail flowering of this line with respect to different photoperiods and its vernalization requirement. We will employ a TILLING approach to further delineate the function of HvGR-RBP1 in flowering. A candidate gene approach to identify downstream targets will provide insights into the signaling pathways through which HvGR-RBP1 influences FTi. This project contributes to the development of a functional cross-species network of FTi regulators, the major strategic aim of the SPP.
Das Projekt "Quantification of the influence of current use fungicides and climate change on allochthonous Organic MATer decomposition in streams (QUANTOMAT)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau, Institut für Umweltwissenschaften durchgeführt. The decomposition of terrestrial organic material such as leaf litter represents a fundamental ecosystem function in streams that delivers energy for local and downstream food webs. Although agriculture dominates most regions in Europe and fungicides are applied widely, effects of currently used fungicides on the aquatic decomposer community and consequently the leaf decomposition rate are largely unknown. Also potential compensation of such hypothesised adverse effects due to nutrients or higher average water temperatures associated with climate change are not considered. Moreover, climate change is predicted to alter the community of aquatic decomposers and an open question is, whether this alteration impacts the leaf decomposition rate. The current projects follows a tripartite design to answer these research questions. Firstly, a field study in a vine growing region where fungicides are applied in large amounts will be conducted to whether there is a dose-response relationship between the exposure to fungicides and the leaf decomposition rate. Secondly, experiments in artificial streams with field communities will be carried out to assess potential compensatory mechanisms of nutrients and temperature for effects of fungicides. Thirdly, field experiments with communities exhibiting a gradient of taxa sensitive to climate change will be used to investigate potential climate-related effects on the leaf decomposition rate.
Das Projekt "Sustainable Water Resources Management in the Yanqi Basin, Sinkiang, China" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Institut für Verkehrsplanung und Transportsysteme durchgeführt. Irrigation in the Yanqi Basin, Sinkiang, China has led to water table rise and soil salination. A model is used to assess management options. These include more irrigation with groundwater, water saving irrigation techniques and others. The model relies on input data from remote sensing.The Yanqi Basin is located in the north-western Chinese province of Xinjiang.This agriculturally highly productive region is heavily irrigated with water drawn from the Kaidu River. The Kaidu River itself is mainly fed by snow and glacier melt from the Tian Mountain surrounding the basin. A very poor drainage system and an overexploitation of surface water have lead to a series of environmental problems: 1. Seepage water under irrigated fields has raised the groundwater table during the last years, causing strongly increased groundwater evaporation. The salt dissolved in the groundwater accumulates at the soil surface as the groundwater evaporates. This soil salinization leads to degradation of vegetation as well as to a loss of arable farmland. 2. The runoff from the Bostan Lake to the downstream Corridor is limited since large amount of water is used for irrigation in the Yanqi Basin. Nowadays, the runoff is maintained by pumping water from the lake to the river. The environmental and ecological system is facing a serious threat.In order to improve the situation in the Yanqi Basin, a jointly funded cooperation has been set up by the Institute of Environmental Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) , China Institute of Geological and Environmental Monitoring (CIGEM) and Xinjiang Agricultural University. The situation could in principle be improved by using groundwater for irrigation, thus lowering the groundwater table and saving unproductive evaporation. However, this is associated with higher cost as groundwater has to be pumped. The major decision variable to steer the system into a desirable state is thus the ratio of irrigation water pumped from the aquifer and irrigation water drawn from the river. The basis to evaluate the ideal ratio between river and groundwater - applied to irrigation - will be a groundwater model combined with models describing the processes of the unsaturated zone. The project will focus on the following aspects of research: (...)
Das Projekt "ERA-IB 3: MySterI - Novel industrial bioprocesses for production of key valuable steroid precursors from phytosterol" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Technische Universität Dortmund, Lehrstuhl für Anlagen- und Prozesstechnik durchgeführt. Project MySterI (Mycobacterial Steroids for Industry) aims to produce high value steroid precursorsusing a novel bioconversion strategy resulting in lower production costs and less cost to the environment. The aim is to convert phytosterols in cheap waste plant material to desired steroidprecursors with engineered strains of fast-growing, saprophytic mycobacteria in single fermentationsteps. The bioconversion of phytosterols has not been widely adopted in the biotechnology industrybecause of problems with microbial strains, process efficiency and therefore poor yield. At the heart of project MySterI is the bioconversion of phytosterols to 3ß-hydroxyandrost-5-ene-17-one (DHEA) orto androst-4-ene-3,17-dione (AD) (intermediary precursor) and then to 11a-hydroxyandrost-4-ene-3,17-dione (11-a-OH-AD) and testosterone. A conceptual downstream processing design methodology will be developed valid for the produced compounds. The evaluation of the production process will be done using key performance indicators (e.g., Separation Cost Indicator, Purification Fingerprints). The robot based conceptual design methodology should merge heuristic methods, automated experiments, statistical methods as well as modeling and simulation to one extensive tool.
Das Projekt "Biopolymers from syngas fermentation (SYNPOL)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Agencia estatal consejo superior de investigaciones cientificas durchgeführt. SYNPOL aims to propel the sustainable production of new biopolymers from feedstock. SYNPOL will theretoestablish a platform that integrates biopolymer production through modern processing technologies, withbacterial fermentation of syngas, and the pyrolysis of highly complex biowaste (e.g., municipal, commercial,sludge, agricultural). The R&D activities will focus on the integration of innovative physico-chemical, biochemical,downstream and synthetic technologies to produce a wide range of new biopolymers. The integration will engagenovel and mutually synergistic production methods as well as the assessment of the environmental benefitsand drawbacks. This integrative platform will be revolutionary in its implementation of novel microwave pyrolytictreatments together with systems-biology defined highly efficient and physiologically balanced recombinantbacteria. The latter will produce biopolymer building-blocks and polyhydroxyalkanoates that will serve tosynthesize novel bio-based plastic prototypes by chemical and enzymatic catalysis. Thus, the SYNPOL platformwill empower the treatment and recycling of complex biological and chemical wastes and raw materials in asingle integrated process. The knowledge generated through this innovative biotechnological approach will notonly benefit the environmental management of terrestrial wastes, but also reduce the harmful environmentalimpact of petrochemical plastics. This project offers a timely strategic action that will enable the EU to lead worldwide the syngas fermentation technology for waste revalorisation and sustainable biopolymer production.
Das Projekt "Water Harvesting Technologies Revisited: Potentials for Innovations, Improvements and Upscaling in Sub-Saharan Africa (WHATER)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Vereiniging voor Christelijk Hoger Onderwijs, Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek en Patientenzorg durchgeführt. Objective: The WHaTeR project aims to contribute to the development of appropriate water harvesting techniques (WHTs). These WHTs should be sustainable under dynamic global and regional pressure, and strengthen rainfed agriculture, improve rural livelihood and increase food production and security in Sub-Saharan Africa. In total 3 European and 5 African organisations will be involved; namely VU University Amsterdam (The Netherlands), Newcastle University (United Kingdom), Stockholm Resilience Centre (Sweden), University of Kwazulu Natal (South Africa), Sokoine University (Tanzania), Southern and Eastern Africa Rainwater Network (Kenya), National Institute for Environment and Agricultural Research (Burkina Faso) and one Ethiopian organisation to be decided upon. Project activities will be divided over 14 Work Packages. The first Work Package covers project management and the second comprises a situation analysis-through revisits to water harvesting sites in 15 African countries studied previously by participating organisations. The next four Work Packages focus on detailed research and technology development activities on cross-cutting themes (environmental sustainability; technology development; livelihood improvement; uptake and upscalling; and global and regional impact) and will be conducted together with four country-based Work Packages (in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, South Africa and Tanzania). One Work Package will concentrate on stakeholder communication and outreaching activities, and the final Work Packages consists of synthesis and dissemination of project results, including production of guidelines for WHTs. The project will spend an estimated 74Prozent of the budget on RTD, 13Prozent on other costs related to stakeholder workshops and outreaching and 13Prozent on project management. The expected impacts of the project comprise technology support for farmers, development of stakeholder communication networks, innovative water harvesting systems, tools for impact assessment, upstream-downstream land use, and policy support for integrated water management and adaptation to climate change to promote EU and African strategies on strengthening rainfed agriculture, food security and livelihoods.
Das Projekt "Towards understanding the determinants of stream macroinvertebrate responses to environmental change mediated by glacial recession" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Eawag - Das Wasserforschungsinstitut des ETH-Bereichs durchgeführt. The world is currently experiencing a major biodiversity crisis due to human activities. A primary concern is the on-going and rapid biological consequences of global climate change. Climate change is impacting alpine landscapes at unprecedented rates, with severe impacts on landscape structure and catchment hydrodynamics, as well as temperature regimes of glacial-fed rivers. Most glaciers are expected to be dramatically reduced and many even gone by the year 2100, concomitantly with changes (timing and magnitude) in temperature and precipitation. These environmental changes are predicted to have strong impacts on the persistence and distribution of alpine organisms, their population structure and community assembly, and, ultimately, ecosystem functioning. However, how alpine biodiversity (aquatic macroinvertebrates in our case) will respond to these changes is poorly understood. Most previous studies predict the presence of species based on the distribution of putatively suitable habitats but ignore biotic traits, such as dispersal, and potential eco-evolutionary responses to such changes. Clearly, accurate predictions on species responses require integrative studies incorporating landscape dynamics with eco-evolutionary processes. The primary goal of the proposed research is to empirically test determinants of alpine macroinvertebrate responses to rapid environmental change mediated by glacial recession. Climate-induced glacial retreat is occurring rapidly and in a replicated fashion (i.e. over multiple catchments and continents), which provides a natural experiment for testing determinants of organismal and species diversity responses to climate change in alpine waters. The responses of alpine aquatic macroinvertebrates are highly important because of their known sensitivity (i.e. response rates) to environmental change and their fundamental role in ecosystem functioning. Using an integrative comparative and experimental approach, we will target the following main question: What are the roles of ecological and evolutionary processes in population level responses of macroinvertebrates to environmental change? The study will take advantage of rapid glacial recession (environmental change) to empirically examine spatio-temporal patterns in species distribution in nature, combined with experimental and population genetics approaches. The data generated will be used to explicitly address the role of eco-evolutionary processes (determinants) on population level responses for selected key species. Spatial and temporal variation in species distribution, phenotypic and genetic variation will be quantified for two stream macroinvertebrates (hemimetabolous mayfly Baetis alpinus, holometabolous caddisfly Allogamus uncatus), and measuring landscape features and physico-chemical parameters along longitudinal transects downstream of glaciers and selected side-slope tributaries (as potential stepping stones for dispersal and colonization).
Das Projekt "The dynamics of North Atlantic warm conveyor belts and their impact on downstream wave propagation and European weather systems" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Institut für Atmosphäre und Klima durchgeführt. Warm conveyor belts (WCBs) are coherent airstreams that typically develop along cold fronts associated with extratropical cyclones. These airstreams originate in the moist subtropical marine boundary layer and ascend within 1-2 days to the upper troposphere whilst moving more than 2000 km towards the pole. They occur most frequently during winter in the western North Pacific and North Atlantic where they are responsible for the major part of precipitation. The key role of WCBs for the dynamics of the synoptic and large-scale atmospheric flow stems from their profound impact upon the tropospheric distribution of potential vorticity (PV). The coherent ascent of WCBs leads to the diabatic production of a positive PV anomaly in the lower troposphere and of a negative PV anomaly in upper-level ridges just below the tropopause. When interacting with the extratropical waveguide, these negative PV anomalies can exert a profound impact upon the downstream flow evolution. Hence a WCB can be the trigger for the amplification and breaking of an upper-level Rossby wave, which is particularly relevant in situations where Rossby wave breaking events act as precursors of high-impact weather systems (e.g., heavy precipitation in the western Mediterranean, Saharan dust storms, cold air outbreaks). Recent studies indicate that errors in medium-range numerical weather predictions might be related to the inaccurate representation of WCBs and their effect on upper-level PV. In order to advance the basic understanding of these complex, non-linear and highly important dynamical processes, this project will (i) investigate the parameters and processes that determine the intensity of a WCB, its associated PV evolution and downstream effects, (ii) assess the errors in global models' analyses and forecasts associated with the different stages of a WCB life cycle, (iii) quantify the climatological frequency of the triggering and intensification of upper-level Rossby waves by WCBs, and (iv) provide clear guidance for investigating the dynamics of WCBs within the framework of THORPEX field experiments. In three subprojects, complementary techniques will be applied in order to reach these objectives, including idealized simulations of moist baroclinic waves, real case sensitivity experiments, diagnostic investigations based upon (re-)analysis and forecast data, and a feature-based verification of WCBs in global models using independent observational datasets. In this way this project will contribute to an improved basic understanding of the dynamical effects of WCBs on the downstream evolution of upper-level Rossby waves and (high-impact) surface weather events.
Das Projekt "Nano-particle products from new mineral resources in Europe (ProMine)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) durchgeführt. The objectives of the ProMine IP address the Commission s concerns over the annual 11 billion trade deficit in metal and mineral imports. Europe has to enhance the efficiency of its overall production chain putting higher quality and added value products on the market. ProMine focuses on two parts of this chain, targeting extractive and end-user industries. Upstream, the first ever Pan-EU GIS based mineral resource and advanced modeling system for the extractive industry will be created, showing known and predicted, metallic and non-metallic mineral occurrences across the EU. Detailed 4D computer models will be produced for four metalliferous regions. Upstream work will also include demonstrating the reliability of new (Bio) technologies for an eco-efficient production of strategic metals, driven by the creation of on-site added value and the identification of specific needs of potential end-users. Downstream, a new strategy will be developed for the European extractive industry which looks not only at increasing production but also at delivering high value, tailored nano-products which will form the new raw materials for the manufacturing industry. ProMine research will focus on five nano-products, (Conductive metal (Cu, Ag, Au) fibres, rhenium and rhenium alloy powders, nano-silica, iron oxyhydroxysulphate and new nano-particle based coatings for printing paper), which will have a major impact on the economic viability of the extractive industry. They will be tested at bench scale, and a number selected for development to pilot scale where larger samples can be provided for characterisation and testing by end-user industries. It will include production, testing and evaluation of these materials, with economic evaluation, life cycle cost analysis, and environmental sustainability. ProMine with 26 partners from 11 EU member states, has a strong industrial involvement while knowledge exploitation will transfer ProMine results to the industrial community.
Das Projekt "Microbial control of ecosystem functioning" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Forschungsanstalt Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon ART durchgeführt. Nutrient loss from ecosystems has become of global major global concern as it reduces the sustainability of ecosystems and because it causes eutrophication of surface water. In this project we investigate whether soil fungi enhance ecosystem sustainability by preventing nutrient leaching loss after rainfall. Background: Leaching of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) from fertile agricultural ecosystems has become of major global concern because it causes eutrophication of surface water with adverse consequences for human health and water quality. Moreover, losses from infertile ecosystems can reduce plant productivity and ecosystem sustainability if there is no additional nutrient input. Hence, it is of critical importance to understand which mechanisms prevent nutrient loss and retain nutrients inside ecosystems. Besides lateral transport of nutrients via soil erosion and surface runoff, vertical movement through the soil profile (e.g. leaching) has been recognized as an important process contributing to nutrient loss. Until now there are no studies that tested whether mycorrhizal fungi can reduce nutrient losses. This is surprising because mycorrhizal fungi are often very abundant in the soil and play a key role in the nutrient cycle of plant communities. Mycorrhizal fungi can forage highly effectively for nutrients in the soil and, by doing so they could prevent leaching of nutrients (e.g. in winter or during periods with heavy rainfall). Aims: The following key questions are investigated in this project: 1. Can mycorrhizal fungi reduce nutrient loss from experimental grassland? 2. Can arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi reduce nutrient leaching losses at high soil fertility, low temperatures and when rainfall intensity increases? 3. Is ecosystem sustainability (measured as nutrient retention and reduced nutrient loss after rainfall) enhanced by the presence of diverse communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi? Relevance: It has been reported that the available phosphate sources will be depleted in about 50 years and some authors suggest that we will face a phosphate crisis endangering agricultural production. Thus, it is of critical importance to understand whether mycorrhizal fungi can reduce phosphorus loss from soils. Moreover, the production of nitrogen fertiliser is energetically expensive and high levels of nitrate in groundwater are of concern because they can pose a significant health risk and have a negative impact on downstream ecosystems. Hence, this shows that there is a need to better understand which factors influence the N-cycle and reduce N-losses.
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