Das Projekt "Effects of canopy structure on salinity stress in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Hochschule Geisenheim University, Zentrum für Wein- und Gartenbau, Institut für Gemüsebau durchgeführt. Salinity reduces the productivity of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) through osmotic and ionic effects. For given atmospheric conditions we hypothesize the existence of an optimal canopy structure at which water use efficiency is maximal and salt accumulation per unit of dry matter production is minimal. This canopy structure optimum can be predicted by integrating physiological processes over the canopy using a functional-structural plant model (FSPM). This model needs to represent the influence of osmotic stress on plant morphology and stomatal conductance, the accumulation of toxic ions and their dynamics in the different compartments of the system, and their toxic effects in the leaf. Experiments will be conducted to parameterize an extended cucumber FSPM. In in-silico experiments with the FSPM we attempt to identify which canopy structure could lead to maximum long-term water use efficiency with minimum ionic stress. The results from in-silico experiments will be evaluated by comparing different canopy structures in greenhouses. Finally, the FSPM will be used to investigate to which extent the improvement of individual mechanisms of salt tolerance like reduced sensitivity of stomatal conductance or leaf expansion can contribute to whole-plant salt tolerance.
Das Projekt "Ecotoxicology of Organotin compounds" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Frankfurt am Main, Institut für Ökologie, Evolution und Diversität, Abteilung Aquatische Ökotoxikologie durchgeführt. Organotin and especially butyltin compounds are used for a variety of applications, e.g. as biocides, stabilizers, catalysts and intermediates in chemical syntheses. Tributyltin (TBT) compounds exhibit the greatest toxicity of all organotins and have even been characterized as one of the most toxic groups of xenobiotics ever produced and deliberately introduced into the environment. TBT is not only used as an active biocidal compound in antifouling paints, which are designed to prevent marine and freshwater biota from settlement on ship hulls, harbour and offshore installations, but also as a biocide in wood preservatives, textiles, dispersion paints and agricultural pesticides. Additionally, it occurs as a by-product of mono- (MBT) and dibutyltin (DBT) compounds, which are used as UV stabilizer in many plastics and for other applications. Triphenyltin (TPT) compounds are also used as the active biocide in antifouling paints outside Europe and furthermore as an agricultural fungicide since the early 1960s to combat a range of fungal diseases in various crops, particularly potato blight, leaf spot and powdery mildew on sugar beet, peanuts and celery, other fungi on hop, brown rust on beans, grey moulds on onions, rice blast and coffee leaf rust. Although the use of TBT and TPT was regulated in many countries world-wide from restrictions for certain applications to a total ban, these compounds are still present in the environment. In the early 1970s the impact of TBT on nontarget organisms became apparent. Among the broad variety of malformations caused by TBT in aquatic animals, molluscs have been found to be an extremely sensitive group of invertebrates and no other pathological condition produced by TBT at relative low concentrations rivals that of the imposex phenomenon in prosobranch gastropods speaking in terms of sensitivity. TBT induces imposex in marine prosobranchs at concentrations as low as 0,5 ng TBT-Sn/L. Since 1993, for the littorinid snail Littorina littorea a second virilisation phenomenon, termed intersex, is known. In female specimens affected by intersex the pallial oviduct is transformed of towards a male morphology with a final supplanting of female organs by the corresponding male formations. Imposex and intersex are morphological alterations caused by a chronic exposure to ultra-trace concentrations of TBT. A biological effect monitoring offers the possibility to determine the degree of contamination with organotin compounds in the aquatic environment and especially in coastal waters without using any expensive analytical methods. Furthermore, the biological effect monitoring allows an assessment of the existing TBT pollution on the basis of biological effects. Such results are normally more relevant for the ecosystem than pure analytical data. usw.
Das Projekt "Pseudoallergische Reaktionen auf Pharmaka und Nahrungsmittelzusatzstoffe" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Forschungsinstitut Borstel durchgeführt. In Vivo und in vitro Verabreichung von Nahrungsmittelzusatzstoffen (Tartrazin, Gelborange, Amaranth, Benzoesaeure, Sorbinsaeure, Na-Disulfit, K-Disulfit, Glutamat) und von Nahrungsmitteln (Ei, Milch, Nuesse, Fisch, Rohkost, Fleisch, Mehlsorten) an Patienten mit Verdacht auf entsprechende Unvertraeglichkeiten. Symptome: Kopf- und Bauchschmerzen, Asthma, Rhinitis, Diarrhoe, Urticaria, anaphylaktischer Schock. Mit Hilfe der in vitro Provokationen werden Korrelationen zwischen Mediatorenprofilen und der klinischen Symptomatologie hergestellt. Ziel der Untersuchung: Etablierung eines validen, nicht invarsiven, den Patienten nicht gefaehrdenden diagnostischen Verfahrens zur Objektivierung der nahrungsmittelinduzierten pseudoallergischen Reaktionen.
Das Projekt "How should Model Linkages be designed to analyze the Effects of Global Agricultural Trade Liberalization at the Farm Level?" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut Bundesforschungsinstitut für Ländliche Räume, Wald und Fischerei, Institut für Betriebswirtschaft durchgeführt. In the last decades agricultural policy has gained increasingly in complexity. Nowadays it influences the food and agricultural sector from the global market down to the farm level. Widespread research questions, like the impact of the WTO negotiations on the farm structure, most often require comprehensive modeling frameworks. Thus, different types of models are utilized according to their comparative advantages and combined in a strategically useful way to more accurately represent micro and macro aspects of the food and agricultural sector. Consequently, in recent years we have seen an increase in the development and application of model linkages. Given this background, the overall objective of this subproject is a systematic sensitivity analysis of model linkages that gradually involves more and more characteristics of the linkage and the corresponding transfer of results between models. In addition, the project aims to answer the following specific question: How does structural change at the farm level influence aggregate supply and technical progress? Under which conditions is it possible to derive macro-relationships from micro-relationships? How does the aggregation level influence the model results and how can possible problems be overcome? This procedure is used to quantify the effects and to derive conditions for optimal interaction of the connected models. The analysis is based on the general equilibrium model GTAP (Global Trade Analysis Project) and the farm group model FARMIS (Farm Modelling Information System) which are employed in conjunction to analyze the effects of WTO negotiations on the farm level.
Das Projekt "Alpine plant ecology" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Basel, Botanisches Institut, Abteilung Pflanzenökologie durchgeführt. Our long term activities aim at a functional understanding of alpine plant life. Overall our research shifted gradually from studying resource acquisition (e.g. photosynthesis) toward resource investment and questions of developement. As with treeline, sink activity seems to be the major determinant of growth. A common misconception associated with alpine plant life finds its expression in the use of the terms 'stress' and 'limitation'. See the critique in: Körner C (1998) Alpine plants: stressed or adapted? In: Press MC, Scholes JD, Barker MG (eds.) Physiological Plant Ecology. Blackwell Science , 297-311. Ongoing experimental work: The influence of photoperiod on growth and development in high elevation taxa (Ph.D. by Franziska Keller in cooperation with the Dept. of Geography, University of Fribourg). We test, whether and which species are responsive to earlier snow melt. It appears there exists a suite of different sensitivities, suggesting biodiversity shifts. We also tested the influence of nutrient addition on high elevation pioneer plants and run a longer term project on the interactive effect on sheep tramplng, nitrogen deposition and warming as part of the Swiss National Project NFP 48. A Europe-wide assessment of ground temperatures in alpine grassland is part of ALPNET (see associated organisations). The assessment provides a basis for comparing biodiversity in alpine biota from 69 to 37 degree of northern latitude. (Nagy et al. (2003) Ecological Studies, Vol. 167. 577 p. Springer, Berlin). A synthesis of research in functional ecology of alpine plants over the past 100 years was published in 1999.
Das Projekt "Teilprojekt: Kalibrierung und Dekonvolution von Bohrlochseismogrammen zur Optimierung von seismischen Gefährdungsanalysen und Bestimmung von Erdbeben-Quellparameter am Beispiel von Wellenformendaten aus dem ICDP-GONAF-Projekt" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum durchgeführt. In den zurückliegenden 1.5 Jahren des Projektes konzentrierten sich die Arbeiten auf das erste bereits fertiggestellte vertikale Seismometer-Array des ICDP-GONAF-Observatoriums auf der Tuzla Halbinsel im Südosten Istanbuls. Aufgrund des verbesserten Signal-Rausch-Verhältnisses an den Bohrlochseismometern im Vergleich zu den Oberflächenstationen war es möglich, deutlich mehr M kleiner als 0 Mikrobeben zu detektieren. Diese Messdaten stellten die Grundlage für die bereits durchgeführten seismologischen Studien dar. In der hier beantragten Verlängerung werden wir unsere Erdbebendatenbank für das östliche Marmarameer fortlaufend erweitern, indem wir die im Sommer 2014 fertig gestellten Seismometer-Arrays auf der Armutlu-Halbinsel in die Detektionsalgorithmen integrieren, sowie dann auch weitere vier GONAF-Bohrlocharrays, deren Fertigstellung bis Frühjahr 2015 geplant ist. Es wurden verschiedene Methoden zur Bestimmung oberflächennaher Eigenschaften des Tuzla-Standortes, wie z.B. seismische Geschwindigkeiten und Dämpfung, angewendet und angepasst. Dieselben Methoden werden auf die neuen GONAF-Stationen übertragen, um zu verifizieren, ob die Beobachtungen in Tuzla standortspezifisch, oder auch für andere geologische Formationen repräsentativ sind. Die dann erstmals durchgeführte vergleichende Analyse unterschiedlicher Standorte in der Region wird neue Einblicke geben, um die Auswerteverfahren für die Korrektur von Standort-Effekten weiterzuentwickeln. Dies ist z.B. für eine genaue Abschätzung von Erdbeben-Quellparametern essentiell. Darüber hinaus planen wir, Processing-Methoden des Vertical-Seismic Profiling einzusetzen, um die Zweige der Nordanatolischen Verwerfungszone unterhalb des östlichen Marmarameeres abzubilden (passive fault-zone imaging). Dabei wird die lokale Seismizität genutzt, die in kleiner als 20 km Epizentralentfernung von den GONAF-Stationen in Tiefen von 5 bis 20 km auftritt und an den verschiedenen Tiefenstockwerken der GONAF-Arrays registriert wird. Schließlich werden Wellenformen-Registrierungen von erstmals in 300m Tiefe eingesetzten 3-Komponenten 1Hz MARK Seismometern ausgewertet, unter Anderem um verstärkt S-Wellen-Eigenschaften der Region zu untersuchen.
Das Projekt "Assessment of satellite constellations for monitoring the variations in earth s gravity field" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Stuttgart, Geodätisches Institut durchgeführt. More than a decade has passed since the launch of the GRACE satellite mission. Although designed for a nominal mission lifetime of 5 years, it still provides valuable science data. An eventual systems failure and, thus, mission termination is expected any time soon, though. Despite a relative low spatial and temporal resolution, the monthly gravity fields have proved an invaluable and novel parameter set in several geoscience disciplines, allowing new research venues in the study of Global Change phenomena. The hydrological cycle is now subject to quantification at continental scales; the state of the cryosphere, particularly ice sheet melting over Greenland and Antarctica, can be monitored; and steric effects of sea-level change have become separable from non-steric ones. The enormous success of the mission has driven the need for continuation of monitoring mass changes in the Earth system. Indeed, a GRACE Follow-On (GFO) mission has been approved for launch in August 2017. Like its predecessor it will consist of two satellites flying en echelon with intersatellite K-Band ranging as the main gravitational sensor. Despite a number of planned technological improvements, including a laser link as demonstrator, GFO will mostly be based on GRACE heritage. Given a similar orbit configuration and a similar systems setup, the quality of eventual gravity field products can be expected to be in the same range as the current GRACE products. To guarantee the continuation of such successful gravity field time series ESA has embarked several years ago on a long term strategy for future gravity field satellite missions, both in terms of technology development and in terms of consolidating the user community. Scientists from academia and industry held a workshop on The Future of Satellite Gravimetry at ESTEC premises, 12-13 April 2007, (RD-9). Similar workshops have been organized by other organizations, e.g. the joint GGOS/IGCP565 workshop Towards a Roadmap for Future Satellite Gravity Missions in Graz, September 30 - October 2, 2009. ESA furthermore played a key role in consolidating the international user community by funding a series of study projects, cf. (RD-1) to (RD-5). Similar projects have been funded and conducted at national level, e.g. the German BMBF-funded Geotechnologies III project Concepts for future gravity field satellite missions (PI: N. Sneeuw). These studies, together with GRACE experience, have provided a clear understanding of the current limitations of a GRACE-type mission. In particular the limitations in sampling and sensitivity of a single pair of satellites with in-orbit in-line sensitivity are well documented. At the same time, these studies have shown the design options and a roadmap towards a next generation gravity field mission.
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 "Adaptation of forest trees to climatic change - climate sensitive growth dynamics of Douglas-fir provenances" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Forstliche Versuchs- und Forschungsanstalt Baden-Württemberg durchgeführt. The main objective of the project is to determine growth sensitivity, elasticity, and resilience of Douglas-fir provenances to climatic alterations, in particular drought events. To differentiate between the impact of site and genetics, samples from experiments will be analyzed, where identical provenances are planted at different sites. Major research scopes are: Investigating the impact of weather on intra-annual growth patterns We will determine how weather variations affect the provenances' growth. The focus will be on intra-annual variations in wood anatomy and density. A dendrometer study will complement the retrospective analyses to monitor changes in stem hydraulic status and to trace the seasonal timing of growth processes. Fitting genotype- and climate-sensitive growth models for a growth simulation system Retrospective inter-annual growth address long-term trends as well as the effect of distinct climate events on inter-annual growth responses. The goal is to build provenance- and climate-sensitive growth models that can be integrated into a growth simulation system. The assessment of growth responses to drought will be tested and interpreted against the results of the partner projects within the general research concept 'adaptation of forest trees to climatic change - diversity of drought responses in Douglas-fir provenances': P1 (genes), P2 (stable isotopes), and P4 (isoprenoids). A major contribution of our project is to provide the partner projects with research opportunities in the adult stands of the provenance experiments.
Das Projekt "SP 2.3 Decision support systems for weed management in North China Plain production systems" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Hohenheim, Institut für Tropische Agrarwissenschaften (Hans-Ruthenberg-Institut) (490), Fachgebiet Agrarökologie der Tropen und Substropen (490f) durchgeführt. Wide applications in Europe show that weed management strategies can be considerably improved when computerized expert systems, decision models and population-dynamic models are applied. If these management systems are transferred and adapted to the specific production systems of the North China Plain, herbicide use can be significantly reduced and the evolution of persistent weed populations in the major arable crops can be avoided. The main objective of this subproject will be to create efficacy-based models analyzing herbicide performance in major crops and to create population-based models for herbicide use analyzing the yield losses caused by weed competition. For these models it is necessary to determine the sensitivity of major weed species to herbicides and to explore the potential of reduced dose rates for herbicide use. Furthermore it is necessary to investigate weed management practices combining preventive (timing of seeding, crop rotation and tillage) and direct methods (chemical and physical methods) of weed control. For population dynamic models it is necessary to determine long-term economic weed threshold estimating the changes in the soil seed bank. Finally both models will be combined in a decision support system for weed control in North China Plain Production Systems. The applicability of this decision support system will be tested in field experiments.
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