Das Projekt "Pasture rehabilitation on, and management of degraded areas in the Andes of South Ecuador" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Bayreuth, Fachgruppe Biologie, Bayreuther Zentrum für Ökologie und Umweltforschung (BayCEER), Lehrstuhl für Pflanzenphysiologie durchgeführt. Project abstract: This knowledge transfer project will be centered in the San Francisco valley in the South Ecuadorian Andes. However, the problem of abandoning pastures because of heavy infestation by weeds, in particular by bracken fern (Pteridium spec.), is a general issue in the tropical Andes. Pastures which have been abandoned for that reason amount meanwhile to 11Prozent of the area of the San Francisco valley. Infestation by bracken fern and shrubs is a consequence of the traditional use of fire for clearing of the natural forest and pasture management. Growth of both, bracken and woody weeds, is fostered by recurrent burning. In a 2-phase experiment on a heavily bracken-infested slope at c. 2000 m altitude, substantial control of the weed and subsequent pasture rehabilitation could be achieved. In the planned project, this procedure shall be scaled-up to farm level and the altitudinal range of repasturisation shall be extended from 1000 m to 2400 m altitude. To that end local farmers will put respective parts of their land to the projects disposal and public authorities will provide man-power. There are several challenges to be met: (i) Long-term bracken infestation has depleted the soils from nutrients, in particular P and N. Therefore targeted fertilization is needed for profitable grass productivity. (ii) Since bracken can never be completely eradicated, its regrowth must be suppressed by trampling, i.e. frequent grazing. A sustainable grazing management has to be developed which corresponds to soil fertility. (iii) The dominating pasture grass is the C4-type grass Setaria sphacelata. It is growing well in a warm climate but its competitive strength in the harsher climate above 2000 m is low. Bracken as a C3-type plant is less dependent on the temperature. To this adds that it occurs in 2 species in the area, one of which is an upland type. Thus the climate gradient over the elevational transect will influence the competitive strength of both competitors. Therefore the suitability of the traditional monoculture of this grass species for pasture rehabilitation shall be tested in the context of a comprehensive pasture management experiment which the farmers will be involved. (iv) A special problem is the high oxalate concentration in the growing parts of the Setaria leaves which can cause calcaemia in cattle. In a pot experiment which will be run in collaboration with a research team of the UTPL, feeding quality and toxicity of a monotonous diet of Setaria will be tested. Beside the experimental areas, demonstration sites will be installed where regular training workshops will be organized to encourage the farmers to apply the developed rehabilitation and management strategy to their own farms.
Das Projekt "Model coupling and complex structures - Evaporation-driven transport and precipitation of salts in porous media" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Stuttgart, Institut für Wasser- und Umweltsystemmodellierung durchgeführt. Degradation of the soil productivity due to salt accumulation (salinization) is a major concern in arid, semi-arid and coastal regions. Soil salinization is an old issue but encouraged irrigation practices have been rapidly increasing its intensity and magnitude in the past few decades. Studies have shown that excess of the irrigated water contributes significantly to evaporation from the bare soil surface and therefore to the salinization. In some parts of the world soil salinity has grown so acute that the agricultural lands have been abandoned. Evaporation salinization is mainly influenced by interaction between the flow and transport processes in the atmosphere and the porous-medium. On the atmosphere side, wind velocity, air temperature and radiation have a strong impact on evaporation. Furthermore, turbulence causes air mixing, influences the vapor transport and creates a boundary layer at the soil-atmosphere interface which indeed influences evaporation. On the porous-medium side, dissolved salt is transported under the influence of viscous forces, capillary forces, gravitational forces and advective and diffusive fluxes. The water either directly evaporates from the water-filled pores or it is transported to air due to diffusive processes. Continuous evaporation promotes salt accumulation and precipitation resulting in soil salinization. In the scope of this work we attempt to develop a model concept capable of handling flow, transport and precipitation processes related to evaporative salinization of an unsaturated porous-medium.
Das Projekt "C1: Exploration and consolidation of silvicultural knowledge for sustainable management of forest sites in the South Ecuadorian Andes" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Technische Universität München, Wissenschaftszentrum Weihenstephan für Ernährung, Landnutzung und Umwelt, Lehrstuhl für Waldbau durchgeführt. Deforestation in neotropical montane rain forests does not only lead to loss of biodiversity, but also to destruction of the socioeconomic basis for livelihood. The project aims at building-up silvicultural and ecological knowledge needed for sustainable management of different forest resources (natural and managed forests, abandoned land) in South Ecuador. The activities consider three complementary research sections: i) management of forest reproductive material of native species; ii) reforestation of different types of abandoned pastures with native species; iii) management of natural forests and potential seed sources. The investigations encompass activities on different scales ranging from seeds, individual trees, forest stands, to ecosystems. In the new phase we will deepen our integrative research in undisturbed und disturbed forest ecosystems with different degrees of degradation. New investigations will focus on clarifying the potential of direct seeding as alternative to planting for restoration of degraded ecosystems and on propagation of woody NTFP crops as supplemental utilisation option. The still existing gaps in the knowledge of the silvicultural bases for sustainable forest ecosystem management will be closed and all results will be consolidated towards regional concepts that contribute to the maintenance of the natural forest resources and its biodiversity, reduced deforestation, sustainable development of the forestry sector, and ensurance of the socio-economic needs of the people.
Das Projekt "Balancing regulating and provisioning ecosystem services: Comprehensive land-use concepts for effective conservation" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Technische Universität München, Wissenschaftszentrum Weihenstephan für Ernährung, Landnutzung und Umwelt, Fachgebiet für Waldinventur und nachhaltige Nutzung durchgeführt. A growing trend to produce fuel ethanol from grain and continuing changes in human diets, as observed with increasing standard of living, have led to increasing land-use conflicts. The observable high food prices are - at least in part - a consequence of the above development. They act as signals to increase production, often combined with severe environmental problems. Moreover, as another obviously undesirable consequence, high prices may reduce consumption, particularly among the world's poor. Achieving sustainable land use by means of an optimal allocation of scarce land resources to competing purposes is thus a major global challenge for the 21st century. The results of this work are supposed to be transferred to the dry forest region around the Laipuna Reserve (Ecuador). We will couple several land-use models and modelling approaches, all built on economic drivers (economic risk and return of land-use options), to conceptualise a land-use model and to develop land-use scenarios for the study area at landscape level. The existing land-use approaches will be coupled for this task and expanded by dietary energy and fuel energy outputs and by consequences of land-use scenarios for carbon pools and water protection. The available models, such as 'Ecological-Economic Farm Diversification' (dynamic farm-level perspective), 'Optimized Land-Use Diversification' (comparative-static national level approach) and 'Compartmental land-use approaches' (dynamic farm/landscape-level, so far scenario based), address various scales. It is intended to combine them by means of modelling various farm types which are representative for a specific area. Land-use scenarios include various food price projections and scenarios on vulnerability of production systems. The hypothesis to be tested is: 'Increasing the production of food, biofuel and timber by appropriate landscape concepts for intensification and/or recultivation of abandoned lands reverses the adverse effects of indirect land-use change: Such strategies lead to more efficient land allocation and to decreasing prices, thus mitigating the pressure on forest ecosystems to reduce the costs of conservation strategies and those of providing regulating services.
Das Projekt "Effects of litter removal on the nutrient and carbon regime of forest soils" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Eidgenössische Forschungsanstalt für Wald, Schnee und Landschaft durchgeführt. 150 years ago the forest in Switzerland was heavily influenced by agrarian management techniques. This included in addition to the wood pasture also the removal and use of the forest litter. Therefore, the question arises, to what extent the abandonment of these management techniques influenced the nutrient status and the humus content of forest soils. Aims: We want to shed light on the importance of the litter removal for the nutrient status and the carbon cycle in forest soils by an experimental reintroduction of these abandoned management techniques. We intend to systematically investigate the effects of litter removal on various sites of different productivity. The following questions will be answered: What is the effect of a regular litter removal on the carbon cycle in forests, particularly on the C-stock? To what extent decrease the exchangeable cations in the course of ten years and how strong is the decrease in the cation exchange capacity? Will the C- and N-concentrations and the N-forms be altered in the soil solution as a consequence of the litter removal? What is the effect of the litter removal on the internal N-cycle (N-mineralisation, nitrification)? Methods: Monitoring of the soil solution in treated and control plots; Monitoring the chemical changes in the soil matrix; Incubation experiments in the laboratory.
Das Projekt "The Alnus-problem and the exceedance of critical loads for nitrogen in the Alps" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Basel, Botanisches Institut, Abteilung Pflanzenökologie durchgeführt. Large areas of abandoned pasture land in the Alps are currently encroached by shrub at a breathtaking speed, with green alder (Alnus viridis) playing the most prominent role. Dense Alnus thickets reduce plant diversity in former species-rich upper montane grassland, prevent natural forest succession, change the water relations at the landscape scale by reducing runoff, contribute through symbiotic N2 fixation substantially to eutrophication by leaching nitrate to the river system and exert risks to local drinking water springs. Paradoxically, this conversion into species-poor, nitrogen enriching and releasing Alnus thickets occurs in mountain regions considered particularly rich in biodiversity and essential for the continuing provision of many ecosystem goods and services, particularly for clean and plentiful water. Except from local sources, critical loads for nitrogen by atmospheric deposition are only rarely exceeded in these high elevation regions. The project ALNEX is designed (1) to quantify the water quality impact of Alnus by measuring the nitrogen pools and fluxes from single alder shrub to catchment-wide landscapes, (2) to elaborate land management guidelines towards preserving of open, centuries-old pasture land and (3) to assess the policy implications in a critical load and biodiversity context.
Das Projekt "UN ECE-Workshop 'Transboundary Flood Risk Management'" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Dr. Arnim Petrascheck durchgeführt. A workshop on transboundary flood risk management took placeon 22 and 23 April 2009 within the framework of the programme of work of the UNECE Water Convention, under the joint leadership of the Government of Germany, the Government of the Netherlands and in cooperation with the World Meteorological Organisation. Background: Extreme flood events and especially the economic, social and environmental as well as human life losses they cause have significantly increased during the last years in the UNECE region. At the same time, flood prone areas represent vital assets to the economy of many members of the region that can and should not be abandoned. Due to the transboundary nature of many rivers in the region, flooding often has transboundary consequences and thus cooperation is required. For this reason, under the Water Convention, Guidelines on Sustainable Flood Prevention were adopted in 2000 and subsequently Model Provisions on Transboundary Flood Management were adopted in 2006. The fourth meeting of the Parties to the Water Convention in 2006 created a new Water and Climate Task Force which was entrusted with activities in two main areas of work: transboundary flood management and water and climate change adaptation. In the area of transboundary flood management, the Task Force should support the transfer of the experience and results of the European Network of Expertise on Flood Risk Management to non-European Union countries. To this aim, the workshop on transboundary flood risk management is organized. Objectives: exchange experiences and support the transfer of results from research projects and other recent activities concerning flood management in the European Union to non-EU countries, e.g. the work of the European exchange circle on flood forecasting (EXCIFF), the European exchange circle on flood mapping (EXCIMAP) and the EU Working Group on Floods; provide a platform for exchange of positive and negative experiences and lessons learned by Parties that have developed flood risk management plans taking into account the transboundary context and those which are currently developing or planning to develop such programmes; analyse in depth flood management problems in a limited number of transboundary basins in the UNECE region and provide recommendations for improving transboundary cooperation regarding flood risk management in these basins.
Das Projekt "Safe Management of Mining Waste and Waste Facilities (SAFEMANMIN)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von BIUTEC - Biotechnologie- und Umwelttechnologie Forschungs- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH durchgeführt. The project aims at supporting the implementation of the proposed Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the management of waste from the extractive industries 2003/0107. The Directive was prepared following several major accidents with a serious impact on the environment, and it has the purpose of ensuring a safer management of the mining waste facilities, so that such accidents will not occur in the future. This project addresses particularly Article 9, which provides for the classification of waste facilities with respect to the possible consequences of an accident, and respectively the Annex II: Characterisation of mining waste and Annex III: Criteria for the classification of waste facilities. The activities of the project are divided into four major work packages as follows: - Preparation of a Methodology for the Characterisation of Mining Waste - Elaboration of a Risk Assessment Methodology for the Classification of Mining Waste Facilities, including Old/Abandoned Mining Waste Facilities - Review of Techniques for the Prevention and Abatement of Pollution Generated by Mining Wastes - Development of a Decision Support Tool for Minimising the Impact of the Mining Industry on the Environment. The Consortium co-ordinated by BIUTEC, Austria, includes universities, research institutes, NGOs and implementing authorities from 8 European countries, both Members of the EU and accession countries. The experts team is highly qualified and has many years of experience and research in this area, so that the best outputs can be obtained. The project will build on the results of other projects carried out in this field, and will relate closely to on-going projects, so that there is no overlap in our activities. In order to provide an effective tool for the potential beneficiaries, the project team will consult with representatives of the stakeholders before the final versions of the outputs are publicly made available on the project web-site.
Das Projekt "Conditions for Restoration and Mitigation of Desertified Areas Using Vegetation (RECONDES)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von University Portsmouth, Higher Education Corporation durchgeführt. The focus of RECONDES is to address the mitigation of desertification processes by the means of innovative techniques using vegetation in specific landscape configurations prone to severe degradation processes. Its major objective is to produce practical guidelines on the conditions for use of vegetation in areas vulnerable to desertification, taking into account spatial variability in geomorphological and human-driven processes related to degradation and desertification. RECONDES will combine the understanding of the mechanisms of land degradation and of the critical soil conditions necessary for maintaining and restoring soil and land quality and ecosystem health to identify how and where vegetation could be used to mitigate desertification. It will identify the conditions or thresholds which have to be attained or retained for vegetation growth and survival and examine where those conditions are found. It will match those conditions against the processes of degradation to identify where treatments or restoration will be most effective. It will identify innovative measures which might be taken to create or maintain conditions. Crucially, it will examine linkages within the landscape at different scales to determine the key points for intervention. The effects of vegetation treatments will be modelled and optimal strategies produced at scales from plot to catchment. The practical guidelines produced will be disseminated to end users. RECONDES is being applied in relation to the marginal lands of the north Mediterranean, the areas of southern Europe which are vulnerable to or have suffered desertification. The research is divided into six major work packages based on a hierarchy of land /use units found in these areas: Reforested land, Rainfed cropland, Semi-natural and abandoned land, Hillslopes, River valleys, Catchments.
Das Projekt "Mögliche Konsequenzen aus den australischen Fütterungsversuchen mit transgenen Erbsen" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Interuniversitäres Forschungszentrum für Technik, Arbeit und Kultur (IFZ) durchgeführt. Im Jahr 2005 schreckte eine Veröffentlichung australischer Wissenschaftler die gentechnik-sensibilisierte europäische Öffentlichkeit auf und sorgt seither für Spekulationen. Die Wissenschaftler hatten die Entwicklung einer genetisch veränderten Erbse abgebrochen, nachdem Fütterungsversuche mit Mäusen zur Erkrankung der Versuchstiere geführt hatten. Für die Erkrankungen verantwortlich gemacht wurde das aus der Bohne übertragene Eiweiß, welches in der Erbse immunogene und/oder allergene Eigenschaften entfaltete, die in der Ursprungspflanze nicht auftraten. Als Ursache werden Modifikationen des Erbseneiweiß in den Bohnen vermutet. In diesem Kontext soll das Projekt untersuchen, ob a) das von den australischen Wissenschaftlern angewandte Untersuchungsverfahren für die Entdeckung allergieauslösender Stoffe anwendbar ist; b) die in Europa angewandten Prüfverfahren im Zulassungsverfahren für GVO geeignet wären, den festgestellten Effekt zu entdecken; c) die Prüfverfahren im europäischen Zulassungsverfahren, die in Folge der australischen Erkenntnisse einer Änderung bedürfen.
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