Das Projekt "Soil N dynamics as affected by different land use in Western and Southern China" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Technische Universität Dresden, Institut für Bodenkunde und Standortslehre durchgeführt. The aim of the research project is to quantify the stocks and turnover of soil nitrogen in Western and Southern China as dependent from soil structure and land use. Key soil characteristics are determined at representative sites with regional specific land use and degradation status. The investigations will follow a land use gradient of natural forests, arable and pasture soils, the latter ones considering different degradation and rehabilitation status. The actual and potential soil nitrogen turnover will be horizon-wise quantified and related to soil structure and land use impacts. Beside mineral nitrogen, also preliminary organic N compounds using physical and chemical extraction will be detected. Parameters for the investigations are, beside total C and N stocks and distribution, gross and net N mineralization, nitrification, microbial biomass C and N and microbial respiration and indicators for soil N turnover like active N pools and light fraction of organic matter. In the last phase the structure of the soil microbial microbial community will be determined and related to indicators of nitrogen status and efficiency. The research activities will be carried out in close co-operation with the Institute for Soil and Water Conservation/ Yangling University at loess soils and the Nanjing Institute for Soil Science/ Chinese Academy for Science in Nanjing at red soil sites.
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 "SP 1.4 Evaluation of nutrient and pollutant cycles of livestock production systems and manure management systems in the North China Plain" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Hohenheim, Institut für Agrartechnik, Fachgebiet Verfahrenstechnik der Tierhaltungssysteme (440b) durchgeführt. The increasing specialization and intensification of the agricultural food production in the North China Plain is leading to restrictions in nutrients and production cycles at farm and regional levels. As a result, livestock production in the North China Plain is entailing serious environmental negative impacts related to manure surpluses and recycling of nutrients, mainly leading to problems associated with water, soil and air pollution. On the other side higher nutrient demands in the local crops is leading to the purchase of chemical or mineral fertilizers when local or on-farm nutrients are not available. Therefore, the efficient use of organic fertilizers not only depends on their availability in the farms, but also on their nutritional composition. Likewise, soil nutrient requirements and plant physiological needs have to be taken into consideration. Indeed, the closer the nutrient cycles and the lower the environmental negative impacts and farm losses are, the greater the chances for a more sustainable resource use in the North China Plain. In the context of the IRTG, aspects of livestock farming in production systems in terms of widely closed nutrients cycles will be integrated. The material flows in different animal husbandry systems will be analysed and the environmental impacts dependent on livestock farming techniques, farms operability and their respective management will be investigated. The applicability and effectiveness of the technical and organizational measures for the reduction of material losses and, the environmental burdens caused by livestock and manure mismanagement in the North China Plain will be reviewed. The benefits and profits for the local cropping systems as result of the application of organic fertilizers originated from livestock farming will be both, ecologically and economically, evaluated as an alternative to replace the use of mineral fertilizers.
Das Projekt "Seasonal regulation of ion- and metabolite transport between poplar shoot tissues" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Würzburg, Julius-von-Sachs-Institut für Biowissenschaften mit Botanischem Garten, Lehrstuhl für Botanik I Molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie und Biophysik durchgeführt. We intend to investigate the molecular mechanisms of mineral nutrient dependent poplar physiology with special focus on potassium. This will be accomplished using two different approaches. 1. Molecular biology: We will study the regulation of ion channels and transporters by different environmental conditions, such as the effect of nutrition, salt, hormonal action, cold and drought during wood production and the dormancy-growth transitions. Phenotype analysis of transporter sense/antisense plants will be used to gain insights into the role of the transporters in tree physiology. On the basis of a laser-micro-dissection system, we will be able to prepare cDNA of distinct cell types and generate subtractive cDNAs to determine genes, specific for the differentiation of vessels and bast fibers. 2. Electrophysiological investigations: We will compare the functional properties of the transporters. Ion-fluxes and transporters, involved in cambial activation will be characterized in vivo and in vitro. The response to changes in e.g. the extracellular medium in vitro, will provide a measure for the regulation of ion transport by apoplastic factors in vivo. Based on this data sets we should be able to establish a model on the seasonal fluxes of potassium in relation to the transporter properties and dynamics in the context of tree physiology in general and xylogenesis in particular.
Das Projekt "Forschergruppe (FOR) 1806: The Forgotten Part of Carbon Cycling: Organic Matter Storage and Turnover in Subsoils (SUBSOM)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Bochum, Geographisches Institut, Arbeitsgruppe Bodenkunde und Bodenökologie durchgeführt. We are currently facing the urgent need to improve our understanding of carbon cycling in subsoils, because the organic carbon pool below 30 cm depth is considerably larger than that in the topsoil and a substantial part of the subsoil C pool appears to be much less recalcitrant than expected over the last decades. Therefore, small changes in environmental conditions could change not only carbon cycling in topsoils, but also in subsoils. While organic matter stabilization mechanisms and factors controlling its turnover are well understood in topsoils, the underlying mechanisms are not valid in subsoils due to depth dependent differences regarding (1) amounts and composition of C-pools and C-inputs, (2) aeration, moisture and temperature regimes, (3) relevance of specific soil organic carbon (SOC) stabilisation mechanisms and (4) spatial heterogeneity of physico-chemical and biological parameters. Due to very low C concentrations and high spatio-temporal variability of properties and processes, the investigation of subsoil phenomena and processes poses major methodological, instrumental and analytical challenges. This project will face these challenges with a transdisciplinary team of soil scientists applying innovative approaches and considering the magnitude, chemical and isotopic composition and 14C-content of all relevant C-flux components and C-fractions. Taking also the spatial and temporal variability into account, will allow us to understand the four-dimensional changes of C-cycling in this environment. The nine closely interlinked subprojects coordinated by the central project will combine field C-flux measurements with detailed analyses of subsoil properties and in-situ experiments at a central field site on a sandy soil near Hannover. The field measurements are supplemented by laboratory studies for the determination of factors controlling C stabilization and C turnover. Ultimately, the results generated by the subprojects and the data synthesized in the coordinating project will greatly enhance our knowledge and conceptual understanding of the processes and controlling factors of subsoil carbon turnover as a prerequisite for numerical modelling of C-dynamics in subsoils.
Das Projekt "Distribution of Na+, Cl- and nutrients among tillers in contrasting wheat cultivars under saline conditions" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Technische Universität München, Lehrstuhl für Pflanzenernährung durchgeführt. Salinity poses serious problems to agriculture worldwide. Under saline conditions, reduction in wheat yield is highly dependent upon the reduction in tillering. Since yield in mainspike is much less reduced as compared with that in other spikes by salinity, the mainstem tiller in wheat is probably more tolerant to salinity. Exclusion of salt from mainstem is one of the major strategies for salt tolerance. Our hypothesis is that mainstem tiller may exclude salt into subtillers as a stratgegy for increasing its salt tolerance. To identify whether there is higher transport of salt into subtillers than into mainstem tillers, the relations of salt and inorganic nutrients between mainstem tillers and subtillers will be investigated. Subtillers will be suppressed or stimulated by supplying the different levels of nitrogen, by using uniculm and multiculm genotypes, by removing subtiller buds, and by applying ABA. To further understand the mechanism of salt distribution in mainstem tillers and subtillers, the phloem transport of salt among the tillers will be studied, and contrasting cultivars of wheat will be used.
Das Projekt "COST Action TU0702 Real-time monitoring, surveillance and control of road networks under adverse weather conditions" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Hochschule Biberach, Institut für Immobilienökonomie, Infrastrukturplanung und Projektmanagement (IIP) durchgeführt. The main objective of the Action is to understand better the impacts of weather on freeways/motorways as well as on urban networks highway operations and to develop, promote and implement strategies and tools to mitigate those impacts. Adverse weather conditions can have a significant impact on traffic operations and quality of traffic flow. The advanced technologies for collecting and archiving weather data can assist the development of intelligent weather-based traffic management strategies, monitoring and control systems. In view of the paramount importance of weather-responsive tools for real-time traffic surveillance, this project will focus on the development of strategies and techniques aimed at improving the road traffic management and safety. The main goal is to mitigate the negative impacts of adverse weather conditions to traffic flows and to predict the traffic flows under adverse weather conditions. The term of 'adverse weather conditions refers to the meteorological conditions that decrease the visibility and worsen the pavement conditions. This project will bring together researchers actively working on road networks related issues. It will concentrate on mutually complementary methodologies for modelling, estimation and control that will improve the safety of traffic networks. Traffic flows are highly dependent on weather conditions and researches on this issue are very limited in the literature. Next, traffic flow prediction by reliable algorithms will be addressed in tight connection with the traffic sensor network. This project will address also many issues related to efficient, reliable and quick exchange of information and data over sensor networks for vehicular traffic. The data are received only at boundaries between some segments and averaged within possibly irregular time intervals. Additionally, there are missing data and sensor failures that need to be taken into account. Further, with the developed models and estimators, advanced control strategies will be developed dealing with appropriate fusion of the multiple sensor data.
Das Projekt "The effect of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration on gross nitrogen dynamics, plant N-uptake and microbial community dynamics in a permanent grassland" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Gießen, Institut für Pflanzenökologie (Botanik II) durchgeführt. To predict ecosystem reactions to elevated atmospheric CO2 (eCO2) it is essential to understandthe interactions between plant carbon input, microbial community composition and activity and associated nutrient dynamics. Long-term observations (greater than 13 years) within the Giessen Free Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment (Giessen FACE) study on permanent grassland showed next to an enhanced biomass production an unexpected strong positive feedback effect on ecosystem respiration and nitrous oxide (N2O) production. The overall goal of this study is to understand the long-term effects of eCO2 and carbon input on microbial community composition and activity as well as the associated nitrogen dynamics, N2O production and plant N uptake in the Giessen FACE study on permanent grassland. A combination of 13CO2 pulse labelling with 15N tracing of 15NH4+ and 15NO3- will be carried out in situ. Different fractions of soil organic matter (recalcitrant, labile SOM) and the various mineral N pools in the soil (NH4+, NO3-, NO2-), gross N transformation rates, pool size dependent N2O and N2 emissions as well as N species dependent plant N uptake rates and the origin of the CO2 respiration will be quantified. Microbial analyses will include exploring changes in the composition of microbial communities involved in the turnover of NH4+, NO3-, N2O and N2, i.e. ammonia oxidizing, denitrifying, and microbial communities involved in dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonia (DNRA). Stable Isotope Probing (SIP) and mRNA based analyses will be employed to comparably evaluate the long-term effects of eCO2 on the structure and abundance of these communities, while transcripts of these genes will be used to target the fractions of the communities which actively contribute to N transformations.
Das Projekt "E 3: Market potential of high-value agricultural products as a determinant for rural development in Northern Thailand and Vietnam" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Hohenheim, Institut für Agrar- und Sozialökonomie in den Tropen und Subtropen durchgeführt. The objective of this project is to evaluate markets and marketing systems relevant for assessing the potential of specific agricultural products in the rapidly changing rural environment of northern Thailand and Vietnam. The project aims (1) to evaluate the market potential of high value fruit products (mango, lychee, longan which are the subject of research in subproject D1), (2) to assess the feasibility and economies of scale of fruit processing (as technically required following research in subproject E1 and E2), and (3) to reveal the market effects of alternative production techniques (improved animal production in D2, farming systems in D3) introduced into agricultural production systems. This will provide information for the technical and farming systems projects on adjustment needs with respect to market prices and costs. Market information is indispensable for the products mentioned above, as many of them are supposed to be products with high income elasticities and therefore strongly dependent on macroeconomic developments such as recent market and income distortions observed in Southeast Asia. Research in this phase will lay the groundwork for assessing the optimal structure (location, size, number) of a processing industry in the later phases of the SFB.
Das Projekt "HARMONISED,accurate and reliable prediction methods for the eu directive on the assessment and management of environmental noise (HARMONOISE)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre Oberpfaffenhofen durchgeführt. Objective: The European commission has recently published the Draft Directive on the Assessment and Management of Environmental Noise. The commission announces, e.g. in article 1 that intelligent, common, harmonised computation methods with ensured accuracy need to be developed. None of the many existing methods in the Member States satisfies these requirements. The HARMONOISE project intends to develop and validate such methods for the Assessment and Management of Noise from Road and Rail Traffic. The project will build on the most recent scientific achievements in all Member States and will also provide consensus amongst future users throughout the EC. For this purpose the Consortium has a wide international and scientific background. The methods to be provided will be implemented as obligatory under the Directive and will thus find a wide use for purposes of noise planning, mapping, zoning, noise abatement measures and strategies and for compliance checks. Objectives: 1. To develop methods by which the sound power output and the directivity of sources of road and rail traffic can be described and assessed as an accurate physical quantity which is independent of short distance sound propagation; 2. To establish a better correlation with future legislation on limiting the noise generation; 3. To define the format of databases by which source dependent data and location dependent data can be collected and stored; 4. To define the minimum set of meteorological conditions which are to be distinguished in order to derive the long term average noise indicator Lden for 3 different periods of the day (day, evening, night) with sufficient accuracy; 5. To apply advanced scientific tools to model and describe the sound propagation under these conditions;6. To validate the models against empirical data of the highest level of definition; 7. To integrate the above steps into one system of methods to be applied by users anywhere in the EC. Work description: Prediction methods for environmental noise from road and rail traffic and from industrial sources are available in various EU member states. These methods show many lacunae: some of them cannot produce the harmonised noise indicator Lden; others show insufficiencies in e.g. the separation of source power output and propagation (usually leading to different propagation models for different sources, which can not be justified from a scientific point of view). Complicated propagation conditions (e.g. multiple reflections in built up areas) show low accuracy. The Harmonoise project will collect the empirical data on which the existing methods were based as well as the models themselves and use these as a starting point for improvement and harmonisation. The source description will be based on true physical quantities (sound power level, directivity), independent of the propagation conditions. Prime Contractor: AEA Technology Rail BV; Utrecht; Nederland.
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