Das Projekt B1 'Allometrie und Raumbesetzung von krautigen und holzigen Pflanzen' ist Teil des Sonderforschungsbereiches 607 Wachstum und Parasitenabwehr und befindet sich bereits in der vierten Phase des seit 1998 laufenden Forschungsprojektes. Bisher wurde im Projekt B1 die Allometrie als Resultat der pflanzeninternen Steuerung der Allokation untersucht. Auf Individuenebene wurden Allometrie und ihre Veränderung für verschiedene Baumarten in verschiedenen ontogenetischen Stadien untersucht. Auf Bestandesebene wurden die self-thinning-Linien von Yoda und Reineke für krautige bzw. holzige Pflanzenbestände analysiert. Bisherige Allometriebestimmungen erbrachten für diese Arten zwar ähnliche Größenordnung aber auch charakteristische Unterschiede, die Ausdruck spezifischer Strategien der Raumbesetzung und -ausbeutung widerspiegeln. Die bisher vereinzelten Auswertungen sollen in Phase IV in eine übergreifende Analyse (versch. Arten, ontogenetische Stadien, Konkurrenzsituationen, Störfaktoren) der Allometrie auf Pflanzen- und Bestandesebene münden.
Die Erkennung von Veränderungen der Landbedeckung der Erdoberfläche auf der Basis von satellitengestützten Fernerkundungsdaten ist seit Jahrzehnten ein sehr aktives Forschungsfeld. Das Ziel des Landschaftsveränderungsdiensts ist es, freie Copernicus-Satellitendaten für eine automatische Ableitung von Landbedeckungsänderungen zu nutzen und diese Informationen regelmäßig für einzelne Landschaftselemente (z.B. für Waldgebiete, Wasserflächen, Landwirtschaftsflächen usw.) über einen Web Service bereitzustellen. Copernicus Daten eignen sich aufgrund der hohen zeitlichen (ca. 3-5 Tage, je nach Sensor) und mittleren räumlichen Auflösung (ab 10m) ideal für eine regelmäßige bundesweite flächendeckende Analyse der Landbedeckung. Um eine hohe Bearbeitungsleistung zu erreichen wird die 'Copernicus Data and Exploitation Platform - Deutschland' (CODE-DE) für die Datenverarbeitung und -analyse genutzt. Es können aktuelle und konsistenteste Informationen über Landdeckungsänderungen abgeleitet werden, um kontinuierlich Geodaten in einer einheitlichen Qualität zu pflegen (siehe Abbildung 1). Andererseits können die gewonnenen Informationen genutzt werden, um statistisch relevante Geoinformationen zur quantitativen Beschreibung der UN-SDG-Indikatoren zu extrahieren. Die 2015 verabschiedete Agenda 2030 mit 17 Entwicklungszielen (SDG) und 169 Unterzielen verknüpft das Prinzip der Nachhaltigkeit mit der ökonomischen, ökologischen und sozialen Entwicklung. Die Umsetzung erfordert einen soliden Überprüfungsmechanismus. Dieser soll durch eine regemäßige nationale Erfassung von ca. 200 definierten UN-SDG-Indikatoren erfolgen, mit dem Ziel Fortschritte zu monitoren und die Politik zu informieren.
The aim of the current research is to identify regional sources and trans-boundary flow leading to the observed salinity of Lake Tiberias (LT) -also known as the Sea of Galilee or Lake Kinneret-, and its surroundings, which is considered the only natural surface fresh water reservoir of the area. The current study will include all sources of brines in the Tiberias Basin (TB) with specific emphasis of the relationship between the brines from the Ha'on and Tiberias Regions (HTR).The tasks will be achieved by a multidisciplinary approach involving: (i) numerical modelling of density-driven flow processes (i.e., coupled heat and dissolution of evaporites), (ii) hydrochemical studies, supplemented by investigations of subsurface structures.(i) Numerical modelling will be carried out by applying the commercial software FEFLOW® (WASY, GmbH) complemented with the open source code OpenGeoSys developed at the UFZ of Leipzig (Wang et al., 2009). The final goal is to build a 3D regional-scale model of density-driven flow that will result in: (1) revealing the different interactions between fresh groundwater and natural salinity sources (2) elucidate the driving mechanisms of natural brines and brackish water body's movements.(ii) Hydrochemical study will include major, minor and, if possible, rare earth elements (REE) as well as isotope studies. The samples will be analysed at the FU Berlin and UFZ Halle laboratories. Geochemical data interpretation and inverse modelling will be supported by PHREEQC. Hydrochemical field investigations will be carried out in Tiberias basin and its enclosing heights, i.e. the Golan, Eastern Galilee and northern Ajloun in order to search for indications of the presence of deep, relic saline groundwater infested by the inferred Ha'on mother-brine. The current approaches will be supplemented by seismic and statistical data analysis as well as GIS software applications for the definition of the subsurface structures. The key research challenges are: building a 3D structural model of selected regions of TB, adapting both structural and hydrochemical data to the numerical requirements of the model; calibrating the 3D regional-scale model with observational data. The results of this work are expected to establish suitable water-management strategies for the exploitation of freshwater from the lake and from the adjacent aquifers while reducing salinization processes induced by both local and regional brines.
Root competition for water and nutrient among species is an ubiquitous feature of terrestrial plant communities influencing abundance and distribution of plants and the dynamics of their communities. The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning has emerged as a central issue in ecological and environmental sciences. It is commonly believed that increasing species richness increases the stability of communities. Higher plant species diversity might lead to increased exploitation of spatially heterogeneous resources by spatial niche complementarity. Tree species mixtures are generally believed to enhance ecosystem functioning in forests by niche partitioning and complementary resource exploitation due to differences in tree height, crown form, root depth and/ or phenology. In the past, however, most studies focused on the aboveground interaction and coexistence of the tree species, while factors controlling belowground species interactions remain less clear. There is experimental evidence to suggest that below-ground competition in herbaceous communities is size-symmetric in homogeneous soil. However, recent studies in tree communities indicate that fine-root competition may be asymmetric. The main purpose of this project is to characterize the underground niche separation and competition in relation to tree species diversity in mixtures comprising spruce, beech, oak and Douglas fir. Structural traits and spatial distribution of fine roots were investigated using a soil core method and fine-root growth is being assessed using the ingrowth core technique at a site in Kaltenborn, which is part of the long-term biodiversity-ecosystem functioning experiment with tree species of temperate forests (BIOTREE). The objectives of this study were to test the following hypotheses: (1) overall level of soil exploitation increases with the tree species diversity; (2) competitive ability belowground is size-symmetric, and (3) the below-ground competitive ability is species specific. As part of this investigation, we will explore the potential of using Near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy to identify the species identity of fine roots of the different tree species and to quantify the contribution of different fine roots in mixed root samples.
The European project initiative TRUST will produce knowledge and guidance to support TRansitions to Urban Water Services of Tomorrow, enabling communities to achieve sustainable, low-carbon water futures without compromising service quality. We deliver this ambition through close collaboration with problem owners in ten participating pilot city regions under changing and challenging conditions in Europe and Africa. Our work provides research driven innovations in governance, modelling concepts, technologies, decision support tools, and novel approaches to integrated water, energy, and infrastructure asset management. An extended understanding of the performance of contemporary urban water services will allow detailed exploration of transition pathways. Urban water cycle analysis will include use of an innovative systems metabolism model, derivation of key performance indicators, risk assessment, as well as broad stakeholder involvement and an analysis of public perceptions and governance modes. A number of emerging technologies in water supply, waste and storm water treatment and disposal, in water demand management and in the exploitation of alternative water sources will be analysed in terms of their cost-effectiveness, performance, safety and sustainability. Cross-cutting issues include innovations in urban asset management and water-energy nexus strengthening. The most promising interventions will be demonstrated and legitimised in the urban water systems of the ten participating pilot city regions. TRUST outcomes will be incorporated into planning guidelines and decision support tools, will be subject to life-cycle assessment, and be shaped by regulatory considerations as well as potential environmental, economic and social impacts. Outputs from the project will catalyse transformation change in both the form and management of urban water services and give utilities increased confidence to specify innovative solutions to a range of pressing challenges.
Fire is an important ecological factor of disturbance in African tropical ecosystems, driving vegetation dynamics and regulating nutrient cycling and biomass. The significance of wildfires for future environmental processes is underlined by recent projections of global warming, which predict more frequent and more intense extremes of natural events. Particularly in East Africa, where population growth and natural resource exploitation are among the highest in the world, strategies for sustainable economic development will have to deal with environmental changes at regional to continental scales. Understanding such complex responses to global change requires long-term records, since only they provide a way to observe the response of ecosystems to large-magnitude environmental change on decadal and longer time scales. We use high-resolution charcoal data from lake-sediment cores to reconstruct past fire/climate/human interactions in East Africa, aiming in particular 1) to understand how the fire regime influenced vegetation dynamics during the last millennia in savannah-type and sub-humid tropical ecosystems, 2) to test whether changes in fire regime are coupled with episodes of past climatic extremes inferred from the available sedimentological data, and 3) to detect early human deforestation and the timing of increased fire frequencies beyond its natural variability. Additionally, we will apply novel techniques such as molecular markers (benzene polycarboxylic acids, BPCAs) to complement the standard sedimentary approaches to reconstruct Holocene fire history. The proposed research addresses new, highly relevant questions for today's key issue of sustainability (economic development, natural resource management, adaptation of vulnerable communities to global change). Additionally, it will contribute with new high-quality data to ongoing multi-proxy research concerning the magnitude, frequency, and rates of past climate change in equatorial East Africa. Finally, the project will contribute to our understanding of tropical ecosystem functioning and its interaction with regional, cultural, and economic systems.
SUNBIOPATH - towards a better sunlight to biomass conversion efficiency in microalgae - is an integrated program of research aimed at improving biomass yields and valorisation of biomass for two Chlorophycean photosynthetic microalgae, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Dunaliella salina. Biomass yields will be improved at the level of primary processes that occur in the chloroplasts (photochemistry and sunlight capture by the light harvesting complexes) and in the cell (biochemical pathways and signalling mechanisms that influence ATP synthesis). Optimal growth of the engineered microalgae will be determined in photobioreactors, and biomass yields will be tested using a scale up approach in photobioreactors of different sizes (up to 250 L), some of which being designed and built during SUNBIOPATH. Biomethane production will be evaluated. Compared to other biofuels, biomethane is attractive because the yield of biomass to fuel conversion is higher. Valorisation of biomass will also be achieved through the production of biologicals. Significant progress has been made in the development of chloroplast genetic engineering in microalgae such as Chlamydomonas, however the commercial exploitation of this technology still requires additional research. SUNBIOPATH will address the problem of maximising transgenic expression in the chloroplast and will develop a robust system for chloroplast metabolic engineering by developing methodologies such as inducible expression and trans-operon expression. A techno economic analysis will be made to evaluate the feasibility of using these algae for the purposes proposed (biologicals production in the chloroplast and/or biomethane production) taking into account their role in CO2 mitigation.
Building Materials are a basic need, which is often difficult to meet in developing countries. Concrete is the building material best suited to meet these demands, although cement, the central ingredient is often disproportionately expensive in developing counties. The most promising option to lower costs (and environmental impact) is to blend conventional Portland cement with pozzolanic materials. The aim of this project is to develop technologies appropriate for the small scale, local production of pozzolans from clay (a material widely available) in conjunction with the exploitation of waste biomass for combined heat and power production. The modular concept of a clay activation unit, CAU to be coupled with a biomass boiler, will give the flexibility to adapt the solution to local conditions. We have already demonstrated that relatively common (low grade) clayey soils can be activated to give a pozzolan similar in performance to fly ash (from coal fired electricity production) widely used in the developed world. Results also indicate that it is possible to improve their reactivity by using and optimizing flash calcination, to allow high levels of substitution and very significant improvements in cost/performance ratio. To achieve this we need also to look at the performance of the activated clays in concrete from the point of view of rheology, hardening and durability to enable optimum cost/performance to be achieved according to local materials and applications. The partnership between LMC, EPFL and two academic groups in Cuba has already been established in a previous project. Furthermore, one of the Cuban partners plays a leading role in ECOSUR (a Swiss NGO) which has established workshops, producing low cost building materials, in many developing countries. In the first part of the project significant scientific advances were made, which enabled a huge acceleration in progress, relative to previous work by the Cuban partners alone. In addition, 3 Cuban PhD students spent several months working in the Swiss laboratory and have now returned to Cuba to continue their research. In this project, funding is requested for one PhD student to be based in Switzerland, who will work closely with 3 Cuban PhD Student (funded be the Cuban government). On the Cuban side, funds are requested for essential equipment and to fund the stays of the students at EPFL. Each of the Cuban students will spend 4-8 months working at EPFL during the course of the project.
For the production of strategic noise maps as required under the EU Directive 2002/49/EC, improved assessment methods for environmental noise will be required. Noise from any major source, be it major roads, railways, airports or industrial activities in agglomerations, needs to be included in the noise mapping. For road and rail, improved methods will be developed in the 5th frame work Harmonoise project. These methods will be adopted to develop methods for aircraft and industrial noise in the IMAGINE project proposed here. Noise source databases to be developed in IMAGINE for road and rail sources will allow a quick and easy implementation of the methods in all member states. Measured noise levels can add to the quality of noise maps because they tend to have better credibility than computed levels. In the project proposed here, guidelines for monitoring and measuring noise levels will be developed, that can contribute to a combined product (measurement and computation) that has high quality and high credibility. Noise action plans shall be based on strategic noise maps. The IMAGINE project will develop guidelines for noise mapping that will make it easy and straightforward to assess the efficiency of such action plans. Traffic flow management will be a key element of such action plans, both on a national and a regional level. Noise mapping will be developed into a dynamic process rather than a static presentation of the situation. IMAGINE will provide the link between Harmonoise and the practical process of producing noise maps and action plans. It will establish a platform where experts and end users can exchange their experience and views. This platform should continue after the project and provide a basis for exploitation to the IMAGINE results. me Contractor: Detalrail B.V.; Utrecht; Netherlands.
The project examines funding of environmental technology development and commercialisation. The objectives are to: measure the performance of existing funding schemes (emphasising commercial-type funding); determine how environmental aspects are dealt with; identify obstacles; and suggest evolution of new schemes. Eight project work packages address these objectives, and also include development of environmental technology typologies, analysis of funding gaps, and comparison to Japan and the USA. The project supports SSP 5A by connecting policy and practice, linking researchers from across the EU, and using wide consultation to disseminate knowledge and maximise exploitation of research results. Consortium partners are drawn from five EU states, and have expertise and networks in private and public environmental technology funding and technology development processes. Stakeholder consultation with private and public funders, developers, academics, policy makers and NGOs will support research and knowledge dissemination. Consultation will include major public conferences and forums, sector-specific focus groups, and workshops to test analysis and geographic variations. Consultation and publication and dissemination of the final report will spur innovation by private and public funders, supporting knowledge exploitation after project completion. Research will emphasise private sector solutions, but will also include public-private partnerships, which are innovative measures that can assist in closing the funding gap. The varying applicability of such partnerships across different EU states will also be considered. The two project deliverables will be a database containing research and contact information, and a widely published final report that will integrate all research and recommendations. Prime Contractor: Partenaires Europeens pour l'Environnement; Bruxelles; Belgium.
| Organisation | Count |
|---|---|
| Bund | 1 |
| Weitere | 26 |
| Wissenschaft | 27 |
| Type | Count |
|---|---|
| Förderprogramm | 54 |
| License | Count |
|---|---|
| Offen | 54 |
| Language | Count |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | 3 |
| Englisch | 53 |
| Resource type | Count |
|---|---|
| Keine | 38 |
| Webseite | 16 |
| Topic | Count |
|---|---|
| Boden | 50 |
| Lebewesen und Lebensräume | 52 |
| Luft | 34 |
| Mensch und Umwelt | 54 |
| Wasser | 40 |
| Weitere | 54 |