Traditional Indonesian homegardens harbour often high crop diversity, which appears to be an important basis for a sustainable food-first strategy. Crop pollination by insects is a key ecosystem service but threatened by agricultural intensification and land conversion. Gaps in knowledge of actual benefits from pollination services limit effective management planning. Using an integrative and agronomic framework for the assessment of functional pollination services, we will conduct ecological experiments and surveys in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. We propose to study pollination services and net revenues of the locally important crop species cucumber, carrot, and eggplant in traditional homegardens in a forest distance gradient, which is hypothesized to affect bee community structure and diversity. We will assess pollination services and interactions with environmental variables limiting fruit maturation, based on pollination experiments in a split-plot design of the following factors: drought, nutrient deficiency, weed pressure, and herbivory. The overall goal of this project is the development of 'biodiversity-friendly' land-use management, balancing human and ecological needs for local smallholders.
Increasing population pressure is leading to unsustainable land use in North Vietnamese highlands and destruction of natural habitats. The resulting loss of biodiversity includes plant genetic resources - both wild (= non-cultivated) species and cultivated landraces - adapted to local conditions, and local knowledge concerning the plants. A particularly important group among endangered plants are the legumes (1) because Southeast Asia is a major centre of genetic diversity for this family, and (2) because the potential contribution of legumes to sustainable land use is, due to their multifunctionality (e.g., soil improvement, human and livestock nutrition), especially high. The project aims to contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources of legumes with an integrated approach wherein a series of components are combined: (1) A participatory, indigenous knowledge survey complemented by information from the literature; (2) germplasm collection missions (for ex situ conservation) complemented by field evaluation and seed increase; (3) genetic diversity analysis of selected material by molecular markers; and (4) GIS based analysis of generated data to identify areas of particular genetic diversity as a basis for land area planning and in situ preservation recommendations. Project results are expected to be also applicable to similar highlands in Southeast Asia.
The vegetation of East and South African savannahs has been shaped by the complex interaction of geo-biophysical processes and human impact. For both regions a controversial discussion is pertinent, as to whether massive degradation threatens the sustainability of livelihoods in these regions. Rangeland vegetation is mainly affected by environmental conditions (soil and climate) and by livestock management. Extent and interaction of these drivers are not well understood but have profound impacts on the resilience and vulnerability of these systems to be shifted toward unfavourable degraded or bush encroached states. The project aims to analyse and model rangeland vegetation in response to range management including livestock, soil quality and climatic conditions and to assess the impacts of changes in these conditions on the resilience and vulnerability of rangeland systems. Field measurements, remote sensing of vegetation patterns and dynamics and simulation modelling will be used to understand the dynamics of rangeland vegetation. We will use the 'fast' or 'state' variables potential of pastures to produce palatable biomass, the variability of this production, and the system's potential to recover from disturbance impact as indicators of resilience. 'slow' variables that control (or drive) the 'fast' variables such as management, climate and soil variables are recorded in cooperation with other subprojects as with A1 for soil variables. Results of the project will show which management activities are most favourable for individual regions to sustain plant production in the long term.
Das Auerhuhn ist eine stark gefährdete Brutvogelart der Schweiz. Veränderungen in der Zusammensetzung und Nutzung des Waldes haben dazu geführt, dass sich die Bestände dieses Raufusshuhns in den letzten drei Jahrzehnten halbiert haben. Deshalb sollen die Lebensraumansprüche des attraktiven Waldvogels vermehrt in der Planung und Umsetzung von Waldreservaten und der Bewirtschaftung von Wäldern der höheren Lagen berücksichtigt werden. Auf der kleinen räumlichen Ebene sind die Habitatsansprüche der Art durch Untersuchungen in West- und Mitteleuropa (Storch 1993, 2002, Schroth 1994) und Skandinavien relativ gut bekannt. Dagegen werden die Populationsprozesse auf der Ebene der Landschaft erst in Ansätzen verstanden (Sjöberg 1996, Kurki 2000). Entsprechend konnte man die Bestandsrückgänge in den meisten Gebieten Europas noch nicht stoppen, da einerseits genauere Kenntnisse über das Zusammenspiel und die relative Bedeutung der einzelnen Faktoren fehlen (Habitatqualität, Störungen, Prädatoren, Witterung-Klima, Huftierkonkurrenz), und andererseits noch nicht versucht wurde, die Bestandsentwicklung im grossen landschaftlichen Massstab als Metapopulationsdynamik zu verstehen. Es ist das primäre Ziel dieses Projekts, ein räumlich explizites Metapopulationsmodell des Auerhuhns für einen grossen Landschaftsausschnitt der Schweizer Alpen zu erarbeiten. Dabei sollen die erwähnten Einflussfaktoren möglichst umfassend berücksichtigt werden. Die Arbeit soll modellhaft zeigen, dass für das Verständnis von Populationsvorgängen von raumbeanspruchenden Wildtierarten eine Analyse und Bewertung von lokal bis überregional wirksamen Einflussfaktoren notwendig sind. Die Ergebnisse sollen zudem als konzeptionelle Grundlage für den Nationalen Aktionsplan Auerhuhn und für regionale Artenförderungsprojekte dienen. Folgende Fragen und Themen sind für das Projekt von zentraler Bedeutung: Wie gross ist das landschaftsökologische Lebensraumpotenzial für das Auerhuhn in den Alpen, wie ist es räumlich verteilt? Wie verteilen sich die lokalen Auerhuhnpopulationen in diesen Potenzialgebieten? Wie gross sind die Bestände? Welche Faktoren beeinflussen den Status von Lokal- und Regionalpopulationen? Welche Populationen haben abgenommen oder sind verschwunden, welche sind stabil (Source-Sink-Mechanismen)? Zwischen welchen räumlich getrennten Populationen besteht ein Austausch? Welche Landschaftselemente wirken als Barrieren? Entwickeln einer nicht-invasiven Methode für die genetische Differenzierung von Populationen, sowie für Bestandsschätzungen und Monitoring.
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.
The QUEST project builds capacity through the development of new REDD+ like methodologies for Joint Implementation forest. This includes the development of the first methodology for Improved Forest Management based on 'Forest Management' under Article 3.4 of the Kyoto Protocol. These methodologies may be applied by other JI project developers. The QUEST project will, therefore, strenghten project activities in Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry sector. QUEST also involves the application on four demonstrator forestry projects in Russia and Romania allowing for the investigation of the projects impact with respect to energy use, policy, verification and methodological issues and social, environmental and hydrological concerns with Agriculture Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) in a 'hands on', 'learning by doing' approach. It is the projects intention to contribute to the conservation of the Dvinsky, one of intact forest as well as to generate emission reductions. A successful implementation of the Dvinsky Climate Action Project might serve as a lighthouse example for the JIs potential to conserve Russias endangered HCV forests. The project activity will improve existing forest practices aiming at an increment of biomass volume in forests under concession. Carbon finance will enable logging firms to switch from the traditional clear cutting to a group felling system, thereby reducing the negative impact of forest management on the ecological system. Concluding, JIFor explores the LULUCF framework, develops baseline and monitoring methodologies, facilitates forest climate projects based on 'Forest Management', Art. 3.4. This provides important lessons learnt for a future REDD+ policy scheme under a follow up agreement to the Kyoto Protocol. GFA ENVEST contributes to: Assessment of the policy context of LULUCF and JI in Europe including permanence, issuance of AAUs for LULUCF projects, issuance of RMUs for LULUCF projects (considering the design of the IET) and evaluation of annual- vs- five year accounting on a national level; Baseline and monitoring methodologies for JI; development of methodologies for Improved Forest Management and Forest Conservation; JI Project Design Document development - Dvinsky Forest Conservation in Russia; JI Project Design Document development - Svetloserskles Improved Forest Management in Russia; Development of tools, Transferability, Scalability, and Identification of Future Projects and Research Needs; Assessment of carbon rights ownership for forestry projects in Russia.
CULT-STRAT will establish a scientific reference for developing strategies for policy and decision-makers on European and national levels within the CAFE Programme and for heritage managers for strategic decisions at local level. It will do this through a choice of material indicators and pollution threshold levels based on best available scientific data including deterioration models, spatial distribution and mapping of pollutants and of stock of materials at risk, cost estimates, comparison studies off different conservation approaches. Damage caused to objects of cultural heritage belongs to the most serious among the detrimental effects of anthropogenic air pollutants as it endangers a vital part of the European identity. There is therefore an urgent need to include the impact of pollutants on cultural heritage alongside the human health and parts of the ecosystem that are already concerned in the EU Directives on urban air quality. This is especially relevant for the CAFE (Clean Air for Europe) programme of the Commission and the Community interventions through the 'Culture 2000' framework programme and the structural funds. The overall aim is to identify material indicators and threshold levels of pollutants to be used for development of strategies for sustainable maintenance and preventive conservation of European cultural heritage and air quality policy to reduce damage. The models will permit ranking of the effects of pollutants on corrosion and soiling of materials. The air pollution models will be related to local fluxes, including indoor concentrations. The stock of cultural heritage materials at risk in selected areas (Paris, Rome, Florence, Prague, Madrid, and Berlin) will be used for assessment and mapping of areas where cultural heritage objects are endangered. Prime Contractor: Korrosionsinstitutet Sci AB, R&D Department Atmospheric Corrosion, Stockholm SE.
Forest structure is altered by humans for long times (Bramanti et al. 2009). The long lasting modification of forests pursuant to human demands modified the living conditions for birds as well as for many other animals. This included changes in resource availability (e.g., food, foraging, nesting sites) and changes of interspecific interactions, e.g., parasitism and predation (Knoke et al. 2009; Ellis et al. 2012). Also species compositions and the survivability of populations and even species are affected. The loss of foraging sites and suitable places for reproduction, the limitation of mobility due to fragmented habitats and the disturbances by humans itself may lead to more stressed individuals and less optimal living conditions. In certain cases species are not able to deal with the modified requirements and their populations will shrink and even vanish. Depending on the intensity of management and the remaining forest structure, biodiversity is more or less endangered. Especially in systems of two or more strongly connected taxa changing conditions that affect at least one part may subsequently affect the other, too. One system of interspecific communities that recently attracted the attention of biologists includes birds, blood parasites (haemosporidians) and their transmitting vectors. For instance, avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum) represents the reason for extreme declines in the avifauna of Hawaii since the introduction of respective vectors (e.g. Culicidae) during the 20th century (van Riper et al. 1986, Woodworth et al. 2005). With the current knowledge of this topic we are not able to predict if such incidences could also occur in Germany. All in all, different management strategies and intensity of forest management may influence the network of birds, vectors and blood parasites and change biodiversity. To elucidate this ecological complex, and to understand the interactions of the triad of songbirds as vertebrate hosts, dipteran vectors and haemosporidians within changing local conditions, I intend to collect data on the three taxa in differently managed forest areas, the given forest structure and the climatic conditions. I will try to explain the role of abiotic factors on infection dynamics, in detail the role of forest management intensity. Data acquisition takes place at three spatially divided locations: inside the Biodiversity Exploratory Schwäbische Alb, at the Mooswald in Freiburg, and inside the Schwarzwald.
In my Phd-study, I examine the resource conflict over industrial logging in the South Moresby area on Haida Gwaii (former Queen Charlotte Islands) from 1974 to 1993. On this remote archipelago on British Columbias west-coast, a fierce dispute over logging practices, land rights, Aboriginal land claims and environmental issues had emerged in the face of devastating logging practices were not only threatening to destroy large parts of Moresby Island but also resulted in the destruction of salmon streams. The two major natural resources available on the islands were at stake during the 'war in the woods.' Together with environmentalist, the Haida First Nation successfully fought for the preservation of Gwaii Haanas (South Moresby Island) with blockades, protests, environmental campaigns, lobbying and legal action. The area is now protected as the 'Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve.-' Using a cultural approach combining aspects of 'storytelling,' the 'cultural memory' and 'actor-network-theory' (ANT), the core question arises whether the (Western) dualisms between 'nature' and 'culture' and between 'fact' and 'fiction' should be dissolved. Latour argues that such dualisms and even the separation between the human and non-human world (i.e., the world of things) do not exist. Assmann claims that we do not necessarily remember what has really happened', but what was repeatedly told us to have happened. Along with Thomas King, J. Edward Chamberlin and William Cronon, I stress the point that stories - fictitious or based on facts - do matter. The effect of stories on the way we understand our past, might often be more important than that of 'hard' facts: Stories shape both a societys concept of the past and its present identity. Canada, with its heterogeneous population, is a particularly interesting place to conduct research about different concepts of 'nature' and culture'. Analyzing the different stories that evolved around South Moresby, and taking into account diverging messages of native and non-native stories, offers a new perspective on similar resource conflicts that continue to exist and arise all over the world.
Responding to the twin crises of global warming and biodiversity loss requires a deep understanding of how climate affects the processes that generate and destroy biodiversity, primarily through its effects on the ecology and distribution of species. Recent improvements in our ability to reconstruct the history of biodiversity through timed phylogenies, estimate changes in genetic diversity, and predict the potential distribution of selected species with ecological niche models (ENMs) now allow us to infer the evolution of ecological preferences and distributional ranges at different temporal scales. Our two case studies focus on alpine/arctic regions, because they are among those most endangered by global warming. The first study will use, for the first time, a combination of ENM and phylogeny to test the model of hybrid, polyploid speciation by secondary contact in arctic/alpine plants. We selected Primula sect. Aleuritia (simply Aleuritia, from here on), because our previous phylogenetic work provided clear hypotheses for the parental origins of polyploids, yet the distributions of the inferred progenitors do not currently overlap. Did the ranges of the proposed parents overlap at the time of allopolyploid origins, as predicted by the secondary contact model? To answer this question, we will produce a high-resolution, dated phylogeny of Aleuritia, optimize the ecological preferences of the hypothesized progenitors onto the dated phylogeny, and project their past distributional ranges onto the fine-resolution climatic scenarios recently developed for the Pleistocene. In the second case study, we will try to explain how small populations persisted on summits in the past and how they are affected by current and future climate change. Here we selected Saxifraga florulenta, a rare, endemic species of the Maritime Alps, because hypotheses of its phylogenetic relationships are available from our previous work, it occurs exclusively above 2000 m, and has very narrow ecological requirements. Consequently, if current trends of global warming continue, the strict ecological adaptation of S. florulenta to siliceous substrates at the highest altitudes of the Maritime Alps may represent a serious extinction risk. We will investigate whether the phylogeographic history, genetic diversity, climatic niche and dispersal mode of S. florulenta can explain its long persistence in the Maritime Alps, a hot spot of biodiversity, and predict its future survival or extinction on mountain tops. We will use a combination of genetic analysis and niche modeling to reconstruct changes in the niche, geographic distribution, and genetic diversity of this cold-adapted species.
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