Although global pesticide use increases steadily, our field-data based knowledge regarding exposure of non-target ecosystems is very restricted. Consequently, this meta-analysis will for the first time evaluate the worldwide available peer-reviewed information on agricultural insecticide concentrations in surface water or sediment and test the following two hypotheses: I) Insecticide concentrations in the field largely exceed regulatory threshold levels and II) Additional factors important for threshold level exceedances can be quantified using retrospective meta-analysis. A feasibility study using a restricted dataset (n = 377) suggested the significance of the expected results, i.e. an threshold level exceedance rate of more than 50Prozent of the detected concentrations. Subsequent to a comprehensive database search in the peer-reviewed literature of the past 60 years, analysis of covariance with the relevant threshold level exceedance as the continuous dependent variable (about 10,000 cases) will be performed and the impact of significant predictor variables will be quantified. Parameters not yet considered in pesticide exposure assessment will be included as independent variables, such as compound class, environmental regulatory quality, and sampling design. The simultaneous presence of several insecticide compounds as a well as their metabolites will also be considered in the evaluation. The present approach may provide an innovative and integrated view on the potential environmental side effects of global high-intensity agriculture and in particular of pesticides use.
In hydrology, the relationship between water storage and flow is still fundamental in characterizing and modeling hydrological systems. However, this simplification neglects important aspects of the variability of the hydrological system, such as stable or instable states, tipping points, connectivity, etc. and influences the predictability of hydrological systems, both for extreme events as well as long-term changes. We still lack appropriate data to develop theory linking internal pattern dynamics and integral responses and therefore to identify functionally similar hydrological areas and link this to structural features. We plan to investigate the similarities and differences of the dynamic patterns of state variables and the integral response in replicas of distinct landscape units. A strategic and systematic monitoring network is planned in this project, which contributes the essential dynamic datasets to the research group to characterize EFUs and DFUs and thus significantly improving the usual approach of subdividing the landscape into static entities such as the traditional HRUs. The planned monitoring network is unique and highly innovative in its linkage of surface and subsurface observations and its spatial and temporal resolution and the centerpiece of CAOS.
The formation of biogeochemical interfaces in soils is controlled, among other factors, by the type of particle surfaces present and the assemblage of organic matter and mineral particles. Therefore, the formation and maturation of interfaces is studied with artificial soils which are produced in long-term biogeochemical laboratory incubation experiments (3, 6, 12, 18 months. Clay minerals, iron oxides and charcoal are used as major model components controlling the formation of interfaces because they exhibit high surface area and microporosity. Soil interface characteristics have been analyzed by several groups involved in the priority program for formation of organo-mineral interfaces, sorptive and thermal interface properties, microbial community structure and function. Already after 6 months of incubation, the artificial soils exhibited different properties in relation to their composition. A unique dataset evolves on the development and the dynamics of interfaces in soil in the different projects contributing to this experiment. An integrated analysis based on a conceptual model and multivariate statistics will help to understand overall processes leading to the biogeochemical properties of interfaces in soil, that are the basis for their functions in ecosystems. Therefore, we propose to establish an integrative project for the evaluation of data obtained and for publication of synergistic work, which will bring the results to a higher level of understanding.
Satellite measurements strongly contribute to the understanding of the processes related to stratospheric ozone loss, e.g. by global and long term monitoring of ozone and its depleting substances. For instance, measurements performed in limb geometry by SCIAMACHY on ENVISAT largely improved the knowledge about the vertical distribution of species like BrO and OClO only recently. However, there are still important open questions, like e.g. the chlorine activation processes on different kinds of aerosols and polar stratospheric clouds. Also, the role of very short lived species in the stratospheric bromine budget or the effects of a possible enhancement of the Brewer-Dobson circulation are not fully understood.Globally, the vertical distribution of ozone depleting species varies significantly in space and time due to solar illumination, atmospheric chemistry and transport. Especially strong gradients occur near the twilight zone or across stratospheric transport barriers (polar vortex boundary, subtropical transport barriers). These regions are of particular importance for chemistry and transport of the lower stratosphere and upper troposphere, since they separate air masses on large scales but also enable exchange between them.Standard 1-D profile retrievals, which assume horizontal homogeneity, result in large systematic biases due to neglecting the effect of horizontal gradients on the measurement. We propose to develop, improve and apply a tomographic profile retrieval algorithm, which optimally combines the information provided by the SCIAMACHY limb and nadir measurements. An improved global dataset of 3D stratospheric profiles for NO2, BrO and OClO for the 10 years of the SCIAMACHY mission (2002-2012) will be developed, compared to atmospheric chemistry simulations and applied to selected questions of atmospheric science. The dataset developed in this project will be very useful for investigating the complex interplay of stratospheric chemistry and transport processes, and will help to reduce the uncertainties in the distribution of ozone depleting species, in particular for regions with large horizontal inhomogeneity.
Both lakes and oceans are important for the global carbon cycle and thus the regulation of climate processes. Due to climate change and human activities, aquatic systems are subject to increasing pressure with changes already observed at multiple levels affecting their functioning. It is therefore urgent to understand the dynamic of aquatic systems, if one wants to predict their response to changing conditions. Phytoplankton, act as engineers, initiating the incorporation of terrestrial and atmospheric compounds into the food chain and driving their biogeochemical cycling. They not only respond rapidly to their environment, they also profoundly alter aquatic chemistry, affecting the reactivity, recycling, remineralisation and therefore fate of many elements. As such, phytoplankton affect the dynamics of aquatic systems with effects at both local and global scales. Phytoplankton can thus be used as sentinel to assess the dynamics and changes in aquatic systems. One of the most prominent reported controls of phytoplankton biomass, biodiversity and productivity is nutrient limitation, reported in most of the ocean and numerous lakes. Iron (Fe), nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) are the main limiting nutrients in aquatic systems. Nutrient limitation affects the functioning of aquatic systems and their contribution to the global carbon cycle. Despite numerous studies, the parameters controlling nutrient limitation and their accessibility to phytoplankton (viz. bioavailability) remain largely unknown. The aim of this project is to identify nutrient (Fe, N, P) limitation in different aquatic systems, and to improve our understanding of aquatic biogeochemistry - from gene expression, chemistry and bioavailability through to the impact on biodiversity under current and future conditions. The study regions include the largest lake in Western Europe, Lake Geneva; the Southern Ocean, a pivotal region for the global carbon cycle; and the Tasman Sea, one of the most sensitive regions to predicted climate change. All these regions are associated with significant socio-economical value. Here, a rigorous multi-disciplinary laboratory and field approach will be used to provide complementary data sets to shed light on how nutrients affect the biodiversity, the biogeochemical cycles of key elements and the functioning of natural systems. The laboratory approach (1) explore the mechanisms controlling nutrient biological accessibility using relevant axenic phytoplankton cultures and (2) allows the calibration and validation of biological and chemical sensors to rapidly monitor nutrient limitation in aquatic systems. In addition, field work will (1) explore the link and the seasonality between important physical, biological and chemical parameters and (2) use perturbation experiments to investigate the complexity of the link between nutrients and natural planktonic assemblages. (...)
EAGER is a core group of international scientists trying to improve and harmonize national ammonia emission inventory calculations. Through the exchange they strive to continuously improve their respective N flux models. Six N-flow models used to calculate NH3 emissions from agriculture for inventories and policy implementation in UK, DK, NL, DE, CH were compared using standard activity data sets. For liquid manure the results were well comparable. For solid manure larger differences indicated greater uncertainties. In a third WP a survey on punlished and unpulished experimental data on emissions from solid manure was therfore conducted. Project goal: EAGER aims at achieving a detailed overview of the present best available inventory techniques, compiling and harmonizing the available knowledge on emission factors (EF) and initiating a new generation of NH3 emission inventories. Results: EAGER is a core group of international scientists trying to improve and harmonize national ammonia emission inventory calculations. Through the exchange they strive to continuously improve their respective N flux models
Ongoing land-use and management changes in various European mountain ecosystems may alter their role as important carbon reservoirs. For soil carbon in particular meaningful data on drivers, stocks and rates is scarce and thus predictive studies on the effect of land-use and management change on carbon stored in mountain ecosystems are highly uncertain. In addition, management is a major control on standing biomass in mountain forests but as for soil carbon, the data base is poor. Reliable data are not only needed for a more substantiated assessment of land-use and management effects on ecosystem carbon storage, but also for developing management recommendations, improved mechanistic modeling and, finally, the corresponding model application in the context of greenhouse gas reporting. The project will provide carbon stocks and accumulation rates from both measurements and modeling for typical but climatically different mountain ecosystems in four European mountain ranges. The goal of the proposed research is a quantitative understanding of carbon change rates, their drivers, the implementation of results in to models currently used for national greenhouse gas inventories and, finally, the development of management recommendations for mountain ecosystems with respect to their carbon storage function. We will (i) sample soils and forest floor from well studied experimental adjacent sites differing in land-use (grasslands, forests) as well as experimental management gradients/types within grasslands and forests and make use (ii) of already existing data sets along land-use gradients. Sites span a wide range of edaphic, management, and climatic conditions in the Balkan Mountains, the Rhodope Mountains, Rila Mountains and the Alps. Auxiliary climate data for model application are available. These data will be used to derive carbon change rates for the different activities, information on the stability of sequestered carbon and to formulate management recommendations. Radiocarbon measurements of soil and roots from various sites will be used to derive carbon turnover rates. The project builds on extensive previous experience with research projects on management, land-use and related carbon sequestration in cropland, grassland, abandonment, and forest ecosystems in the Alps and in Bulgarian mountains. The main deliverables of the project will be: Knowledge rules, transfer functions and recommendations to policy makers, Comprehensive data sets that allow for scaling up from the plot to a regional landscape level and thus to settle a close link between model validation, application, and improvement. Validated mechanistic models to be used in national greenhouse gas reporting, sector land use, land use change and forestry, and Tools for implementation of both reporting issues and management recommendations in Bulgaria and Switzerland.
Landscape and soil changes are strongly coupled to chemical and physical (erosion) weathering and soil production. The erosion rate is preserved in the signal of cosmogenic nuclides (e.g., 10Be) in stream sediments or even directly in a soil profile. The genesis of clastic sediments and soils has been investigated to quantify processes occurring within source areas and catchments, including chemical and physical weathering, and textural and compositional modification of detritus during transition from bedrock to grus and thereafter to soil or a fluvial environment. Well-defined (or -controlled) settings are however needed to calculate mass balances for a given (tectonically active) catchment. Measurements of mid- to long-term erosion rates have recently become more widely available through cosmogenic nuclide techniques. Still, new approaches can be developed to improve our understanding of weathering processes and their rates. Ideal settings and a considerable dataset about mineral weathering are given for the Sila massif in southern Italy (and consequently in a Mediterranean environment). It represents a tectonically active area. The upland plateaus consist of old planation surfaces, bordered by steep slopes, and are characterised by granitic spheroidal boulders which form wide boulder fields. The combination of the major tectonic and relief features with typical upland Mediterranean climate conditions promoted the triggering of severe erosion, that led to the exhumation of the boulders. Data about soil erosion amounts and rates related to the soil formation period would complete the puzzle of the driving forces and enable a more detailed interpretation of landscape and soil evolution. These boulders seemed to 'grow' out of the surface with time. Consequently, by measuring the 10Be content at different levels along a rock boulder (from the soil surface to the top of boulders), the age(s) of exposure could be derived and subsequent total denudation rates will be obtained. This would be an elegant way to calculate erosion rates for different time-steps that cover almost the entire period of soil evolution. Such an approach would give insight into a) the overall denudation and erosion rates over the whole (potential) soil formation period and b) erosion and denudation rates during time segments and would allow for the distinction of different erosion phases during the Pleistocene and Holocene c) volumes of loose material that were removed from the uplands and entered the drainage river system in this time span. (...)
Die südecuadorianischen Anden beherbergen eine außergewöhnlich hohe Artenvielfalt. Viele verschiedene Umweltfaktoren beeinflussen sich auf sehr limitiertem Raum und erschaffen so einzigartige und komplexe Ökosysteme. Dieses Gebiet ist jedoch auf Grund des zunehmenden menschlichen Einflusses durch die fortschreitende Intensivierung der Landnutzung und des globalen Wandels hochgefährdet. Wir wissen nur wenig über die paläoökologische Geschichte und Landschaftsdynamik dieses Gebiets. Die Information über das warum und wie einer Veränderung von Ökosystemen ist unerlässlich für die Entwicklung innovativer Strategien für Naturschutz und im Hinblick auf zukünftige Klimaveränderungen. In der vorliegenden Studie werden palynologische Analysen aus den südecuadorianischen Anden vorgestellt, die dazu beitragen, Muster und Prozesse heutiger und vergangener Ökosysteme zu beleuchten. Eine paläoökologische Studie des Quimsacocha-Vulkanbeckens auf der östlichen Erhebung der Westkordillere der südecuadorianischen Anden deckt Klima-, Vegetations- und Brandregimeveränderungen in dieser Region seit dem frühen Holozän auf. Das mittlere Holozän war eine Zeit starker Umweltveränderungen, verursacht durch ein trockenes und wohl wärmeres Klima. Während des späten Holozäns wechselten sich mehrere Kalt-und Warmphasen ab. Brände können seit dem frühen Holozän im Gebiet verzeichnet werden. Sie könnten ein erstes Zeichen menschlichen Einflusses darstellen. Mit anderen paläoökologischen Aufzeichnungen aus den südecuadorianischen Anden verglichene multivariate Analysen decken teilweise konstrastierende Entwicklungen an den verschieden Standorten auf, die vermutlich durch die Heterogenität der Umweltfaktoren zu erklären sind. Weiterhin wurden Studien zum Verhältnis von heutigem Pollenregen mit der Vegetation in der Podocarpus Nationalpark-Region durchgeführt, um die Pollenverbreitungsmuster innerhalb der verschiedenen Vegetationstypen, prämontaner Wald, unterer Bergwald, oberer Bergwald und Páramo, zu verstehen und damit eine bessere Grundlage zur Interpretation fossiler Pollendaten zu schaffen. Ein Vergleich von Abundanz und An-/Abwesenheitsdaten von Familien als taxonomischer Einheit für Pollen- und Vegetation zeigt, dass Diversität, Verbreitung und Häufigkeiten beider Datensätze gut miteinander in Verbindung gebracht werden können. Dennoch werden die Muster durch variierende Anteile von durch Ferntransport eingetragenen Pollenkörnern sowie durch unterschiedliche Pollenproduktivität verschiedener Taxa und heterogene Windsysteme beeinflusst. Analysen der Pollenakkumulationsraten, die über drei Jahre erfasst wurden, lassen auf eine geringe inter-annuelle aber hohe räumliche Variation in den Daten schließen. (Text gekürzt)
The accuracy of hydrology and weather predictions depends to a large extent on our understanding of small-scale flow phenomena at the land-atmosphere interface. The overall goal of this grant concerns improved understanding of the effects of complex alpine terrain on included field studies of air flow over steep slopes during morning and evening transition periods and thermal circulations that develop driven by differential heating on the earths surface from variations in solar heating and surface thermal properties. We have also developed improved turbulence simulations of the lower atmosphere using the immersed boundary method (IBM) and have tested our results against measurement studies in the open literature (laboratory and field). This grant has supported two PhD students (Daniel Nadeau & Marc Diebold). Nadeau was responsible for field studies and analysis of flows over steep slopes and successfully defended his PhD at the end of 2011 and is now Assistant Professor at Polytechnique in Montreal. Diebold is primarily focused on numerical simulation based upon the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) technique and is completing field campaigns (2011-2013) in the Val Ferret watershed on turbulent flow over snow covered terrain. His numerical work has focused on the implementation of new ideas in IBM and subgrid-scale (sgs) modeling. Simulation of local atmospheric flows around complex topography is of great importance for several applications in wind energy (e.g. short term wind forecasting and turbine siting and control), local weather predictions in mountainous regions and avalanche risk assessment. However atmospheric simulations around steep mountain topography remain difficult as the typical strategy used to introduce topographic elements, terrain following coordinates, becomes numerically unstable if the topography is too steep. The IBM provides a unique approach that is particularly well suited for efficient and numerically stable simulation of flows around steep terrain. To date the IBM has been used in conjunction with the EPFL-LES and tested against two unique data sets. In the first comparison, the LES was used to reproduce the experimental results from a wind tunnel study of a smooth three-dimensional hill. In the second study, we simulated the wind field around the Bolund Island, Denmark, and made direct comparisons with field measurements (this has been published recently in Boundary Layer Meteorology journal in 2013).
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