Background: An increasing frequency of massive flooding along the lower Yangtse River in China ended in a disastrous catastrophe in summer 1998 leaving several thousand people homeless, more than 3.600 dead and causing enormous economic damage. Inappropriate land-use techniques and large scale timber felling in the water catchment of the upper Yangtse and its feeder streams were stated to be the main causes. Immediate timber cutting bans were imposed and investigations on land use patterns were initiated by the Chinese Government. The Institute for World Forestry of the Federal Research Centre for Forestry and Forest Products was approached by the Yunnan Academy of Forestry in Kunming to exchange experiences and to cooperate scientifically in the design and application of appropriate afforestation and silvicultural management techniques in the water catchment area of the Yangtse. This cooperation was initiated in 1999 and is based on formal agreements in the fields of agrarian research between the German and Chinese Governments. Objectives: The cooperation was in the first step focussing on the identification of factors which caused the enormous floodings. After their identification measures of prevention were determined and put into practice. In this context experiences made in past centuries in the alpine region of central Europe served as an incentive and example for similar environmental problems and solutions under comparable conditions. Relevant key questions of the cooperation project were: - Analysis of forest related factors influencing the recent floodings of the Yangtse, - Analysis and evaluation of silvicultural management experiences from central Europe for know-how transfer, - Evaluation of rehabilitation measures for successful application in Yunnan, - Dissemination of knowledge through vocational training. Results: - Frequent wild grazing of husbandry is a key factor for forest degeneration beyond unsustainable timber harvests, forest fires and insect calamities leading to increased water run-off in the mountainous region of Yunnan; - Browsing of cattle interrupts succession thus avoiding natural regeneration and leaving a logging ban ineffective; - Mountain pasture in the Alps had similar effects in the past in central Europe. The introduction of controlled grazing has led to an ecologically compatible coexistence of pasture and ecology. Close-to-nature forestry can have positive effects in this sensitive environment. - Afforestation with site adopted broadleaves and coniferous tree species was implemented on demonstration level using advanced techniques in Yunnan.
The project aims to theorize the scalar organization of natural resource governance in the European Union. This research agenda is inspired by critical geographers' work on the politics of scale. The research will examine an analytical framework derived from theories of institutional change and multi-level govern-ance to fill this theoretical gap. Furthermore, it will review conceptualizations of the state in institutional economics, evaluate their adequacy to capture the role of the state in the dynamics identified, and develop them further. The described processes may imply shifts in administrative levels, shifts in relations between different levels and changes in spatial delimitations of competent jurisdictions that result, for example, from decentralization or the introduction of river basin oriented administrative structures. The research investigates the implications of two European Directives: the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). They both have potentially great significance for the organization of marine and water governance at the level of Member States and below, and adhere to similar regulatory ideas for achieving good ecological status of waters. A multiple case study on changes in the scalar reorganization of marine and water governance that result from the implementation of the Directives will be carried out. It will rely on qualitative and quantitative data gathering based on semi-structured interviews and review of secondary and tertiary sources looking at Portugal, Spain, and Germany. It specifically addresses the role of social ecological transactions, the structure of decision making processes and the role of changes in contextual factors (such as ideologies, interdependent institutions and technology).
Deviant behaviour on various levels of the food supply chain may cause food risks. It entails irregular technological procedures which cause (increased probabilities of) adverse outcomes for buyers and consumers. Besides technological hazards and hitherto unknown health threats, moral hazard and malpractice in food businesses represent an additional source of risk which can be termed 'behavioural food risk'. From a regulatory perspective, adverse outcomes associated with deviance represent negative externalities that are caused by the breaking of rules designed to prevent them. From a rational choice perspective, the probability of malpractice increases with the benefits for its authors. It decreases with the probability of detection and resulting losses. It also decreases with bonds to social norms that protect producers from yielding to economic temptations. The design of mechanisms that reduce behavioural risks and prevent malpractice requires an understanding of why food businesses obey or do not obey the rules. This project aims to contribute to a better understanding of malpractice on the restaurant/retail level through comparative case studies and statistical analyses of food inspection and survey data. Accounting for the complexity of economic behaviour, we will not only look at economic incentives but consider all relevant behavioural determinants, including social context factors.
Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is an important cereal grain which serves as major animal fodder crop as well as basis for malt beverages or staple food. Currently barley is ranked fourth in terms of quantity of cereal crops produced worldwide. In times of a constantly growing world population in conjunction with an unforeseeable climate change and groundwater depletion, the accumulation of knowledge concerning cereal growth and rate of yield gain is important. The Nordic Genetic Resource Center holds a major collection of barley mutants produced by irradiation or chemical treatment. One phenotypic group of barley varieties are dwarf mutants (erectoides, brachytic, semidwarf, uzu). They are characterized by a compact spike and high rate of yield while the straw is short and stiff, enhancing the lodging resistance of the plant. Obviously they are of applied interest, but they are also of scientific interest as virtually nothing is known about the genes behind the development of plant dwarfism. The aim of this project is to identify and isolate the genes carrying the mutations by using state of the art techniques for gene cloning at the Carlsberg Laboratory. The identified genes will be connected with the mutant phenotype to reveal the gene function in general. One or two genes will be overexpressed and the resulting recombinant proteins will be biochemically and structurally characterized. The insights how the mutation effects the protein will display the protein function in particular. Identified genes and their mutant alleles will be tested in the barley breeding program of the Carlsberg brewery.
Im Auftrag des Bayerischen Landesamtes für Umwelt hat bifa den erstmals 2003 durchgeführten Ökoeffizienzvergleich der Entsorgungsstrukturen Bayerns, Deutschlands und der Schweiz erweitert und aktualisiert. Die Ergebnisse aus dem Jahr 2003 zeigten, dass der bayerische Weg zur Gestaltung der Abfallwirtschaft in seiner Ökoeffizienz im Vergleich mit den Entsorgungsstrukturen der Schweiz und dem deutschen Durchschnitt am besten abschnitt. Nach der, im Rahmen der aktuellen Beauftragung, durchgeführten Datenaktualisierung, der Bilanzierung zusätzlicher Wertstoffströme und der Berücksichtigung des Verbots der Ablagerung nicht vorbehandelter Abfälle rücken die Entsorgungsstrukturen hinsichtlich Ihrer Ökoeffizienz deutlich enger zusammen. Die Entsorgungsstruktur Bayerns weist im Vergleich zur Entsorgungsstruktur Deutschlands zwar noch ein geringfügig besseres ökologisches Gesamtergebnis auf, ist aber gleichzeitig mit leicht höheren Gesamtkosten verbunden. Die Entsorgungsstruktur der Schweiz ist etwas weniger ökoeffizient. Die Ursachen dafür sind eine geringere Umweltentlastung im ökologischen Gesamtergebnis, gepaart mit vergleichsweise hohen Entsorgungskosten. Methoden: Analyse und Moderation sozialer Prozesse, Ökobilanzierung und Systemanalyse, Ökonomie und Managementberatung.
The present-day configuration of Indonesia and SE Asia is the results of a long history of tectonic movements, volcanisms and global eustatic sea-level changes. Not indifferent to these dynamics, fauna and flora have been evolving and dispersing following a complicate pattern of continent-sea changes to form what are today defined as Sundaland and Wallacea biogeographical regions. The modern intraannual climate of Indonesia is generally described as tropical, seasonally wet with seasonal reversals of prevailing low-level winds (Asian-Australian monsoon). However at the interannual scale a range of influences operating over varying time scales affect the local climate in respect of temporal and spatial distribution of rainfall. Vegetation generally reflects climate and to simplify it is possible to distinguish three main ecological elements in the flora of Malaysia: everwet tropical, seasonally dry tropical (monsoon) and montane. Within those major ecological groups, a wide range of specific local conditions caused a complex biogeography which has and still attract the attention of botanists and biogeographers worldwide. Being one of the richest regions in the Worlds in terms of species endemism and biodiversity, Indonesia has recently gone through intensive transformation of previously rural/natural lands for intensive agriculture (oil palm, rubber, cocoa plantations and rice fields). Climate change represents an additional stress. Projected climate changes in the region include strengthening of monsoon circulation and increase in the frequency and magnitude of extreme rainfall and drought events. The ecological consequences of these scenarios are hard to predict. Within the context of sustainable management of conservation areas and agro-landscapes, Holocene palaeoecological and palynological studies provide a valuable contribution by showing how the natural vegetation present at the location has changed as a consequence of climate variability in the long-term (e.g. the Mid-Holocene moisture maximum, the modern ENSO onset, Little Ice Age etc.). The final aim of my PhD research is to compare the Holocene history of Jambi province and Central Sulawesi. In particular: - Reconstructing past vegetation, plant diversity and climate dynamics in the two study areas Jambi (Sumatra) and Lore Lindu National Park (Sulawesi) - Comparing the ecological responses of lowland monsoon swampy rainforest (Sumatra) and everwet montane rainforests (Sulawesi) to environmental variability (vulnerability/resilience) - Investigating the history of human impact on the landscape (shifting cultivation, slash and burn, crop cultivation, rubber and palm oil plantation) - Assessing the impact and role of droughts (El Niño) and fires - Adding a historical perspective to the evaluation of current and future changes.
Salinity occurs often simultaneously with drought stress. Therefore, breeding for tolerance to combined both stresses can contribute significantly to crop yield. However, classical selection in salinity has generally been unsuccessful, partly due to high variability of salt stress resulting from the different salinity and drought status. Unfortunately, the use of unrealistic stress protocols for mimicking salinity and drought stress is the norm rather than the exception in biotechnological studies. Therefore, the great challenge is to gain knowledge required to develop plants with enhanced tolerance to field conditions. Our overall hypothesis is that a realistic stress protocol simulating a field environment with combined salt and drought stress as a platform for precision phenotyping of plant tolerance to salinity may solve this problem. This study will demonstrate that highly managed stress environments can be created and key traits of plants can be characterised by using advanced non-destructive sensors that are able to identify relevant traits of plants.
The proposal addresses the potential of subsoil to contribute to K nutrition of crops. More specifically we will address the processes controlling release of K from interlayer of 2:1 clay minerals as this is expected to be the dominant K fraction in the subsoil. While it has been shown in the past that this so called 'non-exchangeable' K can be released due to root activity, there are controversial results concerning the role of soil solution K concentration in the rhizosphere required to trigger the process. Likewise little information is available about the concentration dynamics of other cations (NH4, Ca) in the rhizosphere and their impact on K release and vermiculitization supposed to be associated with this process. Model studies with substrate from the central field trial will be conducted in compartment systems equipped with micro suction cups. The measurement of dynamic changes of soil solution composition with increasing distance from the root surface will be combined with investigations of changes in mineralogy by XRD, TEM and SEM-EDX. Changes of mineralogy as a result of plant induced K release from interlayer will also be studied on bulk soil and rhizosphere samples collected within the central field and the central microcosm experiment and with mineral bags exposed in the field during a cropping cycle. Finally, X-ray CT will be used to access changes in soil texture, i.e. clay distribution around roots and the temporal spread of roots in biopores which is a prerequisite for K uptake from such structures.
SP0 is conceived for coordination of the ICON research, for internal and external scientific exchange as well as for investigating development pathways of land use on the Philippines. The SP0 team will supervise the project activities as a whole, including reporting and final synthesis. It will design the ICON homepage, establish and maintain a web-based database and present the project and its results in scientific forums and public media. It will organize collaboration and scientific exchange with international networks dealing with atmospheric processes, global carbon, nitrogen, water and energy cycles, and long-term ecological research. Specifically, SP0 is devoted to ensuring a sound integration of the ICON project within the scientific communities of Germany and SE Asia. Supported by the ICON local research coordinator based at and employed by IRRI, it will coordinate with the IRRI farm management to assist other ICON subprojects with field setup, routine data collection and technical backstopping.
Vorkommen, Häufigkeit, chemische Zusammensetzung und Mischungszustand jener Aerosolpartikel in der Erdatmosphäre, an denen sich durch heterogene Nukleation in unterkühlten Wolken Eis bilden kann (Ice Nucleating Particles = INP), werden experimentell untersucht. Diese Informationen sind wichtig für das Verständnis der Niederschlagsbildung, und finden in parametrisierter Form Eingang in meteorologische Modelle zur Vorhersage des Niederschlages. Das Projekt verwendet hierbei im Wesentlichen physikalische Methoden zur Identifikation und Isolation der Partikel aus der Atmosphäre, und nachfolgend elektronenmikroskopische Methoden zur mineralogischen Analyse einzelner Partikel. Die Identifikation jener wenigen Aerosolpartikel (ca. 1 von 10.000 bis 1 von 100.000), die Eisbildungsfähigkeit besitzen, erfolgt, indem eine Aerosolprobe einer Unterkühlung unter 0°C und Wasserdampfübersättigung ausgesetzt wird, und die an INP entstehenden Eiskristalle fotografiert und gezählt werden. Es werden sowohl Aerosolpartikel aus luftgetragenem Aerosol untersucht (aus dem Eiskeimzähler FINCH) wie auch Partikel, die aus einer Luftprobe auf einem Silizium-Probenträger niedergeschlagen und danach als INP identifiziert wurden (Eiskeimzähler FRIDGE). Eine dritte und vierte Methode (Ice-CVI und ISI) isolieren eisbildungsfähige Partikel, indem aus einer angesaugten Probe von Wolkenluft die Eiskristalle strömungstechnisch von den übrigen Luftbestandteilen getrennt werden. Alle Eiskeimproben werden im Rasterelektronenmikroskop auf Größe, Morphologie, Mischungszustand und chemische Zusammensetzung untersucht und die Ergebnisse der verschiedenen Ansätze verglichen. In Feldexperimenten werden Atmosphärenproben verschiedener geographischer Provenienz (Mitteleuropa, Forschungsstation Jungfraujoch, Wüstenstaub, Vulkanstaub) erhalten. In Laborexperimenten wird mit vorher gesammelt und charakterisierten Modellsubstanzen gearbeitet. Weiterhin wird durch tägliche Messungen der Anzahl-Konzentration und Zusammensetzung von Eiskeimen am Taunus Observatorium nahe Frankfurt über einen längeren Zeitraum untersucht, ob es Saisonalitäten, bevorzugte Quellgebiete (z.B. Wüsten, Industrie, etc.) und biologische Einflussfaktoren (z.B. Pollen, Pflanzenabrieb, Bakterien) für das Vorkommen von Eisnuklei gibt.
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