This subproject aims at the development of spectral electrical impedance tomography (EIT) as a non-destructive tool for the imaging, characterization and monitoring of root structure and function in the subsoil at the field scale. The approach takes advantage of the capacitive properties of the soil-root interface associated with induced electrical polarization processes at the root membrane. These give rise to a characteristic electrical signature (impedance spectrum), which is measurable in an imaging framework using EIT. In the first project phase, the methodology is developed by means of controlled rhizotron experiments in the laboratory. The goal is to establish quantitative relationships between characteristics of the measured impedance spectra and parameters describing root system morphology, root growth and activity in dependence on root type, soil type and structure (with/without biopores), as well as ambient conditions. Parallel to this work, sophisticated EIT inversion algorithms, which take the natural characteristics of root system architecture into account when solving the inherent inverse problem, will be developed and tested in numerical experiments. Thus the project will provide an understanding of electrical impedance spectra in terms of root structure and function, as well as specifically adapted EIT inversion algorithms for the imaging and monitoring of root dynamics. The method will be applied at the field scale (central field trial in Klein-Altendorf), where non-destructive tools for the imaging and monitoring of subsoil root dynamics are strongly desired, but at present still lacking.
Changes in agroecosystem management (e.g. landscape diversity, management intensity) affect the natural control of pests. The effects of agricultural change on this ecosystem service, however, are not universal and the mechanisms affecting it remain to be understood. As biological control is effectively the product of networks of interactions between pests and their natural enemies, food web analysis provides a versatile tool to address this gap of knowledge. The proposed project will utilize a molecular food web approach and examine, for the first time, how changes in plant fertilisation and landscape complexity affect quantitative aphid-parasitoid-hyperparasitoid food webs on a species-specific level to unravel how changes in food web interactions affect parasitoid aphid control. Based on the fieldderived data, cage experiments will be conducted to assess how parasitoid diversity and identity affect parasitoid interactions and pest control, complementing the field results. The work proposed here will take research on parasitoid aphid control one step further, as it will provide a clearer understanding of how plant fertilization affects whole aphid-parasitoid food webs in both simple and complex landscapes, allowing for further improvements in natural pest control.
Early generation plant breeding trials are often laid out according to unreplicated designs. Replicated checks may be used for error control, for example in augmented designs based on an incomplete block design for checks which are augmented with unreplicated entries. Traditional augmented designs require considerable resources to be spent on genotypes that are not themselves of interest. Therefore, it has been suggested to replace checks with partially replicated entries, leading to so-called prep designs. In the present proposal we suggest combining both ideas to develop what we call augmented prep designs. A non-trivial design problem arises when trials are to be performed at multiple locations. The main challenge then is how to augment the blocks so as to balance the number of pairwise concurrences. This task can be tackled in different ways based on the use (-arrays which are well-known as the basis for (-designs in fully replicated experiments. Furthermore, we also explore the refinement of designs when analysis by spatial models is envisioned. Robustness of the designs to the presence of genotype-environment interaction is also investigated.
Farm structures are often characterized by regional heterogeneity, agglomeration effects, sub-optimal farm sizes and income disparities. The main objective of this study is to analyze whether this is a result of path dependent structural change, what the determinants of path dependence are, and how it may be overcome. The focus is on the German dairy sector which has been highly regulated and subsidized in the past and faces severe structural deficits. The future of this sector in the process of an ongoing liberalization will be analyzed by applying theoretical concepts of path dependence and path breaking. In these regards, key issues are the actual situation, technological and market trends as well as agricultural policies. The methodology will be based on a participative use of the agent-based model AgriPoliS and participatory laboratory experiments. On the one hand, AgriPoliS will be tested as a tool for stakeholder oriented analysis of mechanisms, trends and policy effects. This part aims to analyze whether and how path dependence of structural change can be overcome on a sector level. In a second part, AgriPoliS will be extended such that human players (farmers, students) can take over the role of agents in the model. This part aims to compare human agents with computer agents in order to overcome single farm path dependence.
Subproject 3 will investigate the effect of shifting from continuously flooded rice cropping to crop rotation (including non-flooded systems) and diversified crops on the soil fauna communities and associated ecosystem functions. In both flooded and non-flooded systems, functional groups with a major impact on soil functions will be identified and their response to changing management regimes as well as their re-colonization capability after crop rotation will be quantified. Soil functions corresponding to specific functional groups, i.e. biogenic structural damage of the puddle layer, water loss and nutrient leaching, will be determined by correlating soil fauna data with soil service data of SP4, SP5 and SP7 and with data collected within this subproject (SP3). In addition to the field data acquired directly at the IRRI, microcosm experiments covering the broader range of environmental conditions expected under future climate conditions will be set up to determine the compositional and functional robustness of major components of the local soil fauna. Food webs will be modeled based on the soil animal data available to gain a thorough understanding of i) the factors shaping biological communities in rice cropping systems, and ii) C- and N-flow mediated by soil communities in rice fields. Advanced statistical modeling for quantification of species - environment relationships integrating all data subsets will specify the impact of crop diversification in rice agro-ecosystems on soil biota and on the related ecosystem services.
Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is one major source of subsoil organic matter (OM). P5 aims at quantifying the impact of DOM input, transport, and transformation to the OC storage in the subsoil environment. The central hypotheses of this proposal are that in matric soil the increasing 14C age of organic carbon (OC) with soil depth is due to a cascade effect, thus, leading to old OC in young subsoil, whereas within preferential flowpaths sorptive stabilization is weak, and young and bioa-vailable DOM is translocated to the subsoil at high quantities. These hypotheses will be tested by a combination of DOC flux measurements with the comparative analysis of the composition and the turnover of DOM and mineral-associated OM. The work programme utilizes a DOM monitoring at the Grinderwald subsoil observatory, supplemented by defined experiments under field and labora-tory conditions, and laboratory DOM leaching experiments on soils of regional variability. A central aspect of the experiments is the link of a 13C-leaf litter labelling experiment to the 14C age of DOM and OM. With that P5 contributes to the grand goal of the research unit and addresses the general hypotheses that subsoil OM largely consists of displaced and old OM from overlying horizons, the sorption capacity of DOM and the pool size of mineral-associated OM are controlled by interaction with minerals, and that preferential flowpaths represent 'hot spots' of high substrate availability.
Glendonites are pseudomorphs after the mineral ikaite (CaCO3 x 6H2O) and composed of calcite (CaCO3). In the past, they have been used as a paleo-thermometer because the primary mineral ikaite, according to observations and experiments, seems to be formed at temperatures near freezing, high alkalinity and high phosphate concentrations in marine sediments. An enigmatic occurrence of the largest glendonites known world-wide, in the Early Eocene Fur Formation of northwestern Denmark offers the unique possibility to shed more light on the actual mechanism and controlling parameters of ikaite formation. Right in the aftermath of the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum, a time known for its global pertubation in the global carbon cycle, the formation of authigenic calcium carbonate concretions start in the Fur Formation. In a specific stratigraphic interval inbetween these concretions, the glendonites can be found. We will investigate if termperature changes or changes in geochemical parameters of the Danish Basin caused the sudden formation of ikaite during a time interval that was based on known paleoclimatic reconstructions (semi tropic) not favorable for ikaite formation.
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.
Almond in California represents an agroecosystem pollinated solely by a single species, the European honey bee, a species that is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to manage due to substantial, unpredictable mortality. Therefore, sustainable and high output production require a more integrated approach that diversifies sources of pollination. For this purpose, detailed data of our understanding how diversity can stabilize pollination are required. The project will identify alternative wild pollinator species and collect high quality data contributing to our understanding of how diversity (pollen and insects) can bolster honey bee pollination during stable and unstable climatic conditions. The research will be carried out on almond orchards in Northern California known to be either pollinator species rich (up to 30 species) or depauperate (honey bees only). The replicated extremes in pollinator diversity represent a unique opportunity to study the effects of diversity on pollination in real agroecosystems combined with laboratory and glasshouse experiments. The overall goal is to provide basic research that is essential for our general understanding of how insect diversity can affect high-quality pollination under land use and climate change.
Dieser Fortsetzungsantrag eines bestehenden Forschungsprojekts innerhalb der Forschergruppe INUIT (Ice Nuclei Research UnIT) hat zum Ziel, die physikalischen und chemischen Eigenschaften von atmosphärischen Eiskeimen (ice nucleating particles, INP) und Eispartikelresiduen (ice particle residuals, IPR) zu untersuchen. Es werden hauptsächlich zwei Messtechniken eingesetzt: virtueller Gegenstromimpaktor und Laserablationsmassenspektrometrie. Eiskeime (INP) aus atmosphärischem Aerosol werden erst in einem Eiskeimzähler aktiviert, so dass sich Eiskristalle bilden, die dann mit einem bepumpten Gegenstromimpaktor aufgrund ihrer Größe extrahiert und verdunstet werden können. Die freigesetzten INP können wiederum mit dem Massenspektrometer oder anderen Messtechniken untersucht werden. Dieses Experiment wird während einer Feldmesskampagne in der Nähe der Quellen von potentiell guten Eiskeimen (Mineralstaub, Biopartikel, anthropogene Partikel) durchgeführt. Ein geeigneter Kampagnenort hierfür ist die Mittelmeerregion, z.B. Südspanien. Die Eispartikelresiduen werden direkt aus unterkühlten Mischphasenwolken gesammelt. Hierzu wird ein spezieller Eis-Gegenstromimpaktor eingesetzt, der nur Eiskristalle sammelt und von den unterkühlten Wolkentröpfchen trennt. Nach der Sammlung wird das Eis der Eiskristalle verdunstet, so dass die Eisresidualpartikel freigesetzt werden und mittels des Laser- Ablationsmassenspektrometers analysiert werden können. Dieses Experiment wird auf einer Bergstation (Jungfraujoch) durchgeführt. Die Kombination aus Eiskeimzähler, bepumptem Gegenstromimpaktor und Massenspektrometer wird auch unter Laborbedingen zur Bestimmung der Eiskeimfähigkeit von internen und externen Partikelmischungen (z.B. biologisch/mineralisch) betrieben. Das Laserablationsmassenspektrometer in seiner Eigenschaft als Einzelpartikel-Analysegerät wird ebenfalls dazu eingesetzt, um den Mischungszustand der erzeugten Mischpartikel zu charakterisieren.
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