Das Projekt "B 1.2: Efficient water use in limestone areas - Phase 2" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Hohenheim, Institut für Bodenkunde und Standortslehre durchgeführt. The elevated areas of Northern Thailand highlands are inhabited by ethnic minorities. On the other hand, the Thai majority prefers the valley bottoms. Population growth of all groups, reforestation and commercialisation of agriculture lead to an increasing pressure on land and water resources. Therefore, intensified land and water use systems are desired which are resource conserving at the same time. Here, special problem areas are the karstic limestone catchments due to the limited of surface waters.Own pre-investigations together with subproject A1 have shown, that land use systems there are subsistence oriented and local farmers do not use irrigation. But they would like to develop such technology, especially in order to increase staple crop production (highland rice, maize). But lack of irrigation possibilities is also responsible for the lack of diversification of land use systems with respect to orchards. One possibility to increase staple crop yields is to prolong the vegetation period by use of water harvesting technologies. Aim of this project is to develop such low cost water harvesting technologies (together with subproject B3.1) based on a participatory approach and to model the effect of these on the water balance at the catchments scale. This will be done on the basis of the previous variability studies and should lead to model tools, which allow to evaluate ex ante SFB innovation effects on the water balance. The project area is the Bor Krai catchments. Here, weirs will be installed to quantify surface water availability. An investigation plot will be situated near the village of Bor Krai which serves for water balance measurements (TDR/densitometry) and at the same time as demonstration plot for the local community. Here water harvesting by means of filling the soils field capacity at the end of the rainy season by gravity irrigation in order to prolong the vegetation period will be researched. Through cropping of participatory evaluated varieties the crop yield should be increased. The water consumption of traditionally managed and dominant crops (including orchards) will be measured at three further sites in the catchment (TDR, tensiometer). The water balance of the soil cover in the karst catchment will be based on the coupling of a SOTER map with a water transport model. The data base will be completed by soil type mapping, spatially randomised collection of soil physical properties (texture, bulk density, infiltration, water retention curve) and determination of the ku-function at two representative sites. As project results the available water amount for irrigation purposes will be quantified. The effective use of this water reserve will lead to increased productivity of the dominant crops and limitations to orchard productivity will be reduced. (abridged text)
Das Projekt "Storage of hydrogen in hydrides" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik durchgeführt. Hydrogen is the ideal synthetic fuel to convert chemical energy into electrical energy or into motive power because it is light weight, highly abundant and its oxidation product is vapor of water. Thus its usage helps to reduce the greenhouse gases and it conserves fossile resources. There is even a clean way to produce hydrogen by electrolysis of water by means of photo voltaics (SvW06, VSM05, PMM05). There are various possibilities to store the hydrogen for later use: Liquid and gaseous hydrogen can be stored in a pressure vessel, hydrogen can be adsorped on large surface areas of solids, and finally crystal lattices of metals or other compounds can be used as the storage system, where hydrogen is dissolved either on interstitial or on regular lattice sites by substitution (SvW06, San99). The latter process and its reversal is called hydriding respectively dehydriding. The subject of this proposal is the modeling and simulation of that process. The main problem of a rechargeable lithium-ion battery is likewise a storage problem, because in a rechargeable battery, both the anode and cathode do not directly take part in the electrochemical process that converts chemical energy into electrical energy, rather they act as host systems for the electron spending element, which is here lithium (Li). During the last month the applicant developed and exploited a mathematical model that is capable to capture the storage problem of an iron phosphate (FePO4) cathode, where the Li atoms are stored on interstitial lattice sites (DGJ07).
Das Projekt "E 1.2: Multi-layer drying models for optimising high value crop drying in small scale food industries" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Hohenheim, Institut für Agrartechnik, Fachgebiet Agrartechnik in den Tropen und Subtropen durchgeführt. Fruit tree cultivation is a suitable option for erosion control in mountainous regions of Southeast Asia. However, seasonal overproduction and insufficient access to markets can cause economic losses. The possibility of processing fruits locally could contribute considerably to increase and stabilize farm income. Currently, fruit drying methods in these areas are yielding products of inferior quality. Pre-treatments such as sulphurizing are commonly used, but can make the product undesirable for international markets. In addition, high energy requirements increase production costs significantly. Therefore, the objective of subproject E1.2 is to optimize the drying process of small-scale fruit processing industries in terms of dryer capacity, energy consumption and efficiency and end product quality. During SFB-phase II in E1.1, drying fundamentals for the key fruits mango, litchi and longan were established. In laboratory experiments, impacts of drying parameters on quality were investigated and numerical single-layer models for simulation of drying kinetics have been designed. In SFB-phase III this knowledge will be expanded with the aim of optimizing practical drying processes. Therefore, the single-layer models will be extended to multi-layer models for simulating bulk-drying conditions. The Finite Element Method (FEM) will be adapted to calculate heat and mass transfer processes. Thermodynamic behavior of batch and tray dryers will be simulated using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software. Drying facilities will be optimized by systematic parameter variation. For reduction of energy costs, the potential of solar energy and biomass will be investigated in particular. Further research approaches are resulting from cooperation with other subprojects. A mechanic-enzymatic peeling method will be jointly used with E2.3 for studying the drying behavior of peeled litchi and longan fruits. Furthermore, a fruit maturity sensor based on Acoustic Resonance Spectroscopy (ARS) will be developed in cooperation with E2.3 and B3.2. Finally, an internet platform will be built for exchange of farmer-processor information about harvest time and quantities to increase utilization of the processing facilities.
Das Projekt "Einfluss von Dürre auf das Waldsterben in Europa und Westkanada (Water03 - IDDEC)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Technische Universität München, Wissenschaftszentrum Weihenstephan für Ernährung, Landnutzung und Umwelt, Fachgebiet für Ökoklimatologie durchgeführt. While many forests and woodlands may be at increasing risk of climate-induced dieback, significant knowledge gaps remain in our understanding of the causes of climate-induced tree mortality. Recent publications underscore the critical importance of understanding the mechanisms that trigger plant mortality (Adams et al., 2009), particularly regarding features and traits that could be used as physiological indicators of tree death (McDowell et al., 2008). Alterations in wood formation and structure often occur prior to visual symptoms of crown decline. Thus, physiological, morphological, and anatomical traits related to xylem ('water-conducting pipes') may provide early-warning signals of drought-induced dieback. A better mechanistic understanding of drought-induced forest dieback would improve our ability to predict tree mortality and future changes in forest composition and coverage. The project aims at studying how drought episodes promote dieback via changes in xylem structure. Different genotypes of aspen (parkland region and the southern boundary of the boreal forest in western Canada), oak (Southern Europe) and pine (experiment) will be studied along gradients of moisture availability. Xylem-related traits that will be measured include ring-width, number of missing rings, quantitative wood anatomical structures (diameter and frequency of vessels/ tracheids, inter-vessel pit structure) as well as cavitation resistance, hydraulic conductivity, and water potentials.
Das Projekt "SOCIOEC - Socio economic effects of management measures of the future CFP" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität zu Kiel, Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre, Lehrstuhl für Umwelt-, Ressourcen- und Ökologische Ökonomik durchgeführt. SOCIOEC is an interdisciplinary, European wide project bringing together scientists from several fisheries sciences with industry partners and other key stakeholders to work in an integrated manner on solutions for future fisheries management, that can be implemented at a regional level. The central concept is to provide a mechanism for developing measures that are consistent with the overarching sustainability objectives of the EU, and that can provide consensus across all stakeholders. The first step will be to develop a coherent and consistent set of management objectives, which will address ecological; economic and social sustainability targets. The objectives should be consistent with the aims of the CFP, MSFD and other EU directives, but they should also be understandable by the wider stakeholder community and engage their support. This will then lead to the proposal of a number of potential management measures, based on existing or new approaches. The second step will be to analyze the incentives for compliance provided by these measures. In particular, we will examine fisher's responses and perceptions of these measures, based on historical analysis as well as direct consultation and interviews. This project part will also examine how the governance can be changed to facilitate self- and co-management to ensure fisher buy-in to promising management measures. In particular, the project will focus on the interpretation of overarching (i.e. EU) objectives in local and regional contexts. Finally, the project will examine the impacts of the management measures that emerge from this process, particularly in terms of their economic and social impacts. The IA analysis will be integrated by evaluating the proposed measures against the criteria of effectiveness, efficiency and coherence. Special attention will be paid in evaluating the proposed management measures' performance in terms of their ability to achieve the general and specific ecological objectives.
Das Projekt "Establishment and exploration of a gas ion source for micro-scale radiocarbon dating of glaciers and groundwater" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Heidelberg, Institut für Umweltphysik durchgeführt. Recent progress in the operation of CO2 gas ion sources for accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) 14C analysis on microgram-size samples opens a wide range of new applications in dating studies, e.g. for environmental and archeological applications. This proposal aims at implementing a gas ion source at the AMS system MICADAS at the Klaus-Tschira Laboratory of the Curt-Engelhorn-Zentrum für Archäometrie (CEZA) in Mannheim and to use this new capability for cutting-edge applications in environmental studies, namely the dating of small amounts of organic carbon contained in glacier ice and of specific organic compounds in ground water. Cold glaciers hold unique records on past climate and atmospheric composition. Mid-latitude ice cores furthermore enable reconstructions of recent ice chemistry changes, but cannot be dated by stratigraphic methods. For such ice bodies, only radiometric dating based on 14C analysis of organic matter contained in the ice matrix presently offers a reasonable dating potential in the late Holocene and beyond. The challenge of this approach lies in the very restricted availability of this matter, but the ability to analyse microgram samples of organic carbon from ice via a gas ion source should now enable reliable 14C dating of ice. Ground water constitutes an important water resource worldwide, especially in semi-arid regions, and in addition constitutes a useful climate archive. Dating of ground water by 14C in the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) is standard but problematic due to the complex carbonate geochemistry. Dating of ground water based on dissolved organic carbon (DOC) has been attempted with mixed success, but now the new analytical developments enable compound-specific 14C analyses of the various DOC components, offering the chance to identify compounds suitable for dating. This project is based on the extensive experience of the collaborating scientists in 14C analytics and applications as well as in the use of glacier ice and ground water as archives, including the development and application of 14C dating methods for these systems. It will establish 14C-measurements at the MICADAS AMS of the CEZA via a gas ion source on a routine base to analyse CO2-samples in the range of 5 to 40 microgram C at a precision down to 0,5 Prozent. By improving existing sample preparation techniques for glacier ice samples, reliable 14C values of the particulate and dissolved organic fractions from small (some 100 g) ice samples shall be obtained. This capability will be applied to constrain ages of cold, sedimentary glaciers as well as of small scale, cold Alpine congelation ice bodies. The project will further develop and test the tools required for micro-scale, compound-specific radiocarbon dating of ground water via its organic fraction. For this purpose, ground water samples from the Upper Rhine Graben area will be analysed, where extensive isotopic data, including DIC 14C values, are available for comparison.
Das Projekt "D 1.2: Reducing alternation and production of off-season fruits in Lychee, Longan and Mango" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Hohenheim, Institut für Kulturpflanzenwissenschaften (340), Fachgebiet Düngung und Bodenstoffhaushalt (340i) durchgeführt. The aim and vision of sub-project D1.2 was and is to encourage hillside farmers to plant erosion resistant fruit trees instead of erosion susceptible annual plants. For that reason, experiments to overcome the irregular bearing behaviour of the three most common fruit tree species in Northern Thailand (Litchi, Longan and Mango) from the first SFB period will be continued in order to make their planting more attractive to the farmers. Considerable progress has been made in D1 during the past 3 years to induce flowers and fruit in Longan trees by the application of KClO3 . With this technique, it was not only possible to induce year around flowers and fruit (off season fruit) but also to overcome the generally rather irregular fruiting behaviour of these trees. A similar technique is now being developed for Mango by using an inhibitor of the bio-synthesis of the plant hormone gibberellin. Only Litchi still resist this kind of manipulation by an 'off season technique' (OST). Great effort will therefore be devoted establishing a similar system for this species as well. Reliably, this can only be done by gaining a much better knowledge of the - most certainly hormonal - regulatory system that governs flower induction in trees. Investigations into the hormonal changes taking place during natural and induced flower induction is, therefore, one of the central objectives in this sub-project, with the goal to better understand the process of flower induction. Until now most of the progress in this area is entirely empirical in nature and a more specific manipulation therefore difficult. While the ability to produce off season fruit all year around and under various weather conditions has brought about a great number of new possibilities, new challenges will still be faced with regard to these methods. These circumstances will affect the whole production chain from the orchard to the market and consumer. In order to better investigate and understand these new situations, a large model experiment with Mango will be set up and problems like tree pruning, water and nutrient demand, phytopathological problems, demand on work force, fruit processing and drying etc. will be investigated by the interdisciplinary co-operation of 8 sub-projects within the SFB. The results obtained during these investigations will be shared with hillside farmers enabling them to take advantage of these new possibilities, which will provide for more reliable yields and allow them to market fruit year around. In general, these new opportunities should encourage farmers to plant more trees and thus reduce erosion. However, to make this system not only reliable and economic but also ecologically and socially beneficial to the society all potential benefits as well as risks have to be evaluated carefully from all different aspects.
Das Projekt "SP 2.1 Design, modeling and evaluation of improved cropping strategies and multi-level interactions in mixed cropping systems in the North China Plain" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Hohenheim, Institut für Kulturpflanzenwissenschaften (340), Fachgebiet Allgemeiner Pflanzenbau (340a) durchgeführt. In China, the productivity of arable land needs to be further increased. However, with N-fertilizer rates being extremely high already and due to a shortage of irrigation water, further yield increases are not possible by increasing the amount of these input factors. Strategies to reduce or avoid negative environmental effects including water saving while maintaining high yields have to be developed. Yield increases, may be possible by appropriately adjusting cropping systems, either by design (e.g. intercropping as a mixed cropping system), crop sequence and rotation, or improved input factor efficiency. The main objective of this subproject will be to design, model and evaluate improved cropping strategies and multi-level interactions in mixed cropping systems. Based on a process-oriented modeling approach, the project will emphasize on the evaluation of cropping system prototypes including different crops (spring maize, summer maize, wheat, peanut), different designs (intercropping, mixed cropping), different crop sequences and rotations (e.g. spring maize monoculture versus double cropping winter wheat-summer maize) and different input factor levels of water and nitrogen for different regions and agro-climatic conditions in the North China Plain. By doing so, the project aims at exploring the possibilities and at creating new methodologies for improving the cropping systems in the North China Plain. Within the modeling approach competitive relationships between crop species regarding yield, solar radiation, water and nitrogen will be analyzed and modeled. The project will design the necessary methods and basic approaches for the description of the relevant indicator parameters and transfer these into a thorough modeling approach.
Das Projekt "Adaptations and counter-adaptations in the coevolutionary arms race of a baculovirus and its insect host" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Julius Kühn-Institut, Bundesforschungsinstitut für Kulturpflanzen, Institut für Biologischen Pflanzenschutz durchgeführt. Cydia pomonella granulovirus (CpGV, Baculoviridae) is one of the most important agents for the control of codling moth (CM, Cydia pomonella, L.) in both biological and integrated pest management. The rapid emergence of resistance against CpGV-M, which was observed in about 40 European CM field populations from 2003 on, could be traced back to a single, dominant, sex-linked gene. Since then, resistance management has been based on mixtures of new CpGV isolates (CpGV-I12, -S), which are able to overcome this resistance. Recently, resistance even to these novel isolates was observed in CM field populations. This resistance does not follow the described dominant, sex-linked inheritance trait. At the same time, another isolate CpGV-V15 was identified showing high virulence against these resistant populations. To elucidate this novel resistance mechanism and to identify the resistance gene(s) involved, we propose a comprehensive analysis of this resistance on the cellular and genomic level of codling moth. Because of the lack of previous knowledge of the molecular mechanisms of virus resistance in insects, several different and complementary approaches will be pursued. This study will not only give an in-depth insight into the genetic possibilities for development of baculovirus resistance in CM field populations and how the virus overcomes it, but can also serve as an important model for other baculovirus-host interaction systems.
Das Projekt "Grüne Logistik - Workshops für kleine und mittlere Unternehmen" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von bifa Umweltinstitut GmbH durchgeführt. bifa wurde vom Bayerischen Staatsministerium für Umwelt und Gesundheit mit der Durchführung des Projekts IPP als Instrument des betrieblichen Klimaschutzes - eine Anleitung insbesondere für kleine und mittlere Unternehmen (KMU) beauftragt. Im Rahmen dieses Projekts werden u. a. acht Workshops mit Vertretern der Wirtschaft durchgeführt. Der erste Workshop fand bereits im Februar 2010 unter dem Motto Grüne Logistik: Visionen - Chancen - Risiken statt. Es nahmen 13 Unternehmer aus verschiedenen Bereichen der Logistik teil. Nach kurzen Impulsvorträgen zur Integrierten Produktpolitik und Grünen Logistik wurden in drei Arbeitsgruppen Möglichkeiten der Umsetzung von grüner Logistik im eigenen Unternehmen diskutiert und Ansatzpunkte gesucht, wie durch verstärkte Kooperation und Kommunikation die umweltbezogenen Vorteile der grünen gegenüber der normalen Logistik noch weiter ausgeschöpft werden können. Das äußerst heterogene Teilnehmerfeld wurde sehr positiv bewertet. So beschreibt ein Teilnehmer: Da waren ein Unternehmer mit eigenem Fuhrpark, ein kleiner mittelständischer Spediteur, ein großer mittelständischer Spediteur und ich aus der verladenden Wirtschaft. In der abschließenden Diskussion tauchte neben zahlreichen Ansatzpunkten zur Umsetzung immer wieder eine Frage auf: Was ist Green Logistics ? Wie können wir sie messen, was umfasst sie, wer nimmt daran teil und wer bezahlt sie? . Zur Abgrenzung der grünen gegenüber der normalen Logistik müssen Standards geschaffen werden, die den Unternehmen helfen, sich noch intensiver mit Möglichkeiten der Umweltentlastung im Bereich der Logistik auseinanderzusetzen. In einem weiterführenden Workshop im April 2010 setzten sich die Teilnehmer mit diesen Fragestellungen auseinander und erarbeiteten unter dem Titel Grüne Logistik: Standards generieren und umsetzen - aber wie? Vorschläge und Handlungsempfehlungen für die Praxis. Das IPP-Projekt ist für unterschiedliche Wirtschaftszweige von großem Interesse: So wurden weitere Workshops zu Themen wie Reach , Emissionen/ CDM , Bauwirtschaft und Recycling erfolgreich durchgeführt. Methoden: Analyse und Moderation sozialer Prozesse.
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