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Can the resistance and resilience of trees to drought be increased through thinning to adapt forests to climate change?

Recent and predicted increases in extremely dry and hot summers emphasise the need for silvicultural approaches to increase the drought tolerance of existing forests in the short-term, before adaptation through species changes may be possible. We aim to investigate whether resistance during droughts, as well as the recovery following drought events (resilience), can be increased by allocating more growing space to individual trees through thinning. Thinning increases access of promoted trees to soil stored water, as long as this is available. However, these trees may also be disadvantaged through a higher transpirational surface, or the increased neighbourhood competition by ground vegetation. To assess whether trees with different growing space differ in drought tolerance, tree discs and cores from thinning experiments of Pinus sylvestris and Pseudotsuga menziesii stands will be used to examine transpirational stress and growth reduction during previous droughts as well as their subsequent recovery. Dendroecology and stable isotopes of carbon and oxygen in tree-rings will be used to quantify how assimilation rate and stomatal conductance were altered through thinning. The results will provide crucial information for the development of short-term silvicultural adaptation strategies to adapt forest ecosystems to climate change. In addition, this study will improve our understanding of the relationship between resistance and resilience of trees in relation to extreme stress events.

CFK-Recycling in der Kompetenzregion Augsburg

The increasing proportion of carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP) in different branches of industry will result in an increasingly larger quantity of CFRP wastes in future. With regard to improved management of natural resources, it is necessary to add these fibres that require energy-intensive production to effective recycling management. But high-quality material recycling is only ecoefficient if the recycled fibres can be used to produce new high-quality and marketable products. Tests carried out up to now indicate that very good results can be expected for large-scale recycling of carbon fibres by means of pyrolysis. The waste pyrolysis plant (WPP) operated in Burgau is the only large-scale pyrolysis plant for municipal wastes in Germany. Use of this plant to treat CFRP wastes represents a unique opportunity for the whole Southern German economy and in particular the Augsburg economic region. In a study funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment and Health ('Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Umwelt und Gesundheit'), the specific implementation options for the recovery of carbon fibres from composites by means of large-scale pyrolysis have been under investigation since November 2010. To this end, in the first step a development study was carried out, which in particular examined the options for modifying the Burgau WPP for the recycling of CFRP. The knowledge acquired from the pyrolysis tests, the fibre tests and the economic feasibility study confirmed the positive assessment of the overall concept of CFRP recycling in Burgau. As an overall result, unlimited profitability was found for all scenarios with regard to investments in CFRP recycling in Burgau WPP. The work on the development study was carried out by bifa Umweltinstitut GmbH together with the Augsburg-based 'function integrated lightweight construction project group ('Funktionsintegrierter Leichtbau' - FIL) of the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology (ICT). Methods: analysis and moderation of social processes, economy and management consulting, process engineering

Forschergruppe (FOR) 1525: INUIT - Ice Nuclei research UnIT, Screening und Charakterisierung biologischer Eiskeime und Untersuchung deren Einflusses auf die Eiskeimaktivität von Boden-und Mineralstaub

Mikroorganismen sind im Boden, in kryptogamen Gemeinschaften und in der Atmosphäre von zentraler Bedeutung. Verschiedene Spezies von Bakterien, Pilzen, Flechten und Pollen wurden bereits als Eiskeime, welche eine Eisbildung bei relativ hohen Temperaturen initiieren können, identifiziert, und besonders biologische Bestandteile aus dem Boden sind eine vermutlich bedeutsame Quelle atmosphärischer Eiskeime. Die genauen Quellen biologischer Eiskeime in der Atmosphäre sind jedoch kaum bekannt, obwohl ein potentieller Beitrag dieser, zur Eis- und Niederschlagsbildung mittlerweile von verschiedenen Studien untermauert wird. Aktuelle Untersuchungen verschiedener Boden- und Luftproben zeigen Hinweise, dass verschiedene eisaktive Pilze unterschiedlicher Phyla nicht nur im Boden und in der Luft vorhanden sind, sondern auch häufig in der kultivierbaren Fraktion vorkommen können. Aus diesem Grund befasst sich das vorgeschlagene Projekt mit der Suche nach weiteren bisher unbekannten eisaktiven Mikroorganismen und Bestandteilen aus dem Boden, von Pflanzen und kryptogamen Gemeinschaften und mit der Erforschung ihres Einflusses auf die Eiskeimaktivität des Bodens. Die nötigen Methoden für ein Screening verschiedenster Kulturen z.B. von Cyanobakterien sind in unserem Labor gut etabliert. Zudem sollen die jeweiligen Eiskeime der neu gefundenen eisaktiven Organismen auf molekularer Ebene charakterisiert werden.

Biogenic soil structures: feedbacks between bioactivity and spatial heterogeneity of water storage and fluxes from plot to hillslope scale

Soil structure determines a large part of the spatial heterogeneity in water storage and fluxes from the plot to the hillslope scale. In recent decades important progress in hydrological research has been achieved by including soil structure in hydrological models. One of the main problems herein remains the difficulty of measuring soil structure and quantifying its influence on hydrological processes. As soil structure is very often of biogenic origin (macropores), the main objective of this project is to use the influence of bioactivity and resulting soil structures to describe and support modelling of hydrological processes at different scales. Therefore, local scale bioactivity will be linked to local infiltration patterns under varying catchment conditions. At hillslope scale, the spatial distribution of bioactivity patterns will be linked to connectivity of subsurface structures to explain subsurface stormflow generation. Then we will apply species distribution modelling of key organisms in order to extrapolate the gained knowledge to the catchment scale. As on one hand, bioactivity influences the hydrological processes, but on the other hand the species distribution also depends on soil moisture contents, including the feedbacks between bioactivity and soil hydrology is pivotal for getting reliable predictions of catchment scale hydrological behavior under land use change and climate change.

Diffusion and advection with sorption of anions, cations and non-polar molecules in organo-clays at varying thermo-chemical conditions - validation by analytical methods and molecular simulation

The sorption of anions in geotechnical multibarrier systems of planned high level waste repositories (HLWR) and of non-ionic and organic pollutants in conventional waste disposals are in the center of recent research. In aquatic systems, persistent radionuclides such as 79Se, 99Tc, 129I exist in a form of anions. There is strongly increasing need to find materials with high sorption capacities for such pollutants. Specific requirements on barrier materials are long-term stability of adsorbent under various conditions such as T > 100 C, varying hydrostatic pressure, and the presence of competing ions. Organo-clays are capable to sorb high amounts of cations, anions and non-polar molecules simultaneously having selectivity for certain ions. This project is proposed to improve the understanding of sorption and desorption processes in organo-clays. Additionally, the modification of material properties under varying chemical and thermal conditions will be determined by performing diffusion and advection experiments. Changes by sorption and diffusion will be analyzed by determining surface charge and contact angles. Molecular simulations on models of organo-clays will be conducted in an accord with experiments with aim to understand and analyze experimental results. The computational part of the project will profit from the collaboration of German partner with the group in Vienna, which has a long standing experience in a modeling of clay minerals.

The Water, Energy and Food Security Nexus

In order to understand the interlinked problems in the Nexus (Latin = connection, linkage, interrelation) of water, energy and food security, close cooperation between scientists and practitioners from different fields is necessary. The present and future challenge of a reliable supply with water, energy and food is an example, where isolated considerations do not lead to viable solutions. Sustainable action and meaningful research in these highly interconnected fields require a holistic and comprehensive perspective and a new approach. In this sense, a collaborative research structure with a holistic view on the Nexus of Water, Energy and Food security was established in 2013 at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences. The project bundles some of the research efforts of 11 professors from different faculties and institutes. The researchers jointly work on initiating new cooperation projects with partners from industry, academia and civil society. Together they aim at exploring new technologies and applying new approaches to solve major issues of efficiency and sustainability in resource use.

Schwerpunktprogramm (SPP) 1158: Antarctic Research with Comparable Investigations in Arctic Sea Ice Areas; Bereich Infrastruktur - Antarktisforschung mit vergleichenden Untersuchungen in arktischen Eisgebieten, Artbildung und Anpassung antarktischer Asselspinnen: Bewertung des Einflusses genetischer Drift und natürlicher Selektion durch vergleichende populationsgenomische und morphologische Analysen

Die Erforschung von Artbildungs- und Anpassungsprozessen ist zentral, um zu verstehen, wie Biodiversität entsteht und auf wechselnde Umweltbedingungen reagiert.. Ein idealer Ort für solche Studien ist das Südpolarmeer: Es beherbergt eine reiche und hochgradig endemische Fauna. Neuere Studien zeigen, dass viele benthische Arten aus Gruppen von genetisch distinkten Kladen bestehen, die als früher übersehene Arten pleistozänen Ursprungs interpretiert werden. Diese kryptischen Arten können durch molekulare Methoden (z. B. DNA-Barcoding) und z.T. auch durch morphologische Analysen unterschieden werden. Es wird angenommen, dass die Artbildung per Zufall erfolgte, als ehemals große Populationen während glazialer Maxima in kleinen allopatrischen Refugien isoliert wurden, wo sie starker genetischer Drift ausgesetzt waren. Alternative Artbildungsmodelle wurden bislang wegen fehlender molekularer Methoden kaum erforscht. Studien aus anderen Ökosystemen zeigen, dass ökologische Artbildung, d.h. Aufspaltungsereignisse durch unterschiedliche Selektion, ein naheliegendes alternatives Artbildungsmodell ist. In dem hier vorgestellten Projekt sollen erstmals hochauflösende genomische Methoden zusammen mit morphologischen Analysen benutzt werden, um konkurrierende Artbildungsmodelle für das Südpolarmeer zu testen. Als Fallstudie sollen hierfür Muster genetischer Drift und Selektion in einer besonders erfolgreichen Gruppe benthischer Arten des Südpolarmeeres untersucht werden, den Asselspinnen (Pycnogonida). Aufbauend auf vorangehenden Studien sollen genomische Muster neutraler und nicht neutraler Marker bei zwei Artkomplexen untersucht werden: Colossendeis megalonyx und Pallenopsis patagonica. Diese beiden Artkomplexe von Asselspinnen sind aufgrund mehrerer Merkmale hervorragende Modelle für die Themen dieses Antrages: 1) Es existieren zahlreiche genetisch divergente kryptische Arten, 2) erste morphologische Unterschiede wurden gefunden, 3) die weite Verbreitung der Vertreter sowohl auf dem antarktischen Kontinentalschelf als auch in weniger von den Vereisungen betroffenen subantarktischen Regionen, 4) ihre geringe Mobilität. Sollte eine durch genetische Drift bedingte allopatrische Artbildung in glazialen Refugialpopulationen der Hauptantrieb der Evolution sein, ist zu erwarten, dass Zufallsfixierung neutraler Allele und Signaturen von Populations-Bottlenecks in stark vereisten Gebieten am höchsten sind. Wenn andererseits natürliche Selektion der Hauptantrieb der Artbildung war, so sind starke Signaturen von Selektion auf Geno- und Phänotyp zu erwarten. Diese sollte am stärksten bei sympatrischen Arten sein (Kontrastverstärkung). Die Variation entlang von Genomen soll untersucht werden, um das Ausmaß zufälliger bzw. nicht zufälliger Variation einzuschätzen. Das vorgeschlagene Projekt wird ein wichtiger erster Schritt einer systematischen Erforschung der relativen Bedeutung von genetischer Drift und Selektion für die Evolution im Südpolarmeer sein.

New Conceptual Developments and Their Implementation in the German Eco-Cycle and Waste Policies

Patterns of evolution in the species complex of the tree-root endophyte Phialocephala fortinii

Populations of P. fortinii from allover Europe are examined using microsatellites to construct gene genealogies and infer evolutionary history. The tree-root endophyte Phialocephala fortinii s.l. (mitosporic Ascomycota) is the dominant colonizer of conifer root systems in forests in the northern hemisphere. P. fortinii s.l. is genetically highly diverse and forms a complex of several cryptic species. Recombination occurs or has occurred within cryptic species and to some extent also among them (introgression). Cryptic species occur sympatrically and they can form large thalli, but it remains unclear whether the observed patterns of spatial distribution reflect local climax situations or are the results of recent gene and genotype flow. One of the key objectives will be to estimate population genetic parameters (eg. migration rates, genotype flow, recombination) within and among populations of cryptic species in forests where man-mediated genotype flow can be excluded. Other key objectives are the determination of the number, frequency, distribution and evolutionary history of the cryptic species in Europe and to identify the driving forces for speciation. The approach will be multidisciplinary and will include standard mycological and microbiological methods as well as molecular genetic techniques such as microsatellite fingerprinting and DNA sequencing. The evolutionary history of haplotypes at both the population and species level will be reconstructed and the results will be compared with known patterns of pleistocenic glaciations and postglacial recolonization of host trees. The project will be a significant contribution to the understanding of the population and evolutionary genetics of a versatile and ecologically extremely successful fungal genus and it will shed light on the effects of pleistocenic and postglacial climatic changes on fungal speciation.

Adaptations and counter-adaptations in the coevolutionary arms race of a baculovirus and its insect host

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.

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