The project aims at achieving a better understanding of the processes that drive or limit the response of grassland systems in a world of increasing atmospheric pCO2. We will test the hypothesis that the previously shown increase in below-ground allocation of C under elevated pCO2 provides the necessary energy excess and will stimulate free-living N2 fixers in a low N grassland environment. The project thus aims at assessing the occurrence and importance of free-living N2 fixers under elevated pCO2 and identify the associated microbial communities involved in order to better understand ecosystems response and sustainability of grassland systems. This project had the last opportunity to obtain soil samples from a grassland ecosystem adapted to long-term (10 year) elevated atmospheric pCO2 as the Swiss FACE experiment. The project aims to identify the relevant components of free-living diazotrophs of the microbial community using 15N stable isotope - DNA probing.
The 2nd Conference in the series of 'Integrative Approaches Towards Sustainability' is a response to the request of participants of the first conference held in Latvia March 26-29, 2003 (http://home.lanet.lv/ asi/). An impressive forum of excellent key-note speakers was challenged by an ambitious audience of young researchers at the 1st Conference proceedings of which contain 600 pages. The Baltic Rim, a recognised leader in integrated treatment of environmental, social, and economic problems of sustainable development (SD), is facing the challenge of full acceptance of the Baltic Countries and Poland to this worldclass club. The 2nd Conference aims to strengthen the integration of the region's RTD community and promotion of sharing its knowledge and expertise internally, across Europe (including the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions) and worldwide by inviting distinguished researchers to discuss the goals defined by the EU Council in Gothenburg, sciencebased thresholds of sustainability and limits with focus on the Baltic Rim, the corporate responsibility for SD in regional decision making, to share knowledge and expertise with particular focus on agriculture, forestry, education, and universitymunicipality partnership in basic and advanced fields of SD; to train the young researchers of the region and regions of Mediterranean and Black Sea. The 2nd Conference will contribute to creation of a 'critical mass' of human potential for SD in the region and Europe. The Conference tasks will be implemented by an appropriate Agenda and composition of participant list. It is essential for the region to organise a high level conference in a new member state on the East coast of the Baltic Sea in order to address senior researchers, to train the young ones from the Baltic countries and Poland and to encourage them to take the opportunities offered by the ERA and the EC 6th FP. The work under the project consists of 6 Work packages.
Aquifers are the main source of water in most semi-arid areas of the Mediterranean basin. As a result of over-exploitation hydrologic deficits of varying acuity prevail in these areas. Seawater intrusion and pollution have been identified as the primary factors for quality degradation. Further deterioration can be expected based on trends in the precipitation regime attributed to climate change. The objective of this project is to identify alternative sources of water and to investigate the feasibility, both environmental and economic of their utilization. Alternative water sources to be artificially recharged comprise: surface water runoff, treated effluent, and imported water. Furthermore, brackish water bodies, present in many aquifers could be utilised after desalination. The project structured into eight work-packages comprehensively addresses all issues related to the problem: expected precipitation rates, recharge and water budgets, identification of potential alternative water sources and technologies for their utilization, development of tools for the management of groundwater resources under artificial recharge conditions, aquifer vulnerability assessment, characterization of the unsaturated zone, and mixing effects. Four test sites have been selected for practical application of the approach. Substantial field testing, integration of technologies and findings to ensure optimal implementations of aquifer recharge alternatives, quantification of socio-economic impacts and development of dissemination platform are planned. Finally a carefully designed project management shall drive and accompany the project execution in order to ascertain consistency and efficiency.
Coastal ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic perturbation, affecting biodiversity and ecosystem stability and resilience. Shallow water sediments and their associated biota represent a reservoir for biodiversity, hosting resting and reproductive stages of planktonic organisms, and regulating carbon and nutrient biogeochemical cycles. However, the relationship between tightly coupled biological and geochemical processes in this environment is poorly defined with respect to their temporal and spatial variability. The overall objective of COBO is to integrate emerging and innovative technologies from different disciplines (physics, chemistry, biology, imagery) to provide in situ monitoring of sediment habitats, a key component of coastal marine ecosystems, in order to understand complex interactions between the biota (function and diversity) and their chemical environment. Existing technologies have limited spatial and temporal sampling resolutions and this has hampered progress in determining key parameters and in explaining biogeochemical patterns / processes and in modeling ecosystem dynamics. Improved in situ technologies are required to provide rigorous scientific information on processes regulating this unique and fragile habitat and for assessing, controlling and minimising human impact on European coastal waters thus addressing societal need. Organism-sediment processes, with both enhancing and mediating effects, are still poorly understood in shallow water sediments that receive the bulk of anthropogenic disturbance. The combination of innovative instruments from the different disciplines will provide powerful tools to significantly advance our understanding of organism sediment relations under dynamic coastal conditions and enhance predictive capability. COBO represents a major step towards the development of permanently operating benthic observatories for coastal management. Prime Contractor: Scottish Association for Marine Science; Dunberg Oban; United Kingdom.
The working documents on revision of the Sewage Sludge Directive (86/278/EEC) on Biowaste and the Soil Protection Communication call for standards on sampling and analysis of sludge, treated biowastes and soils. The European Directives are intended to prevent unacceptable release of contaminants, impairment of soil function, or exposure to pathogens, and to protect crops, human and animal health, the quality of water and the wider environment when sludges and treated biowastes are used on land. The EU animal by-product regulations are fixing microbiological threshold values, for which microbiological methods of analysis are needed. The European Commission wishes to cite European (CEN) standards in order that there is harmonised application of the directives and that reports from Member States (MS) can be compared. This project to develop standards for hygienic parameters in sludge, soil and biowaste, presented under the name 'HORIZONTAL-HYG', will be carried out under the umbrella of the main project HORIZONTAL 'Development of horizontal standards for soil, sludge and biowaste'. This ensures full integration in the CEN system through BT Task Force 151 specially set up in support of this project as well as direct supervision by DG ENV and MS, which form the Steering Committee of HORIZONTAL. Preparation of HORIZONTAL-HYG was taken in a full agreement with the DG ENV, DG JRC and the MS already contributing to HORIZONTAL. HORIZONTAL-HYG's objective is to produce standardised methods for sampling and hygienic microbiological parameters, as Salmonella spp, Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfringens, Ascaris ova in sludges, treated biowastes and soils written in CEN format. Validation of the methods is an essential part of the development as it quantifies performance in terms of repeatability and reproducibility. The consortium is well connected in CEN and ISO and thus provides an excellent basis for implementation of the deliverables. Prime Contractor: Energieonderzoek Centrum Nederland; Petten, Netherlands.
Under the 2003 EU Greek presidency, cooperation with Balkan countries on environmental issues was identified as a priority of the EU/Balkan Action Plan. Large-scale co-operation is essential for effective action in the vulnerable Mediterranean and Black Sea coastal zones. During the last 50 years both areas suffered major changes; as semi-enclosed basins, both Seas are ultra-sensitive to anthropogenic stress and to climate change. An EU Presidency Conference on Sustainable Development in the Mediterranean/Black Sea (May 2003), revealed major gaps in management structures, scientific strategies and identified a diversity of environmental issues to be resolved through priority-focused RTD cooperation. Yet, while pressure on the resources of the two seas increases and the potential impact of climate change on coastal and deep-sea resources remains unknown, the two seas have never been jointly studied as systems of interacting basins and ecosystems. The proposal outlines collaboration and clustering schemes involving environmental, economic and scientific organisations in Mediterranean, Black Sea and other EU nations, in order to create synergies in networking and exchanges at several levels, addressing for the first time the system of interconnected basins as one, based on the integration of, both horizontally and vertically, natural scientists and economists. These will: 1) Create an international, interdisciplinary platform coordinating the region's scientific potential in order to prepare RTD projects, based on a Science Plan for the region, securing sustainable development; 2) Focus on natural and anthropogenic pressures exerted upon the functioning of the ecosystem; 3) Reinforce RTD capacity by setting up an environment/resource monitoring network in the light of existing observation networks of different scopes. Prime Contractor: Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Oceanography, Anavyssos, GR.
Differenzierung der Quellen- und Senkenfunktion des Bodens unter Berücksichtigung der Nutzungsgeschichte. Im Rahmen des CARBOEUROFLUX-Projekts wurden im Hainich (Thüringen) Kohlenstoff (C)- Speicherungsraten festgestellt, die der Vorstellung der Kohlendioxid-Neutralität von alten Wäldern widersprechen und die Frage nach deren Kyoto-Relevanz aufwerfen. Im Rahmen europäischer Projekte lässt sich allerdings nicht klären, wie diese hohen Speicherraten entstehen und wo C im System verbleibt. Wir vermuten, dass durch historischen C-Export, z.B. infolge von Streunutzung, die Böden im Hainich verarmten und die entleerten Speicher jetzt wieder aufgefüllt werden. Um das Ausmaß des nutzungsbedingten C-Exports abschätzen zu können, werden aus Schriftquellen Art und Umfang der Biomassenutzung in ihrer zeitlichen und örtlichen Entwicklung rekonstruiert. Zudem untersuchen wir, welche Anteile des C-Eintrages veratmet, gespeichert und über den Wasserpfad exportiert werden. Hierzu werden 13C und 14C- Isotopenverhältnisse an Bodengasen sowie gelöstem und festem Boden- C bestimmt. Unsere Untersuchungen zielen auf ein grundlegendes Verständnis der C-Speicherung im Jahresverlauf ab. Die Zusammenarbeit mit dem Kompetenzzentrum 'Dynamik Komplexer Geosysteme' und dem europäischen CARBOEUROPE Cluster wird die Doppelerhebung von Daten verhindern und deren gegenseitige Verfügbarkeit sicherstellen. Ziel der Arbeit ist es, den historischen Kohlenstoffexport insbesondere unter Berücksichtigung der forstlichen Nebennutzung abzuschätzen. Hierzu soll anhand von Literaturdaten einerseits die Vegetationsgeschichte geklärt werden. Andererseits soll der im Untersuchungsgebiet im Zuge der forstlichen und landwirtschaftlichen Nutzungen erfolgte Biomasseentzug nach Art und Umfang dokumentiert werden. Diese Arbeiten sind notwendig, um den Einfluss der Nutzungsgeschichte auf die Kohlenstoffspeicherung im Untersuchungsstandort abzuschätzen. Im Rahmen des Gesamtprojektes sollen zunächst Daten zur Entwicklung der Biomasse im Untersuchungsgebiet zusammengestellt werden. Eine weitere Aufgabe besteht darin, auf der Basis von Literaturstudien einen möglichen Vergleichsstandort mit unterschiedlicher Nutzungsgeschichte zu identifizieren.
In contrast to their advances in other areas, weather forecast models have not been successful in improving the Quantitative Precipitation Forecast during the last 16 years. One reason for this stagnation is the lack of comprehensive, high-quality data sets usable for model validation as well as for data assimilation, thus leading to improved initial fields in numerical models. Theoretical analyses have identified the requirements measured data have to meet in order to close the gaps in process understanding. In field campaigns, it has been shown that the newest generation of remote sensing systems has the potential to yield data sets of the required quality. It is therefore time to combine the most powerful remote sensing instruments with proven ground-based and airborne measurement techniques in an Intensive Observations Period (IOP). Its goal is to serve as a backbone for the SPP 1167 by producing the demanded data sets of unachieved accuracy and resolution. This requires a sophisticated scientific preparation and a careful coordination between the efforts of the institutions involved. For the first time, the pre-convective environment, the formation of clouds and the onset and development of precipitation as well as its intensity will be observed in four dimensions simultaneously in a region of sufficient size. This shall be achieved by combining the IOP with international programs and by collaboration between leading scientists in Europe, US and other countries. Thus, the IOP is a unique opportunity to make Germany the setting of an international field campaign featuring the newest generation of measurement systems such as scanning radar and lidar and leading to outstanding advances in atmospheric sciences.
Recent events such as the Pakistan earthquake, Hurricane Katrina, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the European heat waves of 2003 reveal the vulnerability of societies to extreme events. The goal of this project is to strengthen prevention, mitigation and preparedness strategies in order to reduce the health, social and economic impacts of extreme events on communities. The objectives of the MICRODIS project are to strengthen the scientific and empirical foundation on the relationship between extreme events and their impacts; to develop and integrate knowledge, concepts, methods and databases towards a common global approach and to improve human resources and coping capacity in Asia and Europe through training and knowledge sharing. This integrated project involves 19 partners from Asia and Europe, including research, policy and ground roots institutions. The outputs will include an evidence-base on impacts, field methodologies and tools for data compilation, impact models, and integrated vulnerability assessments. It will also strengthen standardised data collection of extreme events and their impacts at local, regional and global levels. Prime Contractor: Université Catholique de Louvain; Louvain-la-neuve; Belgium.
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