Durum wheat is mainly grown as a summer crop. An introduction of a winter form failed until now due to the difficulty to combine winter hardiness with required process quality. Winter hardiness is a complex trait, but in most regions the frost tolerance is decisive. Thereby a major QTL, which was found in T. monococcum, T.aestivum, H. vulgare and S.cereale on chromosome 5, seems especially important. With genotyping by sequencing it is now possible to make association mapping based on very high dense marker maps, which delivers new possibilities to detect main and epistatic effects. Furthermore, new sequencing techniques allow candidate gene based association mapping. The main aim of the project is to unravel the genetic architecture of frost tolerance and quality traits in durum. Thereby, the objectives are to (1) determine the genetic variance, heritability and correlations among frost tolerance and quality traits, (2) examine linkage disequilibrium and population structure, (3) investigate sequence polymorphism at candidate genes for frost tolerance, and (4) perform candidate gene based and genome wide association mapping.
This subproject aims to analyze the fragmentation of forest policy at both an international and national level for the selected countries, employing a discourse analysis approach. It is split into two sub-subprojects (SSPs). 'SSPa' conducts an analysis of discursive genealogies of forest policy in Germany, Sweden, and the US. 'SSPb' investigates the history of forest related discourses in three global environmental policy processes (UNFF, CBD, and UNFCCC). In doing so, both SSPs follow a three step procedure: In the first work package, relevant literature is reviewed and a theoretical and analytical framework is developed. In the second work package, empirical data (mostly formal and informal policy documents) are gathered and analyzed. In the third work package, emphasis is placed on the role of political 'elites' in the creation of fragmented forest policy discourses at different levels; in-depth interviews with policy stakeholders and experts add another perspective to the analysis in this work package. The project is expected to develop a new understanding not only of the fragmentation of multi-level and multi-sector forest policy discourses, but also of the way in which 'discourse elites' interact with and within these discourses. The results of the work packages will be published in peer reviewed journals and discussed with policy stakeholders and scientists in conferences and workshops.
Community forestry has not met the great public expectations on a significant contribution to sustainable forestry yet. Recent research in the management and policy of community forestry describes a complex process of multi level social choice which determines the outcomes. Our hypothesis is that the key factors determining the outcomes of community forestry are the interests and power of the external stake holders. This hypothesis will be tested in a comparative quantitative and qualitative analysis. In seven countries comprising developed and developing countries 84 cases will be used for comparison. The comparative analysis will be carried out by one PhD student financed by the project. He will do the field work in close cooperation with PhD students who are already conducting their PhD analysis the different countries. The comparative analysis is aimed to explore key drivers of community forestry which are not yet identified in literature.
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.
Electrical conductivity is a key parameter in models of magnetic field generation in planetary interiors through magneto-hydrodynamic convection. Measurements of this key material parameter of liquid metals is not possible to date by experiments at relevant conditions, and dynamo models rely on extrapolations from low pressure/temperature experiments, or more recently on ab-initio calculations combining molecular dynamics and linear response calculations, using the Kubo-Greenwood formulation of transport coefficients. Such calculations have been performed for Fe, Fe-alloys, H, He and H-He mixtures to cover the interior of terrestrial and giant gas planets. These simulations are computationally expensive, and an efficient accurate scheme to determine electrical conductivities is desirable. Here we propose a model that can, at much lower computational costs, provide this information. It is based on Ziman theory of electrical conductivity that uses information on the liquid structure, combined with an internally consistent model of potentials for the electron-electron, electron-atom, and atom-atom interactions. In the proposal we formulate the theory and expand it to multi-component systems. We point out that fitting the liquid structure factor is the critical component in the process, and devise strategies on how this can be done efficiently. Fitting the structure factor in a thermodynamically consistent way and having a transferable electron-atom potential we can then relatively cheaply predict the electrical conductivity for a wide range of conditions. Only limited molecular dynamics simulations to obtain the structure factors are required.In the proposed project we will test and advance this model for liquid aluminum, a free-electron like metal, that we have studied with the Kubo-Greenwood method previously. We will then be able to predict the conductivities of Fe, Fe-light elements and H, He, as well as the H-He system that are relevant to the planetary interiors of terrestrial and giant gas planets, respectively.
The vegetation of East and South African savannahs has been shaped by the complex interaction of geo-biophysical processes and human impact. For both regions a controversial discussion is pertinent, as to whether massive degradation threatens the sustainability of livelihoods in these regions. Rangeland vegetation is mainly affected by environmental conditions (soil and climate) and by livestock management. Extent and interaction of these drivers are not well understood but have profound impacts on the resilience and vulnerability of these systems to be shifted toward unfavourable degraded or bush encroached states. The project aims to analyse and model rangeland vegetation in response to range management including livestock, soil quality and climatic conditions and to assess the impacts of changes in these conditions on the resilience and vulnerability of rangeland systems. Field measurements, remote sensing of vegetation patterns and dynamics and simulation modelling will be used to understand the dynamics of rangeland vegetation. We will use the 'fast' or 'state' variables potential of pastures to produce palatable biomass, the variability of this production, and the system's potential to recover from disturbance impact as indicators of resilience. 'slow' variables that control (or drive) the 'fast' variables such as management, climate and soil variables are recorded in cooperation with other subprojects as with A1 for soil variables. Results of the project will show which management activities are most favourable for individual regions to sustain plant production in the long term.
Das hier vorgeschlagene Projekt, RP6 in INUIT-2, zielt darauf hin, fundamentales Prozessverständnis in Bezug auf heterogene Eisnukleation zu erzielen, und hier besonders auf die Rolle von biogenen Eiskeimen und von Eiskeimen die aus Mischungen von biogenem und mineralischem Material bestehen. Der Leipzig Aerosol Cloud Interaction Simulator (LACIS) wird dazu verwendet werden, das Immersionsgefrierverhalten einer Reihe von verschiedenen Eiskeimen zu untersuchen, darunter biogene (von Pilzen stammende) Eiskeime, solche die aus einer Mischung von biogenem und mineralischem Material bestehen wie Bodenstäube und Proben die innerhalb von INUIT-2 als Test-Materialen verwendet werden. Letztere werden von verschiedenen Gruppen von innerhalb und außerhalb von INUIT vermessen werden, und die Ergebnisse werden Vergleichen unterzogen werden, ähnlich denen, die bereits für einfachere Test-Materialien in INUIT-1 erfolgreich durchgeführt worden sind. Für die Eiskeime, die zur Untersuchung in RP6 vorgeschlagen werden, wird in sinnvollen und machbaren Fallen eine Oberflächenbehandlung durchgeführt werden, mit reaktiven und mit chemisch inerten Substanzen, deren Einfluss auf die Eiskeimfähigkeit dann untersucht wird. Wie bereits in früheren LACISStudien dokumentiert, sind kontrollierte Oberflächenbehandlungen ein ausgezeichnetes Instrument um zu ermitteln, was dazu führt, dass ein Partikel ein effektiver Eiskeim ist. Zusätzlich erhellen diese Untersuchungen den Effekt der Alterung auf die Eiskeime. Es ist auch geplant, die Messungen auszuweiten, hin zu Bedingungen unter denen eine Untersättigung bezüglich Wasserdampf vorliegt. Es soll untersucht werden in wie weit sich die Eiskeimbildung unter diesen Bedingungen verhält wie es im Fall von Immersionsgefrieren in konzentrierten Lösungen zu erwarten wäre. Von all den experimentell erhaltenen Daten werden verschiedene Parametrisierungen abgeleitet, sowohl zeit-abhängige als auch zeit-unabhängige, die dann der Wissenschaftsgemeinschaft für die weitere Verwendung in Modellen zur Verfügung gestellt werden. Die hier vorgeschlagenen Studien werden die bereits erfolgreich an LACIS während INUIT-1 durchgeführten Arbeiten ergänzen, da die Arbeiten in INUIT-1 stärker auf die Untersuchung reiner Mineralstäube und reiner biogener Substanzen hinzielten. Die Untersuchung von komplexeren und entsprechend mehr atmosphärenrelevanten Eiskeimen wird signifikant dazu beisteuern, atmosphärische Eiskeimbildung generell besser zu verstehen, und die entsprechenden Beiträge von mineralischen und biogenen Substanzen zu quantifizieren.
Atmospheric CO2 concentrations present a repetitive pattern of gradual decline and rapid increase during the last climate cycles, closely related to temperature and sea level change. During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; 23-19 kyr BP), when sea level was ca. 120 m below present, the ocean must have stored additionally about 750 Gt carbon. There is consensus that the Southern Ocean represents a key area governing past and present CO2 change. The latter is not only of high scientific but also of socio-economic and political concern since the Southern Ocean provides the potential for an efficient sink of anthropogenic carbon. However, the sensitivity of this carbon sink to climate-change induced reorganizations in wind patterns, ocean circulation, stratification, sea ice extent and biological production remains under debate. Models were not yet able to reproduce the necessary mechanisms involved, potentially due to a lack of the dynamic representation/resolution of atmospheric and oceanic circulation as well as missing carbon cycling. Data on past Southern Ocean hydrography and productivity are mainly from the Atlantic sector, thus do not adequately document conditions in the Pacific sector. This sector is not only the largest part of the Southern Ocean, but it also represents the main drainage area of the marine-based West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). In the proposed study we aim to generate paleo-data sets with a newly established proxy method from sediment core transects across the Pacific Southern Ocean. This will enhance the baselines for the understanding and modeling of the Southern Ocean's role in carbon cyling, i.e. ocean/atmosphere CO2 exchange and carbon sequestration. It will also allow insight into the response of the WAIS to past warmer than present conditions. Paired isotope measurements (oxygen, silicon) will be made on purified diatoms and radiolarians to describe glacial/interglacial contrasts in physical and nutrient properties at surface and subsurface water depth. This will be used to test (i) the impact of yet unconsidered dust-borne micronutrient deposition on the glacial South Pacific on shifts of primary productivity, Si-uptake rates and carbon export, (ii) the 'silicic-acid leakage' hypothesis (SALH) and (iii) the formation and extent of surface water stratification. Diatom and radiolarian oxygen isotopes will provide information on the timing of surface ocean salinity anomalies resulting from WAIS melt water. Climate model simulations using a complex coupled atmosphere ocean general circulation model (AOGCM) in combination with a sophisticated ocean biogeochemical model including Si-isotopes will be used for comparison with the paleo records. The analysis will cover spatial as well as temporal variability patterns of Southern Ocean hydrography, nutrient cycling and air-sea CO2-exchange. With the help of the climate model we aim to better separate and statistically analyse the individual impacts of ocean circulation and bio
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.
Neben Studien zur Diversität von Gefäßpflanzen in ausgewählten Untersuchungsflächen wurde der Erforschung der endemischen Palmenart Normanbya normanbyi besondere Aufmerksamkeit gewidmet. Im Mittelpunkt stehen Studien zur Blüten- und Fruchtökologie. Dabei wurde u.a. eine bisher unbeschriebene Gattung der Gallmücken entdeckt. Der interdisziplinäre Forschungsansatz soll wesentliche Erkenntnisse über Tier-Pflanze-Interaktionen in Regenwäldern liefern. Hauptaugenmerk liegt auf der Erfassung der Blüten- und Fruchtphänologie eines tropischen Tieflandregenwaldes in Nordostqueensland. Das Projekt beinhaltet die Erfassung der Phänologie aller Unterwuchsarten, Lianen und Baumarten in einer 1 ha großen Untersuchungsfläche. Weiterführend wird die Blühphänologie einer ausgewählten Palmenart Normanbay normanbyi erfasst und mit Hilfe molekulargenetischer Methoden im Zusammenhang mit der Verwandtschaftsstruktur ausgewählter Populationen betrachtet. Die Feldarbeiten für das 2003 begonnene Projekt wurden im Juli 2005 abgeschlossen.
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