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.
Für die optimale Nutzung der vorgegebenen Flugstunden einer HALO-Kampagne ist es von größter Bedeutung, dass die einzelnen Messflüge richtig geplant sind und diese Pläne effizient kommuniziert und mit den Piloten und dem Bedienpersonal iteriert werden können. Seit dem Jahr 2000 baut IEK-7 eine Expertise in der modellbasierten wissenschaftlichen Flugplanung auf, mit dem Ziel, das wissenschaftliche Ergebnis von Forschungsflügen zu optimieren, während die wissenschaftlichen Fragen, die von den Flügen beantwortet werden sollen, immer komplexer wurden.Im Jahr 2010 wurde das Mission Support System von Marc Rautenhaus am DLR in Zusammenarbeit mit Jülich entwickelt. Dieser Python-basierte Ansatz bietet große Vorteile gegenüber den bisherigen Methoden zur Bereitstellung wissenschaftlicher Informationen, die für die Flugplanung benötigt werden. Das MSS-Tool kombiniert ein spezielles Flugplanungs-Tool, um eine Reihe von Wegpunkten für die Piloten zu definieren, mit der Möglichkeit, die Flugbahn auf Modelldatenquerschnitten zu projizieren. Ab etwa 2010 MSS wurde für die Flugplanung in verschiedenen wissenschaftlichen Flugzeugkampagnen, an denen das DLR beteiligt war, eingesetzt. Da die MSS-Software unter der Apache 2.0 Open Source Softwarelizenz steht, konnte sie in Zusammenarbeit mit Jülich weiterentwickelt werden, um unseren Bedürfnissen bei der Planung der POLSTRACC HALO-Kampagne im Jahr 2016 mit großem Erfolg gerecht zu werden, indem nun auch CLaMS-Simulationsprognosen, Cirruswolkenprognosen des Modells CLaMS-ice und speziell abgeleitete Datenprodukte zur Visualisierung der Gravitationswellenaktivität eingesetzt werden. Seitdem wurde es auch u.a. von den HALO Kampagnen EMERGE und WISE intensiv genutzt. Obwohl das Instrument seit 2010 einige Verbesserungen erfahren hat, wurde seit 2010 keine Finanzierung für die allgemeine MSS-Entwicklung durch eine Finanzierungsagentur gewährt. Einzelne Kampagnen stellten Ressourcen zur Verfügung, um den unmittelbaren Bedarf der Kampagnen zu decken (z.B. Einrichtung der kampagnenspezifischen MSS-Server oder hinzufügen von kampagnenspezifischen Visualisierungen zum Server), aber es konnten keine größeren Verbesserungen neben der Fehlerbehebung durch die Teilzeitarbeit der beteiligten Wissenschaftler vorgenommen werden.Dieses Projekt wird die Weiterentwicklung des MSS-Clients und MSS-Servers in mehreren Teilprojekten mit einem ausgebildeten Programmierer für ein Jahr unterstützen, ein Zeitraum, dessen Bereitstellung für die aktuellen Entwickler nicht möglich ist. Die daraus resultierende MSS-Version wird für alle kommenden HALO-Kampagnen, begonnen mit SouthTRAC, von großem Nutzen sein. Das neue MSS wird die neuen WMS-Mapping-Standards unterstützen, neue und verbesserte Nutzungsmuster ermöglichen und Schulungsunterlagen für neue Benutzer und Serveradministratoren bereitstellen. Zukünftige und vergangene Kampagnen-PIs sind in den Prozess einbezogen, um zu beraten, welche Funktionen der Community am meisten nutzen werden.
Cloud processes have a strong influence on the energy and moisture budget of the atmosphere. Since in numerical weather prediction (NWP) models cloud related processes usually are of subgrid scale, they have to be parameterized in a set of parameterization schemes describing e.g. grid scale clouds and precipitation, subgrid scale cumulus convection and atmospheric radiative transfer. The aim of the proposed research project is to develop a new stochastic physics approach (SPA) for the treatment of cloud related processes in nonhydrostatic NWP models. The stochastic approach shall represent unresolved subgrid scale variability and model parameter uncertainties. For this purpose, selected fixed model parameters will be replaced by appropriate stochastic processes.The application of the SPA shall increase the forecast skill of the hosting NWP model. In an ensemble prediction system (EPS) the ensemble spread shall grow to more realistic values and thus help to overcome the current problem of too small spread (underdispersion) when only considering uncertainties in the initial or boundary conditions. The algorithms of the stochastic approach and the EPS will be developed for use in any nonhydrostatic NWP model that includes prognostic microphysics/precipitation, a radiation scheme with fractional cloud cover and an arbitrary mass flux convection scheme.
Ziel des Sachverständigengutachtens war, den Förderschwerpunkt 'Energieeffiziente Abwasseranlagen' des Umweltinnovationsprogramms (UIP) auszuwerten und zusammenfassend abschließend zu bewerten. Dabei waren die Förderkriterien auch aus heutiger Sicht zu prüfen und Empfehlungen für künftige Förderungen zu entwickeln. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass in Abwasseranlagen bei gleichbleibender Reinigungsleistung Stromeinsparungen von 10 bis 20 Prozent möglich sind, vor allem in den Bereichen Maschinentechnik, Prozesssteuerung und in der biologischen Reinigungsstufe. Bei der Auswertung wurde deutlich, dass zukünftig anlagenbezogene Idealwerte zugunsten fixer Zielwerte als Kriterium herangezogen werden und Energieanalysen vor und nach der Maßnahme durchgeführt werden sollten.
Atmospheric CO2 enrichment and climatic warming as well as N deposition affect input and output of carbon and nitrogen in soils. This experiment will assess quasi steady state signals of these fluxes and pools by using 'experiments by nature', i.e. established gradients of temperature and N input, the major drivers of NPP and the soil C balance. We will test the hypothesis that soil respiration (R) is driven by net primary production rather than temperature (T) per se. We will further test the hypothesis that enhanced nitrogen input (here naturally simulated by stands composed of nitrogen-fixing trees) will facilitate greater carbon sequestration. By selecting topography-driven 'IPCC T-gradients' across identical bedrock chemistry and macroclimate and high vs. low N input (Alnus vs. control) we will thus complement data obtained by other projects which employ shorter-term manipulative tests. The work will be conducted in the Swiss midlands and the Central Alps, in part using existing infrastructure at Furka pass (ALPFOR). Our project accounts for the growing international concern about oversimplistic projections derived from idealized (first principle based) laboratory type response functions to large-scale projections (Körner et al. 2007). Our project leans on theory which had been developed earlier by Raich and Nadelhoffer (1989). However, since the majority of experimental approaches adopt manipulative experiments (for soil warming experiments see the review by Rustad et al. 2001), which will also be adopted within the Swiss COST 639 consortium, we see an urgent need of complementing these studies by works using natural thermal and N-gradients. A lot of reasoning in terms of ecosystem carbon budgets relies on carbon pools. While these are significant and measured in a series of national and international attempts, they are rarely combined with actual flux measurements or vice versa. Our survey will aggregate process rates (litter production, root production, thickness growth of trees, soil CO2-evaluation) and climate, as well as soil data. Our project contributes primarily to the working group 1 agenda of this COST action.
Bioavailable nitrogen (N) from anthropogenic sources is an important driver of lacustrine eutrophication. However, N loading in lakes is partially mitigated by microbially mediated processes that take place in redox transition zones (RTZ) within the water column and in sediments. RTZ are also sites of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) production and consumption. As a result of anthropogenic activities, emissions of these greenhouse gases to the atmosphere have significantly increased over the past decades. Lake Lugano is an excellent model system for an anthropogenically impacted lake that represents a hot-spot of quantitative redox-driven transformations involving the green house gases CH4 and N2O, as well as other N species acting as important macro nutrients. Previous studies have revealed that this lake represents an important sink for fixed N and that the anoxic deep-waters and sediments contain high concentrations of CH4. Through the application of stable isotopic, molecular ecological and geochemical techniques, laboratory cultivation and (radio-) tracer studies, the project will try (i) to understand the metabolic pathway involved in N and CH4 elimination in Lake Lugano, (ii) to assess the metabolic rates, at which the respective elimination processes take place, as well as their variability in time and space, (iii) to constrain the isotope effects associated with specific N and CH4 transformations, and (iv) to provide information about the microorganisms involved in these transformations. Thereby, a particularly focus is put on reactions that have essentially been neglected in lacustrine studies thus far, namely the anarobic oxidation of ammonium (anammox) and the anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM). The project will provide the first comprehensive characterization of early diagenetic reactions in Lake Lugano. Moreover, it may allow insights into novel modes of autotrophic life in lakes. Finally, quantitative estimates of N and CH4 elimination in both the water column and sedimentary RTZ of Lake Lugano will be a prerequisite for ecosystem-scale N and C budgets. Thus, the project will provide important information that is directly pertinent to the health of Lake Lugano in particular, and eutrophied south alpine lakes in general.
Photorespiration starts with the competitive inhibition of CO2 fixation by O2 at the active site of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) and results in a loss of at least 25Prozent of the CO2 fixed in ambient air in C3-plants. Thus, photorespiration was considered a potentially wastefull proces that was limiting plant productivity. The prime function of the C2-pathway is to salvage glycolate 2-P by conversion to glycerate 3-P, which re-enters the C3-reductive cycle. We attempt to introduce two alternative and complete glycolate catabolic cycles into chloroplasts of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana in order to release and re-fix the CO2 directly within the chloroplast, thereby reducing the oxygenase activity of Rubisco by increasing the CO2/O2 ratio. Thus, an autoregulatory cycle would be created which results in an attenuation of the photorespiratory pathway and an expected improvement in the efficiency of CO2 assimilation and consequently, faster biomass production. Analyses of transformants harboring fully operational glycolate cycles will also generate data to complement our understanding of function and regulation of the photorespiratory pathway and its interaction with other processes.
Current methods for risk assessment are mostly 'deterministic'. This means they treat factors such as the toxicity of pesticides as if they were fixed, and precisely known. But in the real world, factors such as toxicity are not fixed but variable. For example, the same pesticide could be more toxic to some species of wildlife, and less toxic to others. What's more, the factors affecting risk are not precisely known but uncertain. For example, toxicity is measured for only a very small number of species, so scientists have to estimate toxicity to all the other species that we want to protect. Current methods for risk assessment try to allow for variability and uncertainty by using 'fixed safety factors', but this fails to give a complete description of the full range of the possible risks. Also, it is difficult to decide how big the safety factors should be. Probabilistic approaches enable variation and uncertainty to be quantified, mainly by using distributions instead of fixed values in risk assessment. A distribution describes the range of possible values (e.g. for toxicity), and shows which values within the range are most likely. The result of a probabilistic risk assessment can also be shown as a distribution, showing the range of environmental impacts that are possible, and which impacts within that range are most likely. This should provide a better basis for making decisions about pesticide risks, because the full range of possible outcomes can be taken into account. The main work of the EUFRAM project is done by a core partnership of 27 organisations from government, industry and academia, and comprises three main parts. 1. Development of a draft framework of basic guidance for risk assessors. The topics to be addressed include: - role and outputs of probabilistic assessments - methods of uncertainty analysis - probabilistic methods for small datasets - how to report and communicate results - how to validate probabilistic methods - how to improve access to existing data - requirements for probabilistic software and databases. - The framework will also include case studies of probabilistic risk assessment, showing how the methods can be applied to assessing impacts of pesticides on terrestrial and aquatic organisms. The first draft of the framework will be published at the end of 2004. 2. End-user testing. - In 2005-2006, the draft framework was subjected to extensive testing and refinement. A series of three workshops was organised for potential users, who were encouraged to trial the framework in their own organisations. Feedback from the users was used to refine the framework, and it is intended that the final version will be suitable for adoption as standard guidance at the European level. Prime Contractor: Central Science Laboratory, York, UK.
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.
Many aims of nature protection can only be achieved by adapted agricultural methods. For this reason in the last decades various options have been worked out for the farmers' to sign contracts regulating the management of their lands. One of these options is signing a contract for the management of dry meadows. It has become evident that not all farmers are willing to sign such contracts in spite of the possibility to earn some extra money. The question is why some farmers refuse to sign such contracts. The project aimed to answer this question. It can be shown that there are a number of factors that play an important role. Depending on the region and the way of farming different factors are decisive for signing or not. The following factors, however, play an important role for most of the farmers: The contracts for the cultivation of dry meadows fix the earliest date when the grass is to be cut. For some farmers this regulation creates operational difficulties: Depending on the summer weather they are forced to cut the meadows and e.g. pick the cherries at the same time. The cultivation of dry meadows is very time-consuming. During the harvest of this grass the farmers have hardly any time left for other jobs. This means it puts limits on the farmers time schedule. The contracts not only regulate the date when the grass is to be cut but also other matters such as the fertilisation of the dry meadows or their use as pastures. Therefore the farmers are limited in their range of farming options. The use of the grass of these dry meadows is a major problem for the farmers. Due to the late time of cutting and the prohibition of fertilisation the quality of the grass is not very good. Depending on the way of farming they can hardly use the grass for feeding their cows, especially if they are dairy farmers. At the moment the farmers do not think about discontinuing the management of these dry meadows thanks to the subsidies they get if they sign a contract. However it has to be expected that several dry meadows will not be used any longer if the subsidies are reduced or even cancelled. The results of this project show that very different factors influence the farmers' decision whether to sign a contract or not. There is not just one single important factor but every farmer also weighs these factors in a different way. Nevertheless a universal pattern can be seen: The importance of the subsidies and the cost of human labour
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