Südchina, insbes. die Provinz Guandong, ist eines der am dichtesten besiedelten Gebiete der Erde. Positive Konsequenz dieser Ballung ist eine äußerst dynamische Wirtschaftsentwicklung, aber gerade diese von subtropischem Monsunklima geprägte Region ist auch immer wieder Ausgangspunkt für sich schnell und zunehmend global ausbreitende epidemische Krankheiten wie zuletzt SARS. Mit der globalen Erwärmung einhergehende Klimaveränderungen könnten sich für diese Region insbesondere durch Veränderungen der Häufigkeit und Intensität tropischer Wirbelstürme, aber auch Änderungen der Niederschlagsmenge- und Intensität bemerkbar machen. Im Gegensatz zu den schon recht umfangreichen Datensätzen aus der Südchinesischen See (SCS) gibt es bisher jedoch nur sehr wenige terrestrische Paläoklimaarchive aus der Region, die Klimaveränderungen während des Holozäns, des Spätglazials oder Glazials hochauflösend dokumentieren. Wir haben deshalb einen an der nördlichen Küste der SCS gelegenen Maarsee ausgewählt, um über die Analyse von Proxydaten aus Seesedimenten solche Paläo-Klimavariationen zu untersuchen. Aus dem Sediment des Huguang-Maarsees wurden mittels Usinger-Präzisionsstechtechnik von einem Floss aus insgesamt 7 Sedimentsequenzen gewonnen, von denen die tiefste bis 57 m unter den Seeboden reicht. Die zeitliche Einstufung der Profile wurde mit Hilfe von 17 Radiokohlenstoff-Datierungen vorgenommen und ergab ein extrapoliertes Maximalalter von ca. 78.000 Jahren. Ein breites Spektrum aus sedimentologischen, geochemischen, paläo- und gesteinsmagnetischen sowie palynologischen Methoden kam sodann zum Einsatz, um die Paläo-Umweltbedingungen, die natürlich immer das entsprechende Klima widerspiegeln, während dieses Zeitraumes zu rekonstruieren. Überraschenderweise ergab sich ein von vielen bekannten Klimaprofilen der Nordhemisphäre (insbes. des Atlantikraumes, aber auch mariner Kerne aus dem Indik und Südostasien) abweichendes Muster. Im Gegensatz zu dem bekannten Grundmuster eines vergleichsweise stabilen Klimas während des Holozäns und stärkerer Schwankungen während des letzten Glazials weisen die Daten aus dem Huguang-Maarsee für das letzte Glazial im Zeitraum zwischen 15.000 und 40.000 Jahren auf relativ stabile Umweltbedingungen hin. Die älteren Bereiche zwischen 40.000 und ca. 78.000 Jahren haben durch Eintrag von umgelagertem Torf eine eher lokale Komponente und sind somit für den regionalen und globalen Vergleich ungeeignet. Das Holozän hingegen zeichnet sich durch hohe Schwankungsamplituden vieler Proxydaten (Karbonatgehalt, magnetische Suszeptibilität, organischer Kohlenstoff, Trockendichte, gesteinsmagnetische Parameter, Redox-Verhältnisse) aus, die auf ein recht variables Klima hinweisen. Besonders interessant ist die Übergangsphase vom Glazial zum Holozän, die bei etwa 15.000 Jahren vor heute in etwa zeitgleich mit dem beobachteten stärksten Meeresspiegelanstieg der Südchinesischen See einsetzt und eine abrupte Intensitätszunahme des Sommermonsuns anzeigt
Das Schwerpunktprogramm 1144 der DFG hat es sich zum Ziel gesetzt, Energie- Stoff- und Lebenszyklen an Spreizungsachsen vom Mantel zum Ozean zu untersuchen. Mit dem hier vorliegenden Antrag wollen wir einen Beitrag leisten, den Export von hydrothermalen Produkten in den Ozean anhand der Plume Dynamik zu quantifizieren. Die Hauptziele des vorliegenden Antrags umfassen die Untersuchung des Effekts gezeitengetriebener interner Wellen und vertikaler Vermischung auf die vertikale Ausbreitung/Verdünnung des Plumes und auf die Verteilung der hydrothermalen Fluide und Gase; die Untersuchung der Plume Dynamik durch Beobachtung von Turbulenzstärke, Geschwindigkeitsverteilung und Schichtung im Nahbereich der Quelle; die Quantifizierung des Helium- und Wärmeflusses der Hydrothermalquelle; die Quantifizierung der zeitlichen Variabilität der Volumen- Wärme- und Heliumtransporte aus dem Quellgebiet in den offenen Ozean; Wir werden Schiffs- und ROV-gestützte Messungen von Strömungsgeschwindigkeiten, Dichteschichtung, Trübung sowie Helium Probenahme durchführen um damit das Nahfeld und die grossräumige Ausbreitung des Plumes eines Hydrothermalfeldes zu untersuchen. Zur Bestimmung der zeitlichen Variabilität werden diese Daten mit verankerten Zeitreihen von Strömungsmessern mit Temperatur- und zusätzlichen Trübungssensoren kombiniert. Die so gewonnenen Daten liefern Informationen in Bezug auf die Kopplung zwischen physikalischen, geochemischen und biologischen Prozessen: das Strömungsfeld an Hydrothermalquellen hat direkten Einfluss auf die Besiedlungsmuster und -strategien von Vent Spezies; die Analyse des Heliumsignals in der Wassersäule liefert Informationen bezüglich der geochemischen Prozesse in Hydrothermalsystemen. Die Variabilität und Stärke der Helium- und Wärmeflüsse eines Hydrothermalfeldes erlaubt Aussagen über den Export eines solchen Feldes und seiner Variabilität in Relation zu ozeanographischen und geophysikalischen Randbedingungen. Der Schwerpunkt der Arbeiten wird bei 4 Grad 48S liegen.
South Tirol is an important region for apple production in Europe. The mild climate allows a high productivity but during the last decades, winter damage on apple trees was observed in 3 to 4 year intervals at numerous sites in South Tirol. This winter damage in apple orchards is economically relevant as e.g. in season 2004/2005 costs of more than 6 Mio Euros were caused. There are several indications that the observed dieback of crown parts or even trees was related to frost drought. The situation is comparable to that of trees at the timberline, where winter damage was analysed in previous projects. Based on our experience with trees growing at the alpine timberline, we hypothesize that winter damage in South Tirol apple orchards is strongly influenced by the duration of water uptake blockages, the extent of transpirational water losses, the trees water storage capacity as well as the climatic conditions in autumn. We expect damage in living tissues as well as xylem embolism to cause prolonged drought stress in spring. In the proposed project, these aspects will be analysed and avoidance strategies will be developed. In field measurements at five apple orchards in South Tirol, climatic conditions and effects on tree water relations (water potential, hydraulic conductivity, water storage, transpiration) as well as winter injury will be quantified, and in experimental approaches important parameters will be analysed in detail. These data will be compared with hydraulic characteristics (vulnerability to embolism, drought resistance of living tissues, water storage capacity) of studied varieties. In consequence, numerous varieties will be screened for resistance to frost drought, whereby hydraulic as well as related anatomical parameters will be analysed to develop a valuable screening protocol for variety selection. Cultivation techniques to avoid winter damage will also be tested in thi u.s.w.
In the Republic of Bashkortostan (Southern Russia) land use in general and land use practices in particular have changed due to the transformation process after the breakup of the former Soviet Union. These developments are causing land degradation and soll erosion, subsequently leading to a dramatic loss of arable land and a reduction of land productivity. The project will investigate the natural and anthropogenic causes for land degradation and soil erosion. Further more, ecological, socio-economic and political factors influencing sustainable agriculture in the region will be examined. For this study existing Russian archives, results from field work as Well as the analyses of remote sensing data will be used. Finally, guidelines and recommendations for soll conservation strategies will be developed. In addition, the existing data basis will be re-examined and adapted to international standards. The Integration of data as well as their transfer to the public will be achieved by using GIS techniques.
The Mediterranean Partner Countries of the European Union are confronted with a rapidly increasing energy demand caused by a growing population especially in cities and increasing living standards. The region has a great potential for the use of renewable energies, notably solar energy due to its high level of solar radiation. However, only a small variety of solar thermal technologies is used in the region. The state of technology and the political support mechanisms vary strongly across the region and in relation to the EU countries, where new solar thermal applications for water and space heating as well as cooling are developed. SOLATERM is an EU-funded project that brings together research institutions, energy agencies, authorities and enterprises from EU and the Southern Mediterranean partners. The project consortium with partners from eight Southern Mediterranean and five EU countries has the aim of promoting the application of a new generation of solar thermal systems in the Mediterranean partner countries. SOLATERM combines the technological know-how of EU research institutions with the specific experiences and knowledge of the Southern Mediterranean partners. The EU partners provide important experiences in developing a successful political framework to boost the use of renewable energy.
CENSOR is an interdisciplinary research project aimed at assessing and modeling the impact of ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillation) induced climate variability on the Humboldt Current Large Marine Ecosystem (HCLME) and its resources and resource users. It is sponsored by the European Commission with a total amount of 3 million Euros for 4 years (2004-2008). The 14 participating institutions come from Germany, France, Spain, Chile, Peru and Argentina. The project is coordinated by the Alfred Wegener Institute for Marine and Polar Research in Bremerhaven (Germany). The ZMT is involved as coordinator for the Working Package 4: Data integration and dissemination, modeling and resources management. Respective work is being conducted in close collaboration with the coordinator (AWI), the Universidad Agraria La Molina (Lima, Peru) and the Universidad de Antofagasta (Chile).
The Antarctic limpet Nacella concinna is the most conspicuous macro-benthic species in the intertidal and splash zone of the maritime Antarctic. Larval recruitment in this non-homing limpet takes place in the subtidal, and part of the population then migrates to the intertidal in the beginning of spring. The migratory limpets belong to an ecomorph with a higher and heavier shell (left picture, limpets at the intertidal zone), whereas shells of permanently subtidal limpets are lighter and flatter (right picture, taken at the subtidal). The two ecomorphs can be found in every location along the peninsulas of the South Shetlands. We are interested in the functional biodiversity of the two Nacella ecomorphs at Jubany station/Dallmann laboratory on King George Island, and investigate the behavioural and ecophysiological differences in-situ, and following exposure to air/emersion and to hypoxia. A special interest is on the expression and function of hypoxia inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) in the limpet model. This transcription factor is a universal master regulator of hypoxic metabolism and centrally involved in the metabolic regulation of cells and tissues under oxygen shortage. In the frames of the project we have obtained a first molluscan HIF-1-alpha sequence which, if compared to C. elegans and crustacean genes indicates rather high sequence variability to exist between invertebrates, in contrast to low variability among vertebrate genes.
All EU Member States face economic and ecological losses due to forest damages. Thus, combating forest dieback, as for example caused by climate change, is a contribution to human safety and well-being and the sustainable development of Europe. The Feasibility Study on means of combating forest dieback in the European Union was initiated by the European Parliament demanding the European Commission to develop a concrete proposal for preventing, mitigating and control forest dieback in the EU. The study was carried out by the Institute for World Forestry and the European Forest Institute (EFI) in 2007. The main objectives of the study were to: - review the different factors affecting forest dieback in the EU and their related causes, - analyse and evaluate the effectiveness of available EU legislations and instruments to combat forest dieback in the EU and - examine the possibilities for establishing a specialised entity for forest protection. In the scope of the feasibility study a survey was conducted in the EU Member States on the importance of damaging agents in EU27 forests. The results of the survey show that the importance of individual threats to forest ecosystem health and vitality varies within European regions. Insects, storm/windfall, and fire were regarded as the most serious threats in Central Europe, Western Europe and Southern Europe respectively. Regional differences exist in relation to damage types and intensity, which thus reflect the importance for particular instruments to prevent, mitigate and control various causes of forest dieback. The feasibility study showed that at the EU level several efficient and well established measures have been implemented which contribute to the prevention, mitigation and control of forest dieback. The study showed also that as a consequence of the current state and the predicted development of environmental pressures, such as climate change, future activities on the EU level to combat forest dieback are urgently needed. Existing measures have to be further developed in order to (a) increase synergy effects between individual instruments, (b) make the instruments more transparent to the entire range of potential stakeholders and beneficiaries, and (c) improve the communication between the different actors involved. A major challenge will be to incorporate future patterns of forest dieback, into existing, amended or new measures. Only the triad of prevention, mitigation and control will put the EU into a position to maintain and enhance the multiple, beneficial functions of forests and their contribution to the quality of life.
The overall objective of this project is to define and evaluate complete bioenergy chains from biomass crop production to thermochemical conversion for production of energy specially suitable for southern Europe. The complete chains will be evaluated regarded technical, environmental and economic aspects in order to identify the most promising combinations of biomass resources and technologies. In order to fulfil these objectives four perennial energy crops (Cardoon, Giant reed, Miscanthus and Switch Grass) have been carefully selected, which, due to their different seasonal harvest times, can provide an-all-year around availability of raw material for a subsequent energy production (combustion, gasification or fast pyrolysis). The work in the project is divided into three main phases: The four selected biomass crops will be cultivated in large fields in representative agricultural regions in Greece, Spain, France and Italy and subsequently harvested. Field measurements from these test fields will be used for the technical, economic and environmental analyses in the following work packages. Each crop will be fully characterised and subjected to a comprehensive test programme of combustion, gasification and fast pyrolysis. A report on the technical evaluation of the overall integrated bioenergy chain performance from biomass in the field to a derived heat and/or power product will be produced. An economic assessment will be carried out on the data collected from the first two phases. The overall performance from biomass in the field to a delivered energy product as heat and or power will be measured by reference to the component parts in the chain starting in the field and progressing through each stage of handling and processing to a final marketable product. An overall performance model will be derived to provide consistent comparison between different bio-energy chains. These assessments will be used to identify and prioritise the best combinations of biomass and conversion technology for each country. Work of the Institute of Chemical Engineering Fundamentals and Plant Engineering (GLVT), Graz University of Technology, within the project The role of GLVT in the project is to characterise the four specially selected fuel crops by comprehensive chemical analyses and by performing thermal conversion test runs in a laboratory-scale test reactor and in a pilot-scale combustion plant (100 kWth). During these test runs combustion characteristics such as, slagging, fouling and corrosion tendencies as well as emission potentials (NOX, SOX and particulates), of the fuels investigated, will be measured and evaluated.
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