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.
Objectives: Sustainable management of tropical moist forests through private forest owners will become increasingly important. Media report that in Brazil, particularly in Amazonia, approx. 80 percent of the timber harvested is from illegal sources. Private management of forests according to internationally acknowledged standards offers an opportunity to significantly lower the portion of illegally cut timber. Moreover, it contributes significantly to the conservation of the Amazon forest. Private forest owners show a clear long-term commitment towards the implementation of management standards according that is ecologically compatible, socially acceptable and economically viable. The project area, a pristine forest in legal Amazonia in the transition zone between moist tropical forests and savannas (cerrado), is extremely diverse in floristic and faunistic terms. The institute cooperates with the private forest owner. Main tasks are to document the faunistic and floristic diversity, to calculate the Annual Allowable Cut and to elaborate concepts for site-specific silviculture. Results: To date (Oct. 2006) the following activities were started: - a comprehensive inventory system for planning at the FMU-level has been successfully introduced; - the inventory system for the annual coupe area has been designed and data for the first coupe are being processed; - the annual allowable cut is currently calculated based on the results of the above described inventories; - two fauna surveys are completed; one focusing on large mammals and one on the avi-fauna. A long-term monitoring concept to assess the influence of forest management on the faunistic diversity is currently under development; - forest zoning is completed applying terrestrial surveys and interpreting high-resolution satellite images; - a study on the use of Bethollethia excelsa-fruits (Brazil nuts) is currently implemented; - a study on timber properties of lesser known species is currently implemented.
For surface soils, the mechanisms controlling soil organic C turnover have been thoroughly investigated. The database on subsoil C dynamics, however, is scarce, although greater than 50 percent of SOC stocks are stored in deeper soil horizons. The transfer of results obtained from surface soil studies to deeper soil horizons is limited, because soil organic matter (SOM) in deeper soil layers is exposed to contrasting environmental conditions (e.g. more constant temperature and moisture regime, higher CO2 and lower O2 concentrations, increasing N and P limitation to C mineralization with soil depth) and differs in composition compared to SOM of the surface layer, which in turn entails differences in its decomposition. For a quantitative analysis of subsoil SOC dynamics, it is necessary to trace the origins of the soil organic compounds and the pathways of their transformations. Since SOM is composed of various C pools which turn over on different time scales, from hours to millennia, bulk measurements do not reflect the response of specific pools to both transient and long-term change and may significantly underestimate CO2 fluxes. More detailed information can be gained from the fractionation of subsoil SOM into different functional pools in combination with the use of stable and radioactive isotopes. Additionally, soil-respired CO2 isotopic signatures can be used to understand the role of environmental factors on the rate of SOM decomposition and the magnitude and source of CO2 fluxes. The aims of this study are to (i) determine CO2 production and subsoil C mineralization in situ, (ii) investigate the vertical distribution and origin of CO2 in the soil profile using 14CO2 and 13CO2 analyses in the Grinderwald, and to (iii) determine the effect of environmental controls (temperature, oxygen) on subsoil C turnover. We hypothesize that in-situ CO2 production in subsoils is mainly controlled by root distribution and activity and that CO2 produced in deeper soil depth derives to a large part from the mineralization of fresh root derived C inputs. Further, we hypothesize that a large part of the subsoil C is potentially degradable, but is mineralized slower compared with the surface soil due to possible temperature or oxygen limitation.
Die temperatur- und feuchteabhängige Eisnukleationseffizlenz von verschiedenen Aerosolen kann in Laborexperimenten genau charakterisiert und für die Beschreibung von primärer Eisbildung in numerischen Modellen auf verschiedensten Skalen parametrisiert werden. Wenn diese Effizienten als bekannt vorausgesetzt werden, unter welchen Bedingungen und wie oft tritt heterogene Eisnukleation in den verschiedenen Nukleationsmoden tatsächlich in typischen Mischphasenwolken auf? Dieser Frage wird in diesem Projekt mit dem Modell ICON-LES (der Large Eddy Version des neuen icosahedrischen nichthydrostatischen Modells, welches zurzeit am Deutschen Wetterdienst und dem Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie in Hamburg entwickelt wird) nachgegangen. Dieses Modell enthält ein Zwei-Momenten-Wolkenphysikschema und wird durch aerosolspezifische Eisnukleationsparameterisierungen ergänzt werden. Zusätzlich wird eine einfache Diagnostik von Aerosolen in Wolkentropfen eingeführt, um zwischen potentiellen Immersionseiskeimen und interstitiellen eisnukleierenden Partikeln, die als Kontakt- oder Depositionseiskeime dienen können, zu unterscheiden. In idealisierten Simulationen von verschiedenen Mischphasenwolkentypen, die in Europa häufig auftreten (Winternebel, Altostratus, orographische Wolken, hochreichende Konvektion) und unter Benutzung von klimatologischen Aerosolfeldern wird das Auftreten von Immersions-, Depositions- und Kontaktgefrieren und die Werte der Eiskeimkonzentrationen statistisch ausgewertet und mit den Sensitivitätsbereichen der INUIT Labor- und Feldmessgeräten verglichen. Zusätzlich wird das bevorzugte räumliche Auftreten dieser Prozesse (z. B. Kontaktgefrieren in den Einmischbereichen an den Wolkenrändern) analysiert und quantifiziert werden. Das Modellsetup für die Fallstudie der konvektiven Wolke wird mit RP3 abgestimmt, so dass ein Vergleich zwischen dem spektralen und dem Zwei-Momenten- Mikrophysikschema möglich ist. Außerdem wird in diesem Projekt zusammen mit WP-F und WP-L eine Schließungsstudie für die Messungen in der Mittelmeerkampagne durchgeführt. Dabei wird untersucht, welche Parameter zu den größten Unsicherheiten in der Vorwärtsberechnung von potentiellen Eiskeimen führen.
Changes in agroecosystem management (e.g. landscape diversity, management intensity) affect the natural control of pests. The effects of agricultural change on this ecosystem service, however, are not universal and the mechanisms affecting it remain to be understood. As biological control is effectively the product of networks of interactions between pests and their natural enemies, food web analysis provides a versatile tool to address this gap of knowledge. The proposed project will utilize a molecular food web approach and examine, for the first time, how changes in plant fertilisation and landscape complexity affect quantitative aphid-parasitoid-hyperparasitoid food webs on a species-specific level to unravel how changes in food web interactions affect parasitoid aphid control. Based on the fieldderived data, cage experiments will be conducted to assess how parasitoid diversity and identity affect parasitoid interactions and pest control, complementing the field results. The work proposed here will take research on parasitoid aphid control one step further, as it will provide a clearer understanding of how plant fertilization affects whole aphid-parasitoid food webs in both simple and complex landscapes, allowing for further improvements in natural pest control.
Comprehension of belowground competition between plant species is a central part in understanding the complex interactions in intercropped agricultural systems, between crops and weeds as well as in natural ecosystems. So far, no simple and rapid method for species discrimination of roots in the soil exists. We will be developing a method for root discrimination of various species based on Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR)-Attenuated Total Reflexion (ATR) Spectroscopy and expanding its application to the field. The absorbance patterns of FTIR-ATR spectra represent the chemical sample composition like an individual fingerprint. By means of multivariate methods, spectra will be grouped according to spectral and chemical similarity in order to achieve species discrimination. We will investigate pea and oat roots as well as maize and barnyard grass roots using various cultivars/proveniences grown in the greenhouse. Pea and oat are recommendable species for intercropping to achieve superior grain and protein yields in an environmentally sustainable manner. To evaluate the effects of intercropping on root distribution in the field, root segments will be measured directly at the soil profile wall using a mobile FTIR spectrometer. By extracting the main root compounds (lipids, proteins, carbohydrates) and recording their FTIR-ATR spectra as references, we will elucidate the chemical basis of species-specific differences.
The aim of P2 within the Research Unit 'The Forgotten Part of Carbon Cycling: Organic Matter Storage and Turnover in Subsoils (SUBSOM)' is to contribute to the understanding of the different sources and stabilization processes of subsoil organic matter. This will be achieved by the analysis of the soil organic matter composition in topsoil versus subsoil by 13C NMR spectroscopy in bulk soils as well as organo-mineral associations. This will be done on a number of soil profiles differing in parent material and mineralogy and therefore also in the relevance of organo-mineral associations for subsoil C stabilization. In addition, a specific sampling approach will allow to differentiate three zones associated with the dominating effect of (1) leaching of DOC (the 'bulk soil' between trees), (2) root litter decomposition (the 'root-affected zone'), and (3) direct rhizodeposition of root exudates (the 'rhizosphere' sensu strictu). The contribution of above-ground versus below-ground litter is differentiated by the analysis of cutin and suberin biomarkers. Organic matter derived from microbial sources will be identified by the microbial signature of polysaccharides in the subsoil through the analysis of neutral sugars and amino sugars. Organo-mineral associations will be further characterized by N2-BET analyses to delineate the coverage of the mineral phase with organic matter. With these analyses and our specific analytical expertise at the submicron scale (nanoSIMS) we will participate in selected joint experiments of the research unit.
Prehistoric pits are filled with ancient topsoil material, which has been preserved there over millennia. A characteristic of these pit fillings is that their colour is different depending on the time the soil material was relocated. Soil colour is the result of soil forming processes and soil properties, and it could therefore indicate the soil characteristics present during that specific period. To the best of our knowledge, no investigation analysed and explained the reasons for these soil colour changes over time. The proposed project will investigate soil parameters from pit fillings of different archaeological periods in the loess area of the Lower Rhine Basin (NW-Germany). It aims to implement the measurement of colour spectra as a novel analytical tool for the rapid analyses of a high number of soil samples: the main goal is to relate highresolution colour data measured by a spectrophotometer to soil parameters that were analysed by conventional pedogenic methods and by mid infrared spectroscopy (MIRS), with a main focus on charred organic matter (BPCAs). This tool would enable us to quantify the variation of soil properties over a timescale of several millennia, during different prehistoric periods at regional scale and for loess soils in general. Detailed information concerning changing soil properties on a regional scale is necessary to determine past soil quality and it helps to increase our understanding of prehistoric soil cultivation practices. Furthermore, these information could also help to increase our understanding about agricultural systems in different archaeological periods.
Der schnelle Fortschritt der elektronischen Geräte erhöht die Nachfrage nach verbesserten Li-Ionen Batterien. Kommerziell erhältliche Li-Zellen nutzen meist Lithiumkobaltoxid für die positive Elektrode. Doch gerade dieses Material ist ein Hindernis für eine weitere Optimierung, insbesondere für eine Kostensenkung. Vor allem für größere Anwendungen wie Hybrid- oder Elektrofahrzeuge müssen alternative Materialen erforscht werden, die billiger, sicherer und umweltverträglicher sind. Daher wird im ISEA derzeit ein neues Forschungsprojekt ins Leben gerufen und die dafür benötigte Infrastruktur geschaffen. Die Forschung wird sich auf die Untersuchung geeigneter Übergangsmetalloxide und Polyanionen konzentrieren, die besonders gut zur Einlagerung von Li-Ionen geeignet sind. Es werden neue Herstellungsverfahren unter Verwendung wässriger Precurser-Substanzen untersucht, die Verbindungen mit überlegenen Eigenschaften erzeugen und außerdem leicht an eine Massenproduktion angepasst werden können. Ziel der Arbeiten ist, preisgünstiges Elektrodenmaterial zu entwickeln, das eine spezifische Energie von über 200 Wh/kg und eine Leistungsdichte von 400 W/kg aufweist. Außerdem werden Arbeiten im Bereich der physikalisch-chemischen Charakterisierung der neuen Materialien stattfinden sowie elektrochemische Analysen der gesamten Zellen- und Batteriesysteme durchgeführt. Das elektrodynamische Verhalten der neuen Zellen wird u. a. mit Hilfe der elektrochemischen Impedanzspektroskopie analysiert, um präzise und zuverlässige Algorithmen für ein späteres Batteriemonitoring im realen Betrieb zu finden.
This project is aimed at the characterization of the systemic reprogramming in barley, which modulates the compatible interaction with the biotrophic leaf pathogen Blumeria graminis f.sp. hordei upon root infestation with the mutualistic endophyte Piriformospora indica. We have recently shown that the basidiomycete P. indica - upon successful establishment in the roots - reprograms barley to salt stress tolerance, resistance to root diseases and higher yield (Waller et al., 2005). Successful powdery mildew infections in barley leaves are also disturbed by the mutualistic fungus. These processes are associated with a strong change in plant metabolism, especially with a drastic alteration of leaf and root antioxidants. On the basis of these findings we will perform an in-depth analysis of the barley metabolome (B6) and transcriptome (B7) with two specific foci: First, to elucidate the process of establishment of the mutualistic fungus within the barley roots; second, to characterize elements of the systemic response in leaves leading to an interruption or failure of compatibility processes required for successful establishment of biotrophic leaf pathogens like Blumeria. New gene candidates will be pre-selected systematically for their regulatory role in compatibility by means of transiently transformed barley leaves upon Blumeria inoculation. Stable transgenic barley and maize lines (B3) generated with verified gene candidates and genes identified by other projects (A1, A2, B5, B6) will be tested with Blumeria and P. indica. By comparing candidate genes in the different plant - microbe systems, we will identify common regulatory processes, metabolites and metabolic networks implicated in compatibility including those required for successful interactions with mutualistic fungi.
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