The principal interest of the project is to understand whether a higher diversity within systems spanning from soil health to economic and social aspects enhances their resilience in the Western Amazon Basin. The project aims to describe the complex interdependencies by revealing the respective tipping points of the system-immanent functions. Jointly with local stakeholders, PRODIGY will contribute to the development of sustainable options for future decisions, which avoid the crossing of system relevant tipping points and safeguard livelihoods in a (climatic) transforming world.
See more at the official homepage.
In this international consortium we aim to investigate how short and long-term agricultural management practices affect soil organic matter (SOM) persistence. We will combine long-term data with more in-depth analysis collected during this project in order to achieve this objective. With the Lab Geoecology and Physical Geography at RPTU, we focus on the organic farm in Tingvoll (Norway), where grass-clover leys are used to grow fodder for the farm animals. Here we will be focussing on the effect of (un)digested manure and increased precipitation on the soil organic matter pool at the Tingvoll farm.
Scientists: Johanna Maria Zenner, Dr. Klaus Schützenmeister, Dr. Jeroen Zethof, Prof. Dr. Hermann Jungkunst, Dr. Tatiana Rittl (Norsøk)
Funding: German Federal Ministry of Education and Research
Website: https://www.embrapa.br/en/arroz-e-feijao/pesquisa/c-around
Are you interested in a bachelor or master thesis?
Within this project, there are two possible thesis projects open now:
1) Effect of digested and undigested manure on the vulnerability of organic carbon to decomposition
Carbon stored in soils is the major carbon stock on earth. Common agricultural practices often increase decomposition of this huge carbon storage, resulting in a release of CO2 and CH4 to the atmosphere. In order to reduce such emission, different types of land managements are studied to find the best practice.
As part of C-arouNd project, we study the carbon and nitrogen cycles at an organic farm in Tingvoll (Norway). Grass-clover leys are used to grow fodder for the farm animals, whereby the collected manure is brought back on the fields either as-is or digested (after biogas production). This soil, with and without manure collected from the farm, will be put in columns and incubated for 3 months. As part of the thesis, gas samples will be taken on a regular base during the incubation in order to determine the C and N losses from the columns. At the end of the experiment, the columns will be collected and organic carbon and nitrogen content determined to close the carbon and nitrogen budget.
The main question we hope to answer with your BSc/MSc thesis is if digested manure is releasing less organic carbon from the soil than undigested manure.
Supervisors: Dr. Jeroen Zethof, Johanna Zenner, Dr. Klaus Schützenmeister, Prof. Dr. Hermann Jungkunst
Contact: jeroen.zethof(at)rptu.de
2) Freeze-thaw effect on organic matter mineralization
Subarctic soils undergo regular freeze-thaw cycles over the year, which have an important impact on microbial activity in soils. It is known that upon thawing relative large amounts of CO2 and CH4 can be released by increased microbial activity, which is both an important contributor to climate change and a loss of local soil fertility. Therefore it is important to understand the underlying processes better and how land management practices can be adopted to reduce these losses.
As part of C-arouNd project, we study the carbon and nitrogen cycles at an organic farm in Tingvoll (Norway). Grass-clover leys are used to grow fodder for the farm animals, whereby the collected manure is brought back on the fields either as-is or digested (after biogas production). In this thesis, columns will be created from collected materials from the farm. Part of these columns will be undergo a freeze-thaw cycle, whereby we will sample gas and water samples on a regular base from both the freeze-thaw and control columns.
The main question we hope to answer in your thesis is if the use of digested and/or undigested manure is influencing the release of C and N from the soil during freezing conditions and upon thawing.
Supervisors: Dr. Jeroen Zethof, Johanna Zenner, Dr. Klaus Schützenmeister, Prof. Dr. Hermann Jungkunst
Contact: jeroen.zethof(at)rptu.de
The BMBF-funded project "Climate Services for eXtremes (CS4eXtremes)" is part of the overarching funding priority "Climate Change and Extreme Events (ClimXtreme)", and as such is part of the Research Framework Program Research and Sustainable Development (FONA). It is carried out jointly by GERICS and the University of Koblenz-Landau and with close involvement of practice partners.
CS4eXtremes aims to increase the understanding of the intensity and spatial and temporal distribution of meteorological and climatic extremes relevant to agriculture and forestry. These include periods of drought, heat waves, strong wind events, and heavy rainfall. On the one hand, the possible effects of changes in the occurrence of such extreme weather events as a result of climate change will be investigated, and on the other hand, adaptation strategies to resulting challenges in both sectors will be developed.
The novel approach of this project takes into account the entire process chain: (i) the sector-specific identification of the characteristics of weather extremes in close cooperation with representatives of forestry and agriculture, (ii) the analysis of past and future weather and climate extremes, (iii) the investigation of impacts of these extremes by means of forestry and agricultural case studies, and (iv) the development of possible needs-based adaptation strategies to future climate conditions and extreme events based on this information.
CS4eXtremes will work with stakeholders to identify practice-relevant characteristics of climate extremes. The identification of weather extremes with a particular impact on agriculture and forestry is based on the evaluation of observational data and high-resolution regional climate projections for the 21st century.
Because there are extensive interrelationships between soil and atmosphere, some of which reinforce each other through feedback effects, soil science studies also play an important role (nitrous oxide emissions (N2O) of agriculturally used mineral soils), thereby providing a better data basis for model simulations of the climate system.
Since forest damage due to windthrow (strong wind events) and drought stress (heat waves and droughts) are the main causes of reduced ecosystem services, such as the recreational function of forests for humans, regional climate model simulations coupled with ecosystem models form a main component of the project. This approach will be complemented by empirical methods, e.g. to investigate the view of the population. Due to the recent drought-induced forest damages in Germany, forest aesthetics in the context of climate change risks will be investigated as a current issue.
Overall, a self-reflective approach was chosen for the project, whereby the course of the transdisciplinary work will be scientifically accompanied and evaluated, as the exchange with stakeholders is of central importance. The project is rounded off by the discussion of a possible relevance of the results for both sectors considered as a whole as well as the transferability to other sectors.
Working title: On the influence of invasive species on biogeochemical cycling in floodplain landscapes under changing water levels
Supervising scientists: Melanie Brunn, Hermann Jungkunst, Clara Mendoza-Lera
Doctoral researcher: Sierra Grange
Approach: Soils are integral for many ecosystem services, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions or nitrate leaching. Previous work revealed that Fallopia japonica (Houtt.) Ronse Decr., a widespread invasive species across Europe, inhibits nitrification and denitrification. Consequently, biogeochemical cycling in floodplain soils shifts towards greater nitrogen availability increasing the number of electron acceptors that determine the bioenergetic yield during carbon processing. Mechanistically, the rhizosphere activity (quantity and quality of root exudates) and nutrient-use efficiencies of F. japonica are assumed to control the biogeochemical cycling in floodplain soils but the response to flooding and subsequent drought in addition to anthropogenic micropollutant transfers is unknown. This project will focus on bottom-up and top-down controls in riparian ecosystems invaded by F. japonica under predicted variabilities in precipitation and associated fluctuations of water levels with implications for ecosystem functioning.
Contact: Melanie Brunn or Hermann Jungkunst
Systemlink website:here
Intensively used landscapes today are often very biodiversity-poor spaces. Even the smallest semi-natural sites, such as meadow paths, are increasingly disappearing and with them a variety of plant and animal species. Based on the assumption that biodiversity brings multifunctional properties to landscapes, species loss also means a loss of ecosystem functions and services, such as pollination, water, nutrient, and carbon storage. Incentives to take action to protect ecosystem functions are difficult to provide, especially in intensively used landscapes. Within the framework of the "greening" component of the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) and the agri-environmental programs of the federal states, flower strips are currently being increasingly introduced in Europe and are also widely accepted in intensively used areas. Individual flower strips can have a positive effect on pollinators, but there are also many examples without a significant positive effect. How many flower strips would be needed to maintain pollinator diversity at the landscape level? And what properties do flowering strips bring to other ecosystem functions and resulting services at the landscape level? In a project "Ecological enhancement in arable fields in the Upper Rhine Plain" of the IFAB Mannheim (Institute for Agroecology and Biodiversity), the effect of a complex of flowering strips on an area of 10% in 50 ha landscape sections on pollinator diversity in intensively used agricultural landscapes was investigated over 6 years. In another phase of the same project, the proportion of flowering strips will now be reduced to 5% of the area and the effects on pollinator diversity will be determined. With this project, we extend the field surveys, analyses and elaborations as follows. We are examining a) the effects of such flowering strips of different ages and seeding histories from the past 8 years for their carbon, nutrient, and water storage capacity; b) the effect of turning over such flowering strips on these same ecosystem functions; c) using trait analyses, the role of distances between flowering strips and remnants of semi-natural habitats (at 10%, 5%, or control landscape) and their quality for pollinator diversity and composition of more or less specialized species of bees and butterflies; d) the relevance of such flowering strips (10%, 5%, or control plots; we d) estimate for water, carbon, and nutrient storage and pollination performance at the landscape level. This will be followed by the compilation by the partner IFAB of simple recommendations for farmers and policy makers on how to choose the arrangement and area of flower strips to promote the greatest possible pollinator diversity and other ecosystem services in the landscape.
Since flower strips are currently quite well accepted by farmers even in intensively managed areas, the inclusion of flower strip networks in the upcoming reform of the CAP, if properly promoted, could lead to broad acceptance by farmers and rapid implementation in normal landscapes. This could slow down the rapid loss of biodiversity and functionality in intensively used agricultural landscapes in the fairly short term, in order to gain time to further develop agricultural production and the use of landscapes in a sustainable way.