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Aufrufe
vor 2 Jahren

FELD 02/2017

  • Text
  • Agriculture
  • Latin america
  • Citizen science
  • China
  • Protein
  • Dust
  • Clouds
  • Environment
  • Landscape
  • Cultivation
  • Projects
  • Emissions
  • Environmental
  • Zalf
  • Agricultural
  • Pulses
  • Particles
  • Soil
Dr. Roger Funk studies the effects of raised soil dust on our environment. In his latest project, he reaches high up into the sky and explores its effect on cloud formation. // Lupins, peas, beans and CO. are cultivated on no more than 1.7 percent of Europe’s arable land. ZALF researchers are determined to change this because these plants supply valuable protein and reduce greenhouse gases. // Each year in spring, dust storms sweep across ‘Inner Mongolia’ in northern China carrying enormous amounts of dust particles over thousands of miles. A joint German-Chinese project has analysed the causes and effects. // Local initiatives all over the world are working to protect the environment. A team of researchers has looked into particularly succesful projects in Latin America and is helping to transfer their solutions to other regions.

INNER MONGOLIA INNER

INNER MONGOLIA INNER MONGOLIA FROM DATA COLLECTOR TO DATA MANAGER The ‘MAGIM’ project became be a success. The individual results appeared in more than 130 publications and have been cited almost 3,000 times so far. At ZALF, Dr. Hoffmann prepared the first-ever compilation of the results of all sub-projects in a research article: »I found it exciting to compare the findings of others with mine and to develop viable strategies for the local population: When can sheep be allowed to graze, how many sheep per unit of area are still sustainable? Even though each of us looked at a different aspect, we all came to similar conclusions: »Intensive grazing compacts the soil. Storage rates of water available for the plants decrease by around one third. This makes the roots shorter and weaker – vegetation renewal is impaired. Biodiversity declines rapidly. Wind erosion causes a loss of more and more fertile soil, so that the regeneration of the plant cover is impeded even further. Another observation concerns the carbon footprint: Carbon that was previously bound in the grasses by photosynthesis is released in the form of methane and carbon dioxide as a result of intensive animal husbandry in such quantities that affected steppe areas become greenhouse gas emitters. But there is no need to do without animal husbandry entirely, says Hoffmann: »The intensity of grazing should be adapted to the amounts of precipitation, since this has a crucial influence on animal feed supply and the ecological resilience of the grassland. In humid years, the animals can graze on the pasture as usual. The investigations were conducted in the catchment area of the river »Xilin He«. The dust smog hovering above the area is clearly visible in the background. However, the favourable conditions should also be used to produce more hay. A certain amount of nitrogen fertilisation is recommended here since the nutrient supply from animal dung is not available on the respective areas. In dry years, grazing should be reduced to less than two sheep per hectare and the animals should be given additional hay in the stable instead. Individual pastures could be additionally protected by regularly rotating flocks between defined areas.« According to Hoffmann, this strategy can help to prevent further degradation of the grassland. All that remains now is to convince local stakeholders of a new folk saying: Counting sheep against dust storms. www.zalf.de/feld/en 26 27

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