_TAKI – ATK

Kolcsár Ronald

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kolcsar.ronald@atk.hun-ren.hu

OPTAIN: OPtimal strategies to retAIN and re-use water and nutrients

Natural/Small Water Retention Measures (NSWRMs) can help mitigate the conflicts between agricultural water uses (e.g. plant production, animals) and other human and environmental demands for water, including drinking water or maintaining environmental flow. This is crucial since these conflicts will probably be exacerbated by an increasing number of extreme events such as droughts and heavy rainfall. More careful management of head watersheds will significantly contribute to more resilient agriculture and society. Moreover, NSWRMs are contributing simultaneously to the achievement of different Sustainable Development Goals and environmental targets formulated in several water- and agriculture-related European Union policies. Despite a comprehensive set of techniques available to increase water retention on both catchments and farm levels, knowledge is still lacking on the effectiveness of different scale- and region-specific measures across different soil-climatic regions and agricultural systems, especially under changing climate conditions.
OPTAIN aims to (i) identify effective techniques for retention and reuse of water and nutrients in small agricultural catchments across the Continental, Pannonian and Boreal biogeographical regions of Europe, taking into account potential synergies with existing drainage-irrigation systems, and – in close cooperation with local actors – (ii) select NSWRMs at farm and catchment level and optimize their spatial allocation and combination based on environmental and economic sustainability indicators.

More informations: optain.hu

CarboSeq: Soil organic carbon sequestration potential of agricultural soils in Europe

Soils contain globally about 1500 Pg carbon and so play an important role in the global carbon cycle. Soils can also act as carbon sinks contributing to remove CO2 from atmosphere. Thus also small changes in soil carbon stocks can have significant impact on climate change. Carboseq is a sub-project of the EJP project, involving 24 partner organizations from 23 European country. The main aim of the project to determine the theoretical sequestration potential of the European soils and to identify main carbon sequestration possibilities. These possibilities have to be feasible between the given socio-economic circumstances and must be based on technologies and practices that have been already proven. After harmonizing data from different partner countries the main objective of the project is to estimate organic carbon sequestration potential of the soils using two different approaches. The first approach is to estimate the increase in soil organic carbon stocks in cultivated agricultural areas and grasslands under eleven different agricultural management practices along the IPCC guidelines, taking into account socio-economic constraints and involving experts from partner countries. The second approach is to use the FAO global carbon sequestration map and the RothC model to estimate soil organic matter sequestration capacity at different time scales and under different future climate scenarios.

Impact of spatial allocation of soil water and soil organic carbon on greenhouse gas emission in a small catchment

Integrated catchment scale studies targeting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the context of water/solutes/particle transport and erosion are promising tools to understand the functioning of a natural, geographically determined landscape unit, and its responses to anthropogenic disturbances (i.e. land use and management). The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of redistribution of two major drivers of GHG efflux, soil organic carbon and soil water content (SWC) in a small catchment. Measurements in this study are carried out on selected pilot slopes within the catchment, supported by existing long-term sites with automatized measurements of time-dependent soil parameters (e.g. SWC, soil temperature), distributed several areas of the entire catchment to assist further upscaling efforts. Collected data is used in process based GHG emission and hydrological models.

Nondestructive monitoring of root dielectric response

Due to the technical problems in studying living roots in the soil, much less information is available about roots compared to shoots. Therefore, dielectric measurements, which do not require root damage (digging, washing), are very important. Electrical capacitance measured between a ground and a plant electrode (inserted into the soil and attached to the stem base, respectively) is proportional to the size and functional activity of the root system. The root development of various crop species during the plant growth cycle can be monitored by repeated capacitance measurements. This project aims to test the sensitivity of the method for tracking the response of root to various stresses. The dielectric parameters are detected in potted maize, cucumber and pea plants cultivated in a growth chamber. Our purpose is to provide a novel technique, which can promote the various fields of plant investigation by completing the laborious and expensive common root monitoring methods. As vigorous root system often related to enhanced grain yield in crops, the presented innovative approach is expected to be beneficial in breeding programs.

Digital mapping and assessment of soil functions and services using advanced statistical approaches

Soils provide a range of functions and services, such as organic carbon storing capacity, water management properties, ability to supply nutrients, filtering and buffering capacity, which can help address many environmental challenges and crises (climate change, land degradation, water security, food security etc.) facing humanity. The recognition of the multifunctionality of soils has led to interest in spatial and, increasingly, spatiotemporal information on soil functions and services, mostly in the form of maps, in many fields (agro-environmental management, rural development, hydrology, nature conservation, meteorology etc.). However, digital mapping and assessment of the spatiotemporal variability of soil functions and services is an area where further research is needed. This has led us to the following objectives: (1) investigating how state-of-the-art mathematical, statistical and machine learning methods can be used to map the spatiotemporal variability of soil functions and services, and (2) comprehensive assessment, publication and communication of the results in the form of maps, with paying attention to the end-users’ demands. While the methodological results are of great interest and the compiled maps are expected to have a wide range of applications at both national and international level, the main societal benefit of our research is to raise awareness of the multifunctionality of soils, which are essential to cope with the challenges and environmental crises of our time.

SERENA: Soil Ecosystem seRvices and soil threats modElling aNd mApping

SERENA project intends to enhance soil policy effectiveness through the analysis of soil ecosystem services bundles across European agricultural landscapes, i.e. the analysis of a set of soil-based ecosystem services, which are repeatedly appearing together across space and time.

Furthermore, SERENA aims to highlight how soil threats affect the supply of services bundles through adoption of a set of site-specific (i.e. for different pedo-climatic and agricultural systems) thresholds. These have to be scientifically-based and identified with the relevant stakeholders, and their selection must support the identification of areas, which are particularly effective or ineffective in provisioning the desired set of services.

Consequently, the differences among areas in specific pedo-climatic agricultural systems may support the identification of policies and strategies to preserve or improve the joint provision of ecosystem services across landscapes, and limit soil degradation and contrast land consumption.

Further information: https://ejpsoil.eu/soil-research/serena

Ádámné Pokovai Klára

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adamne.pokovai.klara@atk.hun-ren.hu

+36 30 686 1689

biológus (ökológus) – angol szakfordító

PhD

növény növekedés és fejlődés, levélfelület morfológia és fiziológia tanulmányozása földi és UAV alapú mérésekkel, növénytermesztési modellezés, klímaváltozás a mezőgazdaságban

CV HU; CV EN

Ádámné Pokovai Klára publikációi