GrassClim
| Project name: | GrassClim - Interactive effects of changes in climate and management on the yield and carbon dioxide source/sink strength of grasslands |
| Project leader: | Georg Wohlfahrt (Co-ordinator, Institute of Ecology - Ecosystem Research and Landscape Ecology- Biomet group, University of Innsbruck) Andreas Gobiet (Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change, University of Graz) |
| Project team: | Andreas Gobiet |
| Partners: | Institut für Ökologie, Universität Innsbruck (www.biomet.co.at) Institut für Botanik, Universität Innsbruck (botany.uibk.ac.at/) Institut für Angewandte Fernerkundung, Europäische Akademie Bozen (www.eurac.edu/de/research/institutes/remotesensing) Landeslehranstalt Rotholz (www.rotholz.at/) |
Sponsor: | Federal Ministry of Science and Research / Sparkling Science |
| Duration: | Oct. 2010 - Dec. 2012 |
Abstract:
Climate change projections for the Alps, in particular increases in temperature and reductions in summer precipitation, are expected to affect grassland yields in this region. Climate change and adaptations of grassland management in response to climate change are in turn expected to affect the carbon dioxide source/sink strength of grassland ecosystems, thus providing feedback to climate change. Effects, in particular those of interactive nature, of climate change on grassland yield and the carbon dioxide source/sink strength have been little, if at all, investigated – according to present knowledge both positive and negative effects might occur. The objective of the present project, which will be conducted in collaboration of research institutions from Innsbruck, Graz and Bozen/Bolzano and students and teachers of the Agricultural School Rotholz, is to define grassland management scenarios for likely future climate scenarios and to quantify the interactive effects of climate and management scenarios on the grassland yield and carbon dioxide source/sink strength.
