Research
HydroCrowd - Citizen Science in Hydrology
| Project duration: | 2022-2025 |
| Location: | Ecuador, Honduras, Tanzania |
| Funding: | Kurt-Eberhard-Bode-Stiftung |
| Principle investigators: | Dr. Björn Weeser Prof. Dr. Suzanne Jacobs |
 Photo: S. Jacobs
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Climate change has a worldwide impact on water availability and the occurrence of extreme weather events like floods and droughts. Reliable weather and water data are urgently needed to inform sustainable water management and develop strategies for climate change adaptation. The involvement of citizens in data collection research, also called ‘citizen science’, is seen as a promising way to increase data availability at relatively low costs, especially in countries where limited resources for data collection are available. By testing different approaches to engage citizens in data collection in Tanzania, Honduras and Ecuador, HydroCrowd aims to strengthen the acceptance of citizen science as a valid data collection approach.
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The role of nature for human well-being in the Kilimanjaro Social-Ecological System (Kili-SES) - SP1: Biodiversity and the supply of regulating NCP
| Project duration: | 2020-2025 |
| Location: | Mt. Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) |
| Funding: | German Science Foundation (DFG) |
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Principle investigators:
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Prof. Dr. Lutz Breuer (PI)
PD Dr. Matthias Schleuning (Senckenberg Biodiversität und Klima Forschungszentrum, PI)
Prof. Dr. Suzanne Jacobs (Co-PI) Dr. Subira Munishi (University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzanian counterpart)
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A major gap exists in understanding how biodiversity underpins the supply of regulating nature’s contributions to people (NCP). This is especially true in Africa where both biodiversity and NCP are poorly understood and undergoing degradation. In Kili-SES SP1, we will calculate measures of the supply of all major regulating NCP on Kilimanjaro by combining the comprehensive KiLi 1 data with new data collected on the original 65 plots. These NCP are: habitat creation and maintenance, pollination and dispersal of seeds, regulation of detrimental organisms and biological processes, the protection and decontamination of soils and sediments, regulation of climate via CO2 and other greenhouse gases, regulation of hazards including landslides, extreme heat and fire, and regulation of freshwater quantity, quality, location and timing. Where direct measurements of NCP are not feasible, we will support the assessment by model-based evaluation (e.g. for groundwater related NCP). We will also measure the components of biodiversity hypothesized to underpin these NCP, including measures of individual species, their functional traits and aggregate measures of functional diversity. Through the assessment of the supply of regulating NCP to people on Kilimanjaro, we will 1. explore how these NCP vary across climate and land-use gradients, 2. identify which components of biodiversity underpin the supply of NCP, 3. analyse how these NCP are related to each other and to material and non-material NCP, and identify potential synergies and trade-offs among them, and 4. ask how anthropogenic drivers influence these relationships. Our project will provide the foundations for key components of Kili-SES, e.g. in terms of the supply and demand of NCP on Kilimanjaro and its consequences for human well-being, and will give a unique insight into the role that biodiversity plays in the supply of regulating NCP on tropical mountains.
For more information:
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  Photos: S. Jacobs
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Global change impact on hydro-biogeochemical processes in tropical Kenyan catchments
| Project duration: | 2023-2026 |
| Location: | South West Mau (Kenya) |
| Funding: | German Science Foundation (DFG) |
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Principle investigators:
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Prof. Dr. Lutz Breuer (PI)
Prof. Dr. Suzanne Jacobs (Co-PI)
Dr. Frank Masese (University of Eldoret, PI)
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Collaborators:
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Prof. Dr. Mariana Rufino (TUM)
Dr. Christopher Martius (CIFOR-ICRAF)
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  Photos: S. Jacobs
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Climate and land use change have a significant impact on hydrobiogeochemical processes in the tropics. For tropical Africa in particular, however, scientific knowledge about the possible impacts of global change is limited. Nevertheless, this knowledge is essential for sustainable management of water resources. In this project, an established monitoring programme is being continued in four catchments with different land uses (tea and tree plantations, smallholder agriculture, natural montane rainforest) in the Mau Forest complex in western Kenya. Since 2014, automatic measuring systems have been recording almost gap-free in 10-minute resolution the water level (converted to discharge via rating curves) as well as the concentrations of NO3, DOC and turbidity (converted to suspended sediments via rating curves) by means of UV spectrometry. In addition, the concentrations of stable isotopes of water are measured weekly. While the measuring systems were established in the first project phase and basic knowledge about the relationship between land use and water quantity/quality was gained, the second project phase aims at an improved understanding of the underlying hydrobiogeochemical process and a projection of water fluxes (quantity and quality) with regard to climate and land use change. Three work packages (WP) are planned for this purpose. In WP1, the measurement programme and the necessary maintenance measures will be carried out. At the end of the project, a 10-year data set of the above parameters will be made available open access. WP2 focuses on process identification by means of statistical methods and analyses of systematic temporal patterns (diurnal variations, seasonal influences) using wavelet functions. Automated analyses of hysteresis loops of concentration-discharge dynamics will help to identify transport and mobilisation processes of water and its solutes. In addition, the established concept of "hydrological signatures" will be transferred to develop "hydro-biogeochemical signatures". This will allow to comparatively characterise the hydrochemistry of streams and describe their hydro-biogeochemical process behaviour. In WP3, data-based models will be developed using Deep Learning to simulate both runoff and water quality parameters. The latest Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) methods will be used, which also take into account spatial (land use) and temporal (climate time series) predictors. For model validation, the wavelets, hysteresis loops and hydro-biogeochemical signatures calculated in WP2 on the basis of field measurements will be compared with those calculated on the basis of the LSTM models. Finally, using the LSTM models with spatio-temporal predictors, projections of climate and land use change will be made. For this purpose, the latest CORDEX simulations of regional climate models and in-house developed land use scenarios based on multitemporal land use classifications will be used. |
Integrated Nitrogen Studies in Africa (INSA) - WP2: Nitrogen lateral and deposition fluxes
| Project duration: | 2020-2025 |
| Location: | Africa |
| Funding: | EU H2020 MSCA-RISE |
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Principle investigators:
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Prof. Dr. Lutz Breuer (PI)
Prof. Dr. Suzanne Jacobs (Co-PI)
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Collaborators:
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14 research and higher learning organizations and 2 non-academic association based in 5 European countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, and the Netherlands) and 7 African countries (Benin, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa) |
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The rusty red soil found in many parts of Africa is deficient in nutrients like nitrogen. Replenishing the nitrogen is vital to ensure crop yields do not continue to decline; however too much nitrogen may also be damageable for air, water and soil quality. Improving nitrogen flows and budgets can play a crucial role in agricultural production and in nitrogen release to the environment, since they are used as tools for estimating mining or accumulation. The EU-funded INSA project will create an interoperable platform on nitrogen in Africa, raising awareness of challenges, risks and opportunities for improved nitrogen management. A network of scientists from Europe and Africa will drive a preliminary nitrogen assessment in Africa. This will help in developing innovative aspects of research on targeted questions, to sustain a dialogue between different communities of researchers, to transfer information to the public and to reinforce educational activities.
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