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Preparing cropping systems for climate changes - Climate models can be improved with more knowledge on how crops respond to climate-related stress and the atmospheric concentration of CO2
Afgrøder skal forberedes til klimaændringerne - Klimamodeller kan forbedres med mere viden om, hvordan afgrøder reagerer over for klimarelateret stress og luftens indhold af CO2


Aarhus, Denmark
July 17, 2015

Climate change is upon us. Until we seriously reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and their secondary effects, climate change will affect our crops. The big question is how plants will react to the new climate. Farmers and plant breeders need answers to this question so they can be prepared when they have to improve and grow suitable crops.

The EU project Modcarbostress, which has the participation of scientists from Aarhus University, will try to produce answers to this question. The scientists will create new and more detailed knowledge about how crops respond to the combination of increasing CO2 concentration, drought, heat and weather instability. The new knowledge can be used to improve calculation models.

- The global climate change creates a need for a more precise description of the impact on our crops. The aim is to improve our knowledge of plant physiological responses when crops are exposed to stress and also to high levels of atmospheric CO2 because this is one of the areas where the current models do not get it quite right, says Associate Professor Carl-Otto Ottosen from the Department of Food Science at Aarhus University – one of the partners in the EU project.

With a changing climate there is a need for a more intelligent, efficient and stable agricultural system. The new climate is expected to be volatile and unpredictable, which increases the need for the ability of computational models to predict which combinations of varieties, crop rotations, sowing times and other crop management factors are the best under the given circumstances. Such models would be of great benefit to farmers and plant breeders throughout the world.

The current models have uncertainties in a number of areas – especially when it comes to drought conditions and high temperatures. These two conditions often occur together and are expected to become more frequent in many areas of the world. At the same time, the models need to take into account the increased levels of atmospheric CO2. The models lack accurate data on the combination of stress factors and this is the problem that Modcarbostress will help to solve. 

Top-notch test facilities

Control of CO2 under experimental conditions is not a commonplace facility. It is especially here that the Department of Food Science at Aarhus University will be contributing to the project via its excellent experimental facilities. The objective is to develop simple and cheap principles and solutions for manipulation of a combination of stress factors, including high CO2 levels, under experimental conditions. Scientists at Aarhus University will base this on systematic analysis of the effect of CO2 on the response of photosynthesis in wheat and rapeseed.

- With our advanced greenhouses, climate chambers and photosynthesis facilities, we have extensive experience in the control and measurement of responses to CO2, explains Carl-Otto Ottosen, who together with colleagues from the University of Copenhagen and research institutions in the Netherlands, Wales, Germany and France will generate essential physiological data, develop models and control the models using data from field trials from other projects. At a meeting taking place on 21-22 July in Denmark the scientists will discuss the measurements.

The project Modcarbostress is an EU project funded by the ERA-net: FACCE JPI Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change. The three-year project has a budget of 8m DKK, financed via each country's own FACCE JPI resources. The project is led by the research institute INRA in France with partners from Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Britain, including Aarhus University and University of Copenhagen. 


Afgrøder skal forberedes til klimaændringerne - Klimamodeller kan forbedres med mere viden om, hvordan afgrøder reagerer over for klimarelateret stress og luftens indhold af CO2

Klimaændringerne er over os. Indtil vi bremser udledningen af drivhusgasser og deres afledte effekter, vil klimaændringerne påvirke vores afgrøder. Det store spørgsmål er, hvordan planterne vil reagere på det nye klima. Landmænd og planteforædlere har brug for svar på dette spørgsmål, så de kan være forberedte, når de skal forædle og dyrke egnede afgrøder.

EU-projektet Modcarbostress, som forskere fra Aarhus Universitet deltager i, vil komme med svar til spørgsmålet. Forskerne vil skabe ny og mere præcis viden om, hvordan afgrøder reagerer over for det stigende CO2-indhold i luften kombineret med tørke, varme og øgede udsving i vejret. Den nye viden kan bruges til at gøre beregningsmodeller mere sikre.

- De globale klimaforandringer øger behovet for en mere præcis beskrivelse af konsekvenserne for vores afgrøder. Målet er at skaffe mere viden om de plantefysiologiske reaktioner, når man stresser afgrøder, der samtidig udsættes for et højt indhold af CO2 i luften. Det er nemlig et af de områder, hvor de nuværende modeller ikke rammer helt rigtigt, siger lektor Carl-Otto Ottosen fra Institut for Fødevarer ved Aarhus Universitet og en af partnerne i EU-projektet.

Med klimaforandringer stiger behovet for et mere intelligent, effektivt og sikkert landbrug. Det nye klima forventes at være svingende og uforudsigeligt, hvilket øget behovet for, at beregningsmodeller kan forudsige, hvilke kombinationer af sorter, sædskifter, såtidspunkter og andre dyrkningsrelaterede faktorer er bedst under de givne forhold. Sådanne modeller ville være til store gavn for landmænd og planteforædlere i hele verden.

De nuværende beregningsmodeller er usikre på en række områder – især, når det gælder tørkeforhold og høje temperaturer. Disse to forhold forekommer ofte sammen og forventes at blive mere almindelige i flere områder i verden. Samtidig skal modellerne tage højde for et forhøjet indhold af CO2 i luften. Modellerne mangler præcise data om kombinationen af stressfaktorer – og det er det problem, som Modcarbostress skal skaffe viden om.

AU’s forsøgsfaciliteter i top

Kontrol af CO2 under forsøgsforhold er ikke så udbredt. Det er især her, at Institut for Fødevarer ved Aarhus Universitet bidrager til projektet ved hjælp af sine fremragende forsøgsfaciliteter. Formålet er at udvikle enkle og billige principper og løsninger til manipulation af en kombination af stressfaktorer, herunder forhøjet CO2, under forsøgsforhold. Forskerne ved Aarhus Universitet vil tage udgangspunkt i systematiske analyser af effekten af CO2 på, hvordan fotosyntesen i hvede og raps reagerer.

- Med vores avancerede væksthuse, klimakamre og fotosynteseudstyr har vi stor erfaring med styring og måling af reaktioner på CO2, forklarer Carl-Otto Ottosen, der sammen med kollegaer fra Københavns Universitet samt forskningsinstitutioner i Holland, Wales, Tyskland og Frankrig, vil skabe grundlæggende fysiologiske data, udvikle modeller og kontrollere modellerne ved at anvende data fra markforsøg fra andre projekter. Ved et møde 21.-22. juli i Danmark vil forskerne diskutere målingerne. 



More solutions from: Aarhus University


Website: http://www.au.dk/en/

Published: August 21, 2015


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