Projects
Use of the Stable Isotopic Signals of Amino Sugars as Tracers for Soil Organic MatterTranslocations form critical Land Degradation Areas Ghent University
The proposed project will dliver a stable isotop-based technique to estimate the contribution of different land uses to river sediments in catchments located in Russie, Syria, China and Chile. This expertise and information will advance the scientific capabilities of the international partners involved in the CRP. The model applications will give the project partners the opportunity to evaluate the impact of land use change on the extent of ...
Use of the stable isotopic signals of amino sugars as tracers for soil organic mattertranslocations from critical land degradation. Ghent University
In Summart the CSI will have provided data on 13C AS analyses protocols, AS dynamics, turnover and effect of land use on AS concentration and 13C signatures, In a final activity this information will be brought together to assess the potential (technical and analytical) to use AS as biomarkers for soil erosion studies.
Tackling the source of runoff and water erosion: How resilient are our managed headwaters to climate change? Ghent University
Recent successes in headwater rehabilitation around the world indicate that gully erosion (i.e. the incision of soils due to the erosive action of concentrated overland flow) can be tackled. The longterm impact of land management efforts to counter the effects of climate change, however, remains uncertain. To gain insights into the landscape’s resilience to external climatic forcing, this research envisages to compile datasets on gully ...
Vegetation characterization and evaluation of ecosystem function and plant diversity impacts of Dichrostachys cinerea encroachment in Nech Sar National Park, Ethiopia KU Leuven
Ethiopia is naturally gifted with diverse forest resources accounted for its physiographic and climatic diversity (Fikadu and Melesse, 2014). For example, it is estimated that Ethiopia harbors over 7,000 vascular plants species, of which nearly 840 are reckoned endemic (Tewolde, 1991 as cited in Fikadu and Melesse, 2014). By contrast, the resources are unsustainably utilized leading to increasing onsite (e.g. soil erosion) and offsite (e.g. ...
Climate adaptive practices to reduce nutrient losses: a survey Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
KLIMAP is a desktop study that seeks answers for policy and for the agricultural community on how best to respond to changing or more extreme weather conditions. These changes in the weather (as a result of climate change) make it a greater challenge not to suffer unnecessary losses when fertilizing plants. Such losses are also harmful to the environment (in the form of emissions or leaching, ...
Human environment interactions in the past Modeling ancient crop yields in a Mediterranean environment KU Leuven
Throughout history, there have been periods when humans and the environment had a strong interplay in which both greatly impacted the other. The onset of agriculture marked a drastic change in the way humans lived together which resulted in changes in the bio, geo, hydro - and atmosphere . For the Mediterranean region it was hypothesized that soil erosion following the cultivation of land degraded the landscape to such an extent that it ...
Large-scale Geomorphology in the Anthropocene. KU Leuven
- Quantifying and understanding geomorphic processes (e.g. catchment sediment export, gully erosion, landsliding) at regional, continental and global scales through the integration and analysis of legacy data, modeling and fieldwork.
- Better understanding land degradation and hydro-geomorphic hazards, their causes, interactions and impacts with a focus on the Global South.
- Contributing to land and catchment management ...
Reconstructing environmental change in the Lake Alaotra region, Madagascar KU Leuven
The extent to which the central highlands of Madagascar were once covered by forests and whether these were closed or more open forest types is still a matter of intense debate. Reconstructing past environments and disentangling the underlying drivers, e.g. natural climatic variations versus human impact, is a particularly complex task. Different types of archives exist which record information from the past (e.g. lake sediments, tree cores, ...
Stabilizing badlands, gullies and riverbanks with multipurpose trees, shrubs and grasses in the sub-humid tropics KU Leuven
Land degradation due to deforestation, erosion and landslides is one of the major challenges of the 21st century. Particularly in Africa, where awareness about the problem is low, it reaches an alarming level. The root cause of land degradation is deforestation due to rapid population growth and ever increasing demands for farm land, fire wood, charcoal, timber and other subsistence needs. To alleviate the problem and to transform the ...