Geographers at Göttingen University are coordinating a large-scale project for studying the Amazon basin. The research focuses on the analysis and development of methods for improving carbon storage in the soil, reducing greenhouse gases and preserving important ecosystem functions like soil fertility and water quality. The collaborative project – dubbed Carbiocial – is being funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for five years for an overall amount of 6.15 million euros. Besides the University of Göttingen, nine other German universities, two Helmholtz centres and numerous Brazilian partners are involved.
Among other objectives, the researchers aim to develop a model that shows farmers, environmental authori-ties and scientific research institutions how different land use scenarios impact the Amazon basin in terms of climate protection. This model can also illustrate the sustainability of various interventions. The researchers are mainly conducting their studies in the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Pará.
Researchers from the Department of Landscape Ecology at the Institute of Geography, Göttingen Univer-sity, are concentrating their analysis on the topics of soil degradation (where the soil quality worsens), hy-drologic balance in watershed areas in juxtaposition to changes in land utilisation and climate change. In addition, they will be creating models on greenhouse gas emissions and carrying out measurements. The grant money the Göttingen subprojects receive from the BMBF totals around 1.9 million euro.
Contact addresses:
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Gerold, Verbundprojektleiter
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Fakultät für Geowissenschaften und Geografie
Abteilung Landschaftsökologie
Goldschmidtstraße 5
37077 Göttingen
Tel.: 0551-39-8011
Fax: 0551-39-12139
E-Mail: ggerold(at)gwdg.de
www.uni-goettingen.de/carbiocial
Dr. Stefan Hohnwald
Koordinator Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Tel.: 0551-39-8073
Fax: 0551-39-12139
E-Mail: shohnwa(at)gwdg.de
