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Roggero, P. P., Pulina, A., Baldoni, G., Basso, B., Berti, A., Orlandini, S., et al. (2014). IC-FAR: Linking Long Term Observatories with Crop Systems Modeling For a better understanding of Climate Change Impact, and Adaptation Strategies for Italian Cropping Systems. FACCE MACSUR Mid-term Scientific Conference, 3(S) Sassari, Italy.
Abstract: The IC-FAR project (2013-2016), funded by the Italian ministry of University, Research and Education, aims to use datasets from 16 Italian long term agronomic experiments (LTEs) to assess the reliability of different cropping system models over a range of Mediterranean environments and cropping systems. The selected models will be used for scenario and uncertainty analyses vs near-future climate change. The LTEs are located in seven sites: Turin, Padua, Bologna, Ancona, Pisa, Perugia, Foggia. The project’s is linked to international projects such as MACSUR, AgMIP, ANAEE, ESFRI and GRA, and has model developer teams as associate partners. IC-FAR is structured in five WPs. WP1 is focused on building a common dataset and sampling protocols. The field data will be implemented in the WP2 to calibrate, validate and assess the performances of different models across Italian environments. An uncertainty analysis will be performed in relation to the model types, cropping system typologies and climate scenarios (WP3). WP4 and WP5 are focused on capacity building on modeling and on dissemination, including networking with other European LTE platforms (WP4), and to the project coordination (WP5). The next step of IC-FAR will be the design and realization of a special issue summarizing a selection of the most important results from the LTEs, that will be the starting point towards the full implementation of the data sharing policy of this project.
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Sakschewski, B., von Bloh, W., Huber, V., Müller, C., & Bondeau, A. (2014). Feeding 10 billion people under climate change: How large is the production gap of current agricultural systems. Ecol. Model., 288, 103–111.
Abstract: The human population is projected to reach more than 10 billion in the year 2100. Together with changing consumption pattern, population growth will lead to increasing food demand. The question arises whether or not the Earth is capable of fulfilling this demand. In this study, we approach this question by estimating the carrying capacity of current agricultural systems (K-C), which does not measure the maximum number of people the Earth is likely to feed in the future, but rather allows for an indirect assessment of the increases in agricultural productivity required to meet demands. We project agricultural food production under progressing climate change using the state-of-the-art dynamic global vegetation model LPJmL, and input data of 3 climate models. For 1990 to 2100 the worldwide annual caloric yield of the most important 11 crop types is simulated. Model runs with and without elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations are performed in order to investigate CO2 fertilization effects. Country-specific per-capita caloric demands fixed at current levels and changing demands based on future GDP projections are considered to assess the role of future dietary shifts. Our results indicate that current population projections may considerably exceed the maximum number of people that can be fed globally if climate change is not accompanied by significant changes in land use, agricultural efficiencies and/or consumption pathways. We estimate the gap between projected population size and K-C to reach 2 to 6.8 billion people by 2100. We also present possible caloric self-supply changes between 2000 and 2100 for all countries included in this study. The results show that predominantly developing countries in tropical and subtropical regions will experience vast decreases of self-supply. Therefore, this study is important for planning future large-scale agricultural management, as well as the critical assessment of population projections, which should take food-mediated climate change feedbacks into account
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Köchy, M. (2013). Hub website and administrative tasks (Vol. 1).
Abstract: The Hub management has set up and is administering an interactive web site, organized the kickoff-workshop, developed the consortium agreement with 70 partners, developed logos and templates for use by members, published four newsletters, organized seven Project Steering Committee meetings and interacted with the FACCE JPI secretariat. No Label
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Dockter, C., & Hansson, M. (2015). Improving barley culm robustness for secured crop yield in a changing climate. J. Experim. Bot., 66(12), 3499–3509.
Abstract: The Green Revolution combined advancements in breeding and agricultural practice, and provided food security to millions of people. Daily food supply is still a major issue in many parts of the world and is further challenged by future climate change. Fortunately, life science research is currently making huge progress, and the development of future crop plants will be explored. Today, plant breeding typically follows one gene per trait. However, new scientific achievements have revealed that many of these traits depend on different genes and complex interactions of proteins reacting to various external stimuli. These findings open up new possibilities for breeding where variations in several genes can be combined to enhance productivity and quality. In this review we present an overview of genes determining plant architecture in barley, with a special focus on culm length. Many genes are currently known only through their mutant phenotypes, but emerging genomic sequence information will accelerate their identification. More than 1000 different short-culm barley mutants have been isolated and classified in different phenotypic groups according to culm length and additional pleiotropic characters. Some mutants have been connected to deficiencies in biosynthesis and reception of brassinosteroids and gibberellic acids. Still other mutants are unlikely to be connected to these hormones. The genes and corresponding mutations are of potential interest for development of stiff-straw crop plants tolerant to lodging, which occurs in extreme weather conditions with strong winds and heavy precipitation.
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Holman, I. P., Brown, C., Janes, V., & Sandars, D. (2017). Can we be certain about future land use change in Europe? A multi-scenario, integrated-assessment analysis. Agric. Syst., 151, 126–135.
Abstract: The global land system is facing unprecedented pressures from growing human populations and climatic change. Understanding the effects these pressures may have is necessary to designing land management strategies that ensure food security, ecosystem service provision and successful climate mitigation and adaptation. However, the number of complex, interacting effects involved makes any complete understanding very difficult to achieve. Nevertheless, the recent development of integrated modelling frameworks allows for the exploration of the co-development of human and natural systems under scenarios of global change, potentially illuminating the main drivers and processes in future land system change. Here, we use one such integrated modelling framework (the CLIMSAVE Integrated Assessment Platform) to investigate the range of projected outcomes in the European land system across climatic and socio-economic scenarios for the 2050s. We find substantial consistency in locations and types of change even under the most divergent conditions, with results suggesting that climate change alone will lead to a contraction in the agricultural and forest area within Europe, particularly in southern Europe. This is partly offset by the introduction of socioeconomic changes that change both the demand for agricultural production, through changing food demand and net imports, and the efficiency of agricultural production. Simulated extensification and abandonment in the Mediterranean region is driven by future decreases in the relative profitability of the agricultural sector in southern Europe, owing to decreased productivity as a consequence of increased heat and drought stress and reduced irrigation water availability. The very low likelihood (<33% probability) that current land use proportions in many parts of Europe will remain unchanged suggests that future policy should seek to promote and support the multifunctional role of agriculture and forests in different European regions, rather than focusing on increased productivity as a route to agricultural and forestry viability.
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