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Author Mitter, H.; Heumesser, C.; Schmid, E. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Spatial modeling of robust crop production portfolios to assess agricultural vulnerability and adaptation to climate change Type Journal Article
  Year 2015 Publication Land Use Policy Abbreviated Journal Land Use Policy  
  Volume 46 Issue Pages 75-90  
  Keywords climate change impact; adaptation; agricultural vulnerability; portfolio optimization; agricultural policy; agri-environmental payment; adaptive capacity; change impacts; risk-aversion; land-use; ecosystem services; change scenarios; europe; policy; future; water  
  Abstract Agricultural vulnerability to climate change is likely to vary considerably between agro-environmental regions. Exemplified on Austrian cropland, we aim at (i) quantifying climate change impacts on agricultural vulnerability which is approximated by the indicators crop yields and gross margins, (ii) developing robust crop production portfolios for adaptation, and (iii) analyzing the effect of agricultural policies and risk aversion on the choice of crop production portfolios. We have employed a spatially explicit, integrated framework to assess agricultural vulnerability and adaptation. It combines a statistical climate change model for Austria and the period 2010-2040, a crop rotation model, the bio-physical process model EPIC (Environmental Policy Integrated Climate), and a portfolio optimization model. We find that under climate change, crop production portfolios include higher shares of intensive crop management practices, increasing average crop yields by 2-15% and expected gross margins by 3-18%, respectively. The results depend on the choice of adaptation measures and on the level of risk aversion and vary by region. In the semi-arid eastern parts of Austria, average dry matter crop yields are lower but gross margins are higher than in western Austria due to bio-physical and agronomic heterogeneities. An abolishment of decoupled farm payments and a threefold increase in agri-environmental premiums would reduce nitrogen inputs by 23-33%, but also crop yields and gross margins by 18-37%, on average. From a policy perspective, a twofold increase in agri-environmental premiums could effectively reduce the trade-offs between crop production and environmental impacts. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
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  ISSN 0264-8377 ISBN Medium Article  
  Area Expedition Conference (down)  
  Notes TradeM, ft_macsur Approved no  
  Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4675  
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Author Vosough Ahmadi, B.; Shrestha, S.; Thomson, S.G.; Barnes, A.P.; Stott, A.W. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Impacts of greening measures and flat rate regional payments of the Common Agricultural Policy on Scottish beef and sheep farms Type Journal Article
  Year 2015 Publication Journal of Agricultural Science Abbreviated Journal J. Agric. Sci.  
  Volume 153 Issue 04 Pages 676-688  
  Keywords CAP reform; models; level; water; Agriculture  
  Abstract The latest Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms could bring substantial changes to Scottish farming communities. Two major components of this reform package, an introduction of environmental measures into the Pillar 1 payments and a move away from historical farm payments towards regionalized area payments, would have a significant effect on altering existing support structures for Scottish farmers, as it would for similar farm types elsewhere in Europe where historic payments are used. An optimizing farm-level model was developed to explore how Scottish beef and sheep farms might be affected by the greening and flat rate payments under the current CAP reforms. Nine different types of beef and sheep farms were identified and detailed biophysical and financial farm-level data for these farm types were used to parameterize the model. Results showed that the greening measures of the CAP did not have much impact on net margins of most of the beef and sheep farm businesses, except for ‘Beef Finisher’ farm types where the net margins decreased by 3%. However, all farm types were better off adopting the greening measures than not qualifying for the greening payments through non-compliance with the measures. The move to regionalized farm payments increased the negative financial impact of greening on most of the farms but it was still substantially lower than the financial sacrifice of not adopting greening measures. Results of maximizing farm net margin, under a hypothetical assumption of excluding farm payments, showed that in most of the mixed (sheep and cattle) and beef suckler cattle farms the optimum stock numbers predicted by the model were lower than actual figures on farm. When the regionalized support payments were allocated to each farm, the proportion of the mixed farms that would increase their stock numbers increased whereas this proportion decreased for beef suckler farms and no impact was predicted in sheep farms. Also under the regionalized support payments, improvements in profitability were found in mixed farms and sheep farms. Some of the specialized beef suckler farms also returned a profit when CAP support was added.  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0021-8596 1469-5146 ISBN Medium Article  
  Area Expedition Conference (down)  
  Notes LiveM Approved no  
  Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4654  
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Author Humpenöder, F.; Popp, A.; Dietrich, J.P.; Klein, D.; Lotze-Campen, H.; Bonsch, M.; Bodirsky, B.L.; Weindl, I.; Stevanovic, M.; Müller, C. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Investigating afforestation and bioenergy CCS as climate change mitigation strategies Type Journal Article
  Year 2014 Publication Environmental Research Letters Abbreviated Journal Environ. Res. Lett.  
  Volume 9 Issue 6 Pages 064029  
  Keywords climate change mitigation; afforestation; bioenergy; carbon capture and storage; land-use modeling; land-based mitigation; carbon sequestration; land-use change; crop productivity; carbon capture; energy; storage; model; food; conservation; agriculture; scenarios  
  Abstract The land-use sector can contribute to climate change mitigation not only by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but also by increasing carbon uptake from the atmosphere and thereby creating negative CO2 emissions. In this paper, we investigate two land-based climate change mitigation strategies for carbon removal: (1) afforestation and (2) bioenergy in combination with carbon capture and storage technology (bioenergy CCS). In our approach, a global tax on GHG emissions aimed at ambitious climate change mitigation incentivizes land-based mitigation by penalizing positive and rewarding negative CO2 emissions from the land-use system. We analyze afforestation and bioenergy CCS as standalone and combined mitigation strategies. We find that afforestation is a cost-efficient strategy for carbon removal at relatively low carbon prices, while bioenergy CCS becomes competitive only at higher prices. According to our results, cumulative carbon removal due to afforestation and bioenergy CCS is similar at the end of 21st century (600-700 GtCO(2)), while land-demand for afforestation is much higher compared to bioenergy CCS. In the combined setting, we identify competition for land, but the impact on the mitigation potential (1000 GtCO(2)) is partially alleviated by productivity increases in the agricultural sector. Moreover, our results indicate that early-century afforestation presumably will not negatively impact carbon removal due to bioenergy CCS in the second half of the 21st century. A sensitivity analysis shows that land-based mitigation is very sensitive to different levels of GHG taxes. Besides that, the mitigation potential of bioenergy CCS highly depends on the development of future bioenergy yields and the availability of geological carbon storage, while for afforestation projects the length of the crediting period is crucial.  
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  ISSN 1748-9326 ISBN Medium Article  
  Area Expedition Conference (down)  
  Notes CropM, TradeM Approved no  
  Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4627  
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Author De Pascale, S.; Orsini, F.; Caputo, R.; Palermo, M.A.; Barbieri, G.; Maggio, A. doi  openurl
  Title Seasonal and multiannual effects of salinisation on tomato yield and fruit quality Type Journal Article
  Year 2012 Publication Functional Plant Biology Abbreviated Journal Functional Plant Biology  
  Volume 39 Issue 8 Pages 689-698  
  Keywords fruit ions concentration; fruit lipophilic and hydrophilic antioxidant; capacities; leaf water potentials; leaf stomatal conductance; short- and; long-term salinisation; salinity tolerance; water-stress; antioxidant activity; irrigation; growth; plants; soils; carotenoids; responses; crops  
  Abstract The effects of short-and long-term salinisation were studied by comparing tomato growth on a soil exposed to one-season salinisation (short term) vs growth on a soil exposed to >20 years salinisation (long term). Remarkable differences were associated to substantial modifications of the soil physical-chemical characteristics in the root zone, including deteriorated structure, reduced infiltration properties and increased pH. Fresh yield, fruit number and fruit weight were similarly affected by short-and long-term salinisation. In contrast, the marketable yield was significantly lower in the long-term salinised soil-a response that was also associated to nutritional imbalance (mainly referred to P and K). As reported for plants growing under oxygen deprivation stress, the antioxidant capacity of the water soluble fraction of salinised tomato fruits was enhanced by short-term salinisation, also. Overall, long-term salinisation may cause physiological imbalances and yield reductions that cannot be solely attributed to hyperosmotic stress and ionic toxicity. Therefore, the ability of plants to cope with nutritional deficiency and withstand high pH and anoxia may be important traits that should be considered to improve plant tolerance to long-term salinised soils.  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1445-4408 ISBN Medium Article  
  Area Expedition Conference (down)  
  Notes CropM Approved no  
  Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4583  
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Author Gutzler, C.; Helming, K.; Balla, D.; Dannowski, R.; Deumlich, D.; Glemnitz, M.; Knierim, A.; Mirschel, W.; Nendel, C.; Paul, C.; Sieber, S.; Stachow, U.; Starick, A.; Wieland, R.; Wurbs, A.; Zander, P. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Agricultural land use changes – a scenario-based sustainability impact assessment for Brandenburg, Germany Type Journal Article
  Year 2015 Publication Ecological Indicators Abbreviated Journal Ecological Indicators  
  Volume 48 Issue Pages 505-517  
  Keywords scenarios; impact assessment; agricultural intensification; land use change; irrigation; bioenergy; social and environmental indicators; climate-change; landscape; model  
  Abstract Decisions for agricultural management are taken at farm scale. However, such decisions may well impact upon regional sustainability. Two of the likely agricultural management responses to future challenges are extended use of irrigation and increased production of energy crops. The drivers for these are high commodity prices and subsidy policies for renewable energy. However, the impacts of these responses upon regional sustainability are unknown. Thus, we conducted integrated impact assessments for agricultural intensification scenarios in the federal state of Brandenburg, Germany, for 2025. One Irrigation scenario and one Energy scenario were contrasted with the Business As Usual (BAU) scenario. We applied nine indicators to analyze the economic, social and environmental effects at the regional, in this case district scale, which is the smallest administrative unit in Brandenburg. Assessment results were discussed in a stakeholder workshop involving 16 experts from the state government. The simulated area shares of silage maize for fodder and energy were 29%, 37% and 49% for the BAU, Irrigation, and Energy scenarios, respectively. The Energy scenario increased bio-electricity production to 41% of the demand of Brandenburg, and it resulted in CO2 savings of up to 3.5 million tons. However, it resulted in loss of biodiversity, loss of landscape scenery, increased soil erosion risk, and increased area demand for water protection requirements. The Irrigation scenario led to yield increases of 7% (rapeseed), 18% (wheat, sugar beet), and 40% (maize) compared to the BAU scenario. It also reduced the year-to-year yield variability. Water demand for irrigation was found to be in conflict with other water uses for two of the 14 districts. Spatial differentiation of scenario impacts showed that districts with medium to low yield potentials were more affected by negative impacts than districts with high yield potentials. In this first comprehensive sustainability impact assessment of agricultural intensification scenarios at regional level, we showed that a considerable potential for agricultural intensification exists. The intensification is accompanied by adverse environmental and socio-economic impacts. The novelty lies in the multiscale integration of comprehensive, agricultural management simulations with regional level impact assessment, which was achieved with the adequate use of indicators. It provided relevant evidence for policy decision making. Stakeholders appreciated the integrative approach of the assessment, which substantiated ongoing discussions among the government bodies. The assessment approach and the Brandenburg case study may stay exemplary for other regions in the world where similar economic and policy driving forces are likely to lead to agricultural intensification. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1470-160x ISBN Medium Article  
  Area Expedition Conference (down)  
  Notes CropM Approved no  
  Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4561  
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