Forschungszentrum Landschaftsentwicklung und Bergbaulandschaften (FZLB)
Refine
Year of publication
Document Type
- Conference Proceeding (94) (remove)
Keywords
- 2009 Fall Meeting (1)
- Biogeosciences (1)
- Biogeosciences / Ecosystems, structure and dynamics (1)
- Biogeosciences / Modeling (1)
- Biogeosciences / Soils / pedology (1)
- Earth and Planetary Surface Processes (EP) (1)
- deep soil loosening (1)
- historic charcoal burning (1)
- historic charcoal production (1)
- initial development (1)
Institute
- Forschungszentrum Landschaftsentwicklung und Bergbaulandschaften (FZLB) (94)
- FG Bodenschutz und Rekultivierung (51)
- FG Geopedologie und Landschaftsentwicklung (23)
- FG Hydrologie (15)
- Zentrale Analytik der BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg (ZA-BTU) / Zentrales Analytisches Labor (2)
- FG Technikgeschichte (ehemals) (1)
BTU
Potential field methods produce anomaly maps with different magnitudes and depths that are typically contaminated by noise, making them hard to interpret. In order to highlight edges of the anomalies with different depths and magnitudes, data filtering techniques have received a great attention, in particular for mineral explorations. Filtering approaches render to explore more details from potential field data maps. In this respect, high pass filters are commonly used for enhancing the anomaly edges all of which utilize gradients of the potential field. In order to apply different filters on the potential field data, major attempts have been made to make a balance between noise and the signal obtained from a filtered image (Cooper & Cowan, 2006).
High-Resolution Soil Electrical Conductivity Imaging from EMI D Based Probabilistic Inversion
(2018)
Electromagnetic induction (EMI) sensors allow for non-invasive soil characterizations. Proximal soil sensing using EMI hindered due to the problems related to the inversion of apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) data. In this study, I used Bayesian inference to obtain the electrical conductivity layering of the subsurface from multi-configuration EMI data. In this respect, generalized formal likelihood function was used to more accurately describe the sensitivity of the posterior parameter distribution to residual assumptions. Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) was employed as a model compression technique to reduce the number of unknown parameters in the inversion. I considered apparent electrical conductivity pseudosection as a training image (TI) in multiple-point statistical simulations. Information from TI realizations were utilized to determine dominant DCT coefficients, as well as prior probability density functions for the subsequent probabilistic inversions. The potentiality of the proposed approach was examined through an experimental scenario. The results demonstrated that this methodology allows for soil electrical conductivity imaging with high resolution. This strategy permits to incorporate summary metrics from ensemble of ECa pseudosection realizations in the inversion without resorting to any complimentary source of information. The proposed approach ensures accurate and high resolution characterization of soil conductivity layering from measured ECa values.
Low frequency loop-loop electromagnetic induction (EMI) is widely used for monitoring soil electrical conductivity and water content. As a non-invasive geophysical technique, EMI allows for rapid and real-time electrical conductivity measurements. However, EMI has not yet been used much to back out the vertical (depth profile) conductivity structure due to problems with the inversion of measured apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) data. In this study, we used Bayesian inference with the MT-DREAM(ZS) algorithm to infer the electrical conductivity layering of the subsurface from EMI data.We test and evaluate our methodology using apparent electrical conductivity data measured along two transects in the Hühnerwasser catchment in Lusatia, Germany. These measurements were made using CMD-Explorer, a multi-configuration sensor with three inter-coil spacings and two antenna orientations. Three offsets and two antenna modes lead to six measurement depths. Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) measurements were also carried out to provide reference conductivity values and to calibrate the EMI data. Such calibration is necessary for quantitative interpretation of the ECa values and to enable multi-layered inversion. The Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) was used to reduce the number of unknown parameters, and different likelihood functions were used to evaluate the sensitivity of the posterior parameter distribution to residual assumptions. DCT-based inversion equates to a quasi-two-dimensional framework which incorporates all data along the profile and results in a low-dimensional over-determined optimization problem. Results demonstrated that although appropriate selection of the low frequency DCT coefficients is important, the definition of the likelihood function plays a crucial role in the estimation of parameter and predictive uncertainty. The use of a Gaussian likelihood function introduces artifacts in DCT-based inversion of EMI data. The use of a more flexible likelihood function results in more accurate results of the DCT-inversion. Integration of the DCT with the MT-DREAM(ZS) algorithm and a flexible generalized likelihood function appears promising for the inversion of low frequency loop-loop EMI data. The proposed approach promises accurate and high resolution estimation of subsurface hydrogeophysical properties from EMI data.
Experimental catchments with well-known boundaries and characteristics may contribute valuable data to hydrological, critical zone and landscape evolution research. One of the most well-established and largest constructed catchments is the Chicken Creek catchment (6 ha area including a 0.4 ha pond, Brandenburg, Germany) representing an initial ecosystem undergoing a highly dynamic ecological development starting from clearly defined starting conditions. The water balance dynamics of the catchment was calculated using a simple mass balance approach to reveal the impact of ecological development during 12 years. Water storage in the catchment was calculated from a 3D-model of groundwater volumes, soil moisture measurements and water level recordings of the pond. The catchment water balance equation was resolved for evapotranspiration, the only part that was not measured directly. Due to the known boundary conditions and the inner structure of the catchment, we were able to quantify the different storage compartments and their role in hydrologic response. Our results indicate that for small catchments with a highly dynamic ecological development like the Chicken Creek, the knowledge about saturated and unsaturated storage volumes enables a good estimate and closure of the water balance using a rather simple approach, at least in annual resolution. We found a significant relationship between vegetation cover in the catchment and calculated ET. Time series of meteorological, hydrological, soil and vegetation data over 12 years enabled us to characterize the transient development of the catchment and to evaluate the effect of different feedback mechanisms on catchment hydrology. The dataset from the Chicken Creek catchment indicate at least three phases in ecosystem development, where initial abiotic feedbacks (e.g. erosion) were followed by more and
more biotic controls (e.g. biological soil crusts, vegetation succession and growth). Data from Chicken Creek in high spatial and temporal resolution provide a valuable database underlining the high importance of abiotic/biotic feedback effects that change the hydrologic functioning and response of the catchment more than the water balance itself revealed and thus have to be included in catchment models.
The spatial variability of soil physical properties on the landscape scale is often increased by anthropogenic land occupation, not only by current land use but also through the legacies of past land use systems. The remains of historic charcoal hearts are an example for such a disturbance of the soil landscape by former forestry. Such relict charcoal hearths (RCH) exhibit a clearly altered soil stratigraphy, most prominently characterized by a technogenic substrate layer on the soil surface, and their soil physical properties can considerably differ from those of surrounding forest soils. The aim of our study is to characterize the soil water and temperature regime on RHC in a pre-industrial charcoal production area in Brandenburg, Germany, as compared with the surrounding sandy forest soils. Soil properties were analyzed in profiles on and around hearth sites and are monitored in a sensor transect equipped with soil
moisture sensors and pF-meters. Results of soil sample analyses show differences in density and porosity between the RCH soils and surrounding forest soils, not only in the technogenic layer but also in the buried soil layers on hearth sites. The soil water characteristic curves determined in the laboratory indicate a modified pore size distribution and lower plant available water contents in the RCH soils. Preliminary results of the ongoing soil water monitoring, however, show increased soil wetness in the RCH soils, along with lower soil moisture tensions. Furthermore, the measurements show higher variations of soil temperature in RCH soils. The results affirm that the legacies of historic charcoal production can increase the spatial variability of soil physical properties and therefore also of ecological site conditions in forest areas. The results of soil moisture monitoring suggest that a determination of soil physical parameters in the laboratory is not sufficient to characterize the spatio-temporal variations of the soil water regime.
Eine zunehmende Knappheit ackerbaulicher Standorte und der zugleich steigende Bedarf an nachwachsenden Rohstoffen für die energetische und stoffliche Nutzung lösen verstärkt Konflikte zwischen der Nahrungsmittelproduktion und der Biomasseproduktion aus. Marginale Standorte kommen entsprechend immer stärker in den Blickpunkt als mögliche Erweiterungsflächen für die Biomasseproduktion. In der wissenschaftlichen Auseinandersetzung fehlt allerdings eine eindeutige Definition für derartige marginale Standorte. Gerade im Hinblick auf eine mögliche Reduzierung von Nutzungskonflikten ist die Abgrenzung zu stillgelegten, aber agrarisch nutzbaren Standorten oder zu natürlichen Badlands, mit naturschutzfachlichen Potentialen oftmals schwierig. Das EU H2020-Projekt SEEMLA untersucht Potentiale und Verfügbarkeit von marginalen Standorten europaweit. In Deutschland, Griechenland und der Ukraine wurden Pilotstandorte eingerichtet, auf denen der Anbau von Bioenergiepflanzen exemplarisch durchgeführt wird. Für eine erste Bewertung der Standortspotentiale und auch der Ursachen der Marginalität der Standorte wurden Bodenuntersuchungen an allen Pilotstandorten nach den Vorgaben des Muencheberger Soil Quality Rating-Verfahrens (SQR) (1) durchgeführt und die Standorte klassifiziert. Das SQR-Verfahren bewertet ausgewählte Boden- und Standortseigenschaften und bezieht zusätzlich mögliche limitierende Faktoren (Hazard Indicators) wie Versauerung, Versalzung, Vernässung etc. mit ein, um eine Gesamtbewertungszahl zur Bodenfruchtbarkeit zu ermitteln. Dieser Beitrag stellt anhand der SEEMLA-Standorte exemplarisch Böden marginaler Standorte vor. Mit Hilfe der SQR Hazard Indicators werden charakteristische limitierende Faktoren vorgestellt. Es wird zudem versucht, die untersuchten Standorte in eine mögliche Klassifikation marginaler Standorte einzupassen und ihre Eignung für die Biomasseproduktion einzuschätzen.
An artificial catchment was constructed to study initial soil and ecosystem development. Our research site is the hydrologic catchment area “Chicken Creek”, 20 km south of the city Cottbus (Germany), which is left to undirected succession. The approximately 6-ha catchment area was built in 2005 of coarse-textured quaternary sediments and forms a back- and foot-slope that flattens out to a pond. A clay liner, 2-3 m in thickness, seals the catchment at the bottom. The initial “soil” layer consists of sandy quaternary sediments, approximately 2–3 m in thickness, that overlay the clay liner. The sediments of the artificial system are in the very initial stage of soil formation. As a key process, the pore structure dynamics in the soil at the surface strongly influences erosion, infiltration, matter dynamics, and vegetation establishment. Little is known, however, about early macropore formation. This presentation focuses on observations of the general development of the catchment, with emphasis on soil structure modifications, such as soil surface crusts, structure formation from ground beetles, moss vegetation and its effect on water flow.
We visualized the soil structure and flow patterns using a combination of neutron radiography, neutron tomography (NT) and X-ray computed tomography (CT) experiments. All techniques were used to describe preferential pathways as a soil
structure with CT and the process of preferential flow of water with NT. For the first time, neutron radiation was applied on undisturbed soil cores to visualize water distributions in natural soils on three examples containing heterogeneities of different origin. Our observations demonstrate relatively high abiotic and biotic dynamics of soil pore structure in the soil surface even during the very early development stages of the catchment. The structure formation influences runoff and infiltration by forming sealing layers or preferential flow paths, due to biotic activity.
The term “marginal land” refers to generally unfavourable site conditions for traditional economic agriculture or forestry. The definitions of marginality differ widely and also the scientific perspective on this type of land is very heterogeneous. However, with regard to the fast growing competition for arable lands between agricultural food production and the increasing need for growing renewable resources, such marginal lands could offer a mitigation option. Whereas agriculture is concentrating rapidly on the most fertile soils, the production of biomass as the renewable basis for various products could be shifted to sites with lower soil fertility. This in general is the main objective of the H2020 funded EU project SEEMLA (acronym for “Sustainable exploitation of biomass for bioenergy from marginal lands”). This project aims at an establishment of suitable innovative land-use strategies for a sustainable production of plant-based energy on marginal lands, while improving general ecosystem services. This approach will be tested in selected casestudy regions in Europe on marginal lands with different reasons for their marginality. One of the central tasks of this project was the characterization and classification of the investigated marginal sites according to a common definition. For that reason the Muencheberg Soil Quality Rating (SQR) system1 was adapted and applied at sites
in Germany, Greece and Ukraine. This paper gives an overview of the importance and properties of different soil parameters and ecological site conditions for this classification. Even if the occurrence of the single site limitations epends on regional conditions, some generalizations are possible. Based on the respective dominating soil related restrictions, a classification of types of marginality and of marginal lands can be derived also with regard to their land use potentials for renewable resources. Further, cultivating biomass on marginal lands may offer remediation potentials with regard to the described ecological restraints of marginal sites.
Landscapes and ecosystems are complex systems with many feedback mechanisms acting between the various abiotic and biotic components. The knowledge about these interacting processes is mainly derived from mature ecosystems. The initial development of ecosystem complexity may involve state transitions following catastrophic shifts, disturbances or transgression of thresholds. The Chicken Creek catchment was constructed in 2005 to study ecosystem development
of an initial ecosystem at the landscape scale. The world´s largest constructed catchment has a hillslope-shaped 6 ha size with defined boundary conditions and well-documented inner structures1. For 12 years, we have been monitoring the development of different system compartments2,3. The fast formation of patterns and increasing heterogeneity were challenges for the monitoring program. Starting with a regular 20 × 20 m grid in the initially homogeneous system, monitoring installations were continuously complemented by more pattern and patch oriented measurements in order to catch up with both the spatial and temporal dynamics of the catchment. The monitoring program includes both
high-resolution temporal recordings (e.g., groundwater levels, discharge, meteorological data, soil moisture), spatial sampling campaigns (e.g., soil properties) and annual vegetation surveys. In addition, we use drone images to document the site development. The presentation describes the monitoring approach and adaptation with examples from vegetation, soil and hydrological data at different spatial and temporal scales. From the monitoring data we were able to derive different phases during initial development that are characterized by abiotic/biotic feedback mechanisms controlling catchment functioning. Detailed monitoring of the Chicken Creek catchment with known boundary conditions and structure information could help in disentangling general feedback mechanisms between hydrologic, pedogenic, biological and geomorphological processes as well as in gaining a more integrative view of succession and its drivers during the transition from initial, less complex systems to more mature ecosystems. Long-term time series of data are the key for a better understanding of these processes and the effects on ecosystem self-organization and resilience.
The Chicken Creek catchment was constructed in 2005 to study ecosystem development of an initial ecosystem at the landscape scale. The site has an area of 6 ha with defined boundary conditions and known inner structures. Since more than 10 years, we are monitoring the unrestricted development of different system compartments. The fast development, the formation of patterns and increasing heterogeneity were challenges for the monitoring program. Starting with a regular 20 x 20 m grid in the initially homogeneous system, monitoring installations were continuously complemented by more pattern and patch oriented measurements in order to catch up with both the spatial and temporal dynamics of the catchment. The monitoring program includes both high-resolution temporal recordings (e.g. groundwater levels, discharge, meteorological data, soil moisture), spatial sampling campaigns (e.g. soil properties) and annual vegetation
surveys. In addition, we use drone images to document the site development. The presentation describes the monitoring approach and adaptation with examples from vegetation, soil and hydrological data at different spatial and temporal scales.
Marginal lands are often considered as unfertile and not productive. They are widely excluded from modern land use by conventional agriculture. Assessment of soil fertility usually shows very low productivity potentials at least for growing traditional crops. However, it can be frequently observed that natural succession at different types of marginal lands leads to very diverse and nonetheless productive ecosystems. Examples can be found at abandoned former industrial or transportation sites which were set aside and not further maintained – and also in post-mining landscapes. In one of the lignite open cast mines of the State of Brandenburg in Eastern Germany a landscape observatory was
established in 2005 for observing this natural ecosystem development under marginal site conditions. The site of 6 ha is part of the post-mining landscapes of Lusatia which are often characterized by poor soil conditions and clearly reduced soil fertility. It is named “Hühnerwasser-Quellgebiet” (Chicken Creek Catchment) after a small stream that is restored again after destruction by the mining operations. It is planned to serve as the headwater of this stream and was left to an unrestricted primary succession. A comprehensive scientific monitoring program is carried out since the start of ecosystem development in 2005. The results offer exemplary insights into the establishment of interaction networks between the developing ecosystem compartments. After 10 years a large biodiversity, expressed by a high number of species, can be found at this site as the result of natural recovery processes. A large number of both tree species and individuals have settled here. Even if no economic use of the site and of the woody biomass produced by these trees is planned, an overall assessment of the biomass production was carried out. The results showed that the biomass production from natural succession without any application of fertilizers etc. is directly comparable with yields from adjacent post-mining sites where trees are grown in agroforestry systems for bioenergy production. This reflects the general potentials of marginal lands with regard to biomass production.
One of the main issues that the forest sector is facing is to achieve a balance between the demand for biomass &wood production and the need to preserve the sustainability and biodiversity of forest ecosystems. The purposes of the new approaches are to ensure more efficient management of ecosystems and implement intensive forestry that will increase biomass production & timber yields. To achieve this, we need to determine the macroeconomic potential of the various options available, including the use of biotechnology and genetics. The success of the forests plantations capacity may be solved through forest certification, based on: a) Stabilization of the forests and soils structure. b) Hierarchy of biomass production in the forest’s management process. c) rganization and implementation of effective plantation on marginal lands. d) Maintenance or increase of forest productivity by introducing new items as and when they are required. It is important to evaluate of the influence of factors such as the quality of soils of plantation areas, the utilization of the genetic resources and the management of forest operations with the environmental economic criteria such as net present value of benefits (NPV) and the corresponding flow annuities (EACF).The existing evaluations studies showed that the quality of the plantation areas has the most influence and through validated quality seed production can generate an increase in the NPV up to 73%. The importance of seedlings quality in timber and bio-energy production on marginal lands based on the literature it is estimated according to the heredity of the characteristics of the wood structure (except shrinkage). This clearly indicate that seedlings with the appropriate morphological characteristics can significantly improve the growth performance and help to support the development of biomass plantations oriented in tailor-made timber and bio-energy production.
An ever growing demand for energy and the widely proposed switch from fossil fuels to more sustainable energy sources puts the cultivation and use of bioenergy plants into focus. However, bioenergy production on regular and fertile agricultural soils might conflict with the worldwide growing demand for food. To mitigate or omit this potential conflict, the use of low quality or marginal land for cultivation of bioenergy plants becomes favorable. Against this background the definition and assessment of land marginality and, respectively, the evaluation whether and to which extent specific areas are marginal and thus convenient for sustainable bioenergy production, becomes highly relevant. Within the framework of the EU funded Horizon 2020 project SEEMLA, we attempted to asses land marginality of designated test sites in the Ukraine, Greece and Germany by direct field survey. For that purpose, soil and site properties were investigated and evaluated by applying the Muencheberg Soil Quality Rating (SQR) method, developed at the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF). The method deploys a comprehensive set of biogeophysical and chemical indicators to describe and finally evaluate the quality of the soil and site by a score ranging from 1 to 100 points. Field survey data were supported by additional laboratory tests on a representative set of soil samples. Practical field work and analysis of field and lab data from the investigated sites proved the applicability of the SQR method within the SEEMLA context. The SQR indices calculated from the field and lab data ranged from 2 to < 40 and clearly demonstrated the marginality of the investigated sites in the Ukraine, Greece and Germany, which differed considerably in respect to their characteristics. Correlating the site quality index to yield data reflecting yield estimations for common bioenergy plants such as willow (Salix sp.), black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) and poplar (Populus sp.) cultivated at the respective test sites, revealed that SQR might additionally reflect the potential yield of the investigated sites.
Soils of marginal lands are characterized by a variety of different soil conditions depending on substrate properties, climate influences, the availability or even the excess of water. However, a number of soil properties can be found frequently at marginal sites which can be regarded as main restrictions of marginal lands and which clearly limit the potential of such sites with regard to land use potentials. The Muencheberg Soil Quality Rating Index (SQR) considers the most important soil related factors responsible for these restrictions. Examples are acidification processes, soil compaction and water saturation or salinization. These soil properties are assessed as “soil hazard indicators” and have crucial impact on the overall soil score provided by the SQR concept for soils of marginal sites. This paper gives an overview of the importance of different soil hazard indicators found at case study sites of the H2020 project SEEMLA. These sites are located in Greece, Ukraine and Germany and represent a large variety of different climatic and geological conditions within Europe. Even if the occurrence of the single site limitations depends on regional conditions some generalizations are possible. Based on the respective dominating soil related restrictions a classification of types of marginality and of marginal lands can be derived.
Der Lehrstuhl Bodenschutz und Rekultivierung der Brandenburgischen Technischen Universität Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU CS) ist Projektpartner in dem von der Europäischen Union im Rahmen des Programms Horizon 2020 geförderten Forschungsprojekts SEEMLA → „Sustainable exploitation of biomass for bioenergy from marginal lands in Europe“ → „Nachhaltige Nutzung von Biomasse für Bioenergie von marginalen Standorten in Europa“. Übergeordnetes Ziel des Projektes ist die Ermittlung des Biomassepotenzials, das auf marginalen Standorten innerhalb von Europa nachhaltig produziert und energetisch verwertet werden kann. Die BTU CS hat in diesem Kontext Untersuchungen zur Bewertung der Marginalität von potenziellen Biomasse-Produktionsstandorten in Deutschland, Griechenland und der Ukraine durchgeführt. Zu diesem Zweck wurde das Müncheberger Soil-Quality-Rating System (SQR) (Müller et al. 2007) eingesetzt.
Various sources provide information about land use history and landscape transformation. For a variety of reasons, the quality of information differs and is often discontinuous or incomplete. In this interdisciplinary study we take advantage of comprehensive archaeological data gathered by large-scale excavations that were necessary because of opencast lignite mining in Lusatia, Brandenburg, Germany. By using a GIS we integrate these archaeological findings with results from archival and literature studies, from historical maps, from landforms and soils as well as from analyses of shaded-relief maps derived from up-to-date LiDAR data. The long-term aim is to develop a palaeoenvironmental model and thus to reconstruct landscape changes caused by human activities. The focus of the study is the Peitz ironwork in SE Brandenburg, which was a large consumer of commodities for about 300 years. During the time it operated, extensive transformations are supposed to have affected the landscape in the vicinity because of wood consumption and especially charcoal production. Digital datasets about forested areas for different timespans reconstructed from historical maps were made available. In combination with dendrochronological dating of charred trees, the spatiotemporal dimension of charcoal kilns was determined. Also, sites of former bog iron ore mining could be identified. Moreover, the different sources contain further information about other forms of land uses such as agriculture, pastoralism and even viticulture. In conclusion we can highlight that the mosaic of past land use systems is different from the modern structure but that major changes in the forests have been retained.
Archaeological excavations have revealed more than thousand charcoal kiln remains (CKRs) in the prefield of
the active opencast lignite mine Jänschwalde, situated about 150 km SE of Berlin (SE Brandenburg, Germany).
The charcoal was mainly produced for the ironwork Peitz nearby, which operated from the 16th to the mid-19th
centuries. In a first approach, to estimate the dimension of the charcoal production, CKRs were mapped on
shaded-relief maps (SRMs) derived from high-resolution LiDAR data (Raab et al. 2015). Subsequently, for a selected test area, identified CKRs on the SRMs were compared with archaeologically excavated CKRs in the
field. This survey showed a considerably number of falsely detected sites. Therefore, the data was critically
re-evaluated using additional relief visualisations. Further, we extended the CKR mapping to areas which are not
archaeologically investigated. The study area, the former royal forest district Tauer, consists of two separate areas: the Tauersche Heide (c. 96 km2 area) N of Peitz and the area Jänschwalde (c. 32 km2 area) NE of Peitz. The study area is characterized by a flat topography. Different former and current anthropogenic uses (e.g., military training, solar power plant, forestry measures) have affected the study area, resulting in extensive disturbances of the terrain surface. The revised CKR abundance in the study area Jänschwalde was considerably smaller than the numbers produced by our first approach. Further, the CKR mapping revealed, that a total record of the CKRs is not possible for various reasons. Despite these limitations, a solid database can be provided for a much larger area than before. Basic statistic parameters of the CKR diameters and all comparative statistical tests were calculated using SPSS. To detect underlying spatial relationships in the CKR site distribution, we applied the Getis-Ord Gi* statistic, a method to test for local spatial autocorrelation between neighbouring sites. The test is available as part of the ArcGis 10.1 spatial statistics toolbox. The outcomes are discussed in consideration of our archaeological, archival and dendrochronological research results.
At the former Diplomat Mine near Forestburg, Alberta, Canada we find a diverse soil landscape which can help to conceptualize factors and processes controlling initial pedogenesis and soil distribution on very young landforms in prairie environments. Due to differing reclamation practices in the 1950s and landslides occurring after spoil dumping, four areas can be distinguished by GoogleMaps/LiDAR evaluation and onsite field survey: (i) not-mined, (ii) stock piled and unreclaimed, (iii) stock piled and reclaimed and (iv) affected by post-mining geomorphodynamics and quasi-natural redeposition. The parent material for areas (ii) to (iv) was initially dumped by spreaders but only (ii) didn’t undergo further change. Landscape (iii) has seen levelling of the piles by heavy machinery. Features of landscape (iv) are formed by reshaping the originally dumped and levelled structures. This last landscape unit marks the rim of
the former mine adjacent to the river valley. In practice, mining activities formed new valley slopes. In contrast
to the naturally developed slopes the mine slopes were less stable. Vegetation, which could have hindered slope
wash erosion, was missing after dumping the spoil slopes. Slopes were very steep (or practically undercut) and
therefore, substrates were naturally re-located by mass movements such as sliding and slumping. Characteristic
sliding and slumping structures can be identified in the close-ups of the LiDAR images. Both processes, mass movement and slope wash erosion, may have overlapped. Landscape (ii) is the most contrasting one. Dumped stock piles formed elongated, curved and steep ridges. These landforms do not have a natural analogue but clearly show their technological origin. Most interesting are differences in vegetation. South and southwest facing slopes are covered with grassland whereas north and northeast facing slopes are covered with aspen trees. Some of the ditches are filled with water and form small elongated ponds. The characteristic geomorphology of the prairie can be found in landscape (i). Distinct differences are found in properties and types of soils in these four landscapes. Natural soils and pile soils characteristically differ in parent material and soil horizons. No information is gathered yet for the reclaimed soils and the landslides soils due to prohibited access. However, based on what we find at the former Diplomat Mine we can conclude that distribution, development and properties of unreclaimed soils in historical open cast mines in Alberta are primarily controlled by parent material and topography. The geomorphological set-up is dominating the trajectory of vegetation development and post-mining geomorphodynamics. Contrasting slope aspects determine micro climatic conditions and lead to different vegetation types. This has likely had an effect on soil development and soil properties (especially carbon stocks). Further studies will be conducted to quantify these differing soil properties to refine this conceptual model of initial pedogenesis and soil distribution on very young landforms in the prairie landscapes.
The constructed Hühnerwasser (“Chicken Creek”) catchment is an ecohydrological system in an initial state of development. The catchment with an area of 6 ha was built up from quaternary sediments in the post-mining landscape of Lusatia in Eastern Germany and serves as a critical zone observatory for detecting ecosystem transition. The soil substrate is characterized as sands to loamy sands with low carbonate contents but significant amounts of gypsum in the sediments of the catchment. The catchment undergoes a strong transition from an abiotic system in the initial years to a system with growing influence of biota. Concerning the hydrology, a regime shift from surface runoff to groundwater flow dominated processes is significant. It is of interest, whether the catchment transition is also reflected by hydrogeochemical indicators. We assume gypsum dissolution as dominant process at the catchment scale. In order to investigate the hydrogeochemical evolution of the catchment we analysed electric conductivity, calcium and sulphate concentrations and pH-values of biweekly composite samples from 2007-2013 of the atmospheric deposition, of runoff and soil water. The two observation points in the flowing water represent surface runoff and groundwater discharge respectively. Soil
water has been analysed at four soil pits in three depths. The monitoring data were provided by the Research
Platform Chicken Creek. From the macroscopic data analysis we found an exponential decay of the electric conductivity, calcium and sulphate concentrations in the flowing waters and some of the soil pits. In the flowing water, the decrease slope of the electric conductivity and the calcium and sulphate concentrations is almost identical. The calcium / sulphate molar ratio as an indicator of gypsum dissolution is almost equal to one up to 2010, afterwards more calcium than sulphate is released. The pH-values in the flowing and soil water are generally higher than in the atmospheric deposition, they do show variabilites but no trend behaviour. The time series analyses showed that the interannual variability of the hydrogeochemical properties is less pronounced in the first years of ecosystem development than in the later years. This leads to the conclusion, that in the first years, gypsum dissolution is the major source for calcium and sulphate in the soil and the flowing waters. The increasing interannual variability and changes in the calcium / sulphate ratio in the later years might be interpreted as hydrogeochemical response to the development of vegetation and acidification due to the development of the rhizosphere.
An interactive survey panel regarding the effects of mice (Microtus spec.) on a young ecosystem
(2015)
The constructed catchment Chicken Creek was established in 2005 as an experimental landscape laboratory for ecosystem research. The 6 ha area with clearly defined horizontal as well as vertical boundary conditions was left for an unrestricted primary succession. The developing ecosystem offers the opportunity to study most processes occurring at the interface of bio-, pedo-, geo- and hydrosphere. Particularly interactions and feedbacks between different evolving compartments as well as the establishment of ecosystem functions and services can be investigated during the ongoing ecosystem development. The catchment is extensively instrumented since 2005 in order to detect transition stages of the ecosystem. Comprehensive data recorded with a high spatial and temporal resolution include hydrological, geomorphological, pedological, limnological as well as biological parameters.
This site offers the unique situation of an early stage ecosystem with highly dynamic system properties. The first years of development were characterized by a fast formation of geomorphological structures due to massive erosion processes at the initially non-vegetated surface. Hydrological processes led to the establishment of a local groundwater body within 5 years. In the following years the influence of biological structures like vegetation patterns gained an increasing importance. Feedbacks between developing vegetation and e.g. hydrological features became more and more dominant. As a result, different phases of ecosystem development could be distinguished until now.
This observatory offers manifold possibilities to identify and disentangle complex interactions between ecosystem compartments in situ under natural conditions. The originally low complexity of the system is growing with time facilitating the identification of influences of newly developing structures on ecosystem functions. Thus, it is possible to study effects of small-scale processes on the whole system at the landscape scale. In addition, the highly dynamic initial system properties allow the observation of multifaceted changes of ecosystem properties and functions within short periods of time.
Automated detection of small-scale anthropogenic relief features from high-resolution ALS-data
(2014)
Within the context of severely disturbed landscapes with little or no ecological memory, such as post-mining
landscapes, we propose a simple framework that explains the catchment evolution as a result of competing feedbacks influenced by the initial conditions and the atmospheric drivers such as rainfall intermittency and intensity. The first stage of the evolution is dominated by abiotic feedbacks triggered by rainfall and subsequent fluid flow causing particle mobilisation on the surface and in the subsurface leading to flow concentration or in some instances to densification of surface and subsurface substrates. Subsequently, abiotic-biotic feedbacks start to compete in the sense that biological activity generally stabilizes substrate by preventing particle mobilisation
and hence contribute to converting the substrate to a habitat. We suggest that these competing feedbacks may
generate alternative stable states in particular under semi-arid and arid climatic conditions, while in temperate
often energy limited environments biological process “outcompete” abiotic processes leading to a stable state, in particular from the water balance point of view for comparable geomorphic situations.
We investigated the initial development of the landscape observatory ’Chicken Creek’, Germany, an artificial
catchment with well known boundary conditions and inner structures (Gerwin et al., 2011). Over a period of nine
years, we observed considerable changes within the site (Elmer et al., 2013). Both internal and external factors could be identified as driving forces for the formation of structures and patterns in the catchment. Over time,
secondary structures and patterns evolved and became more and more important. Invading biota and vegetation
succession initialized feedback mechanisms resulting in pattern and habitat formation as well as in increased differentiation, heterogeneity and complexity that are typical characteristics of ecosystems (Schaaf et al., 2013).
The processes and feedback mechanisms in the initial development of a new landscape may deviate in rates, intensity, and dominance from those known from mature ecosystems. It is therefore crucial to understand these early phases of ecosystem development and to disentangle the increasingly complex interactions between the evolving terrestrial and aquatic, biotic, and abiotic compartments of the system.
The former royal forest districts around Peitz (South Brandenburg, Germany) were used to produce charcoal for
the ironwork Peitz (1554 to 1856). More than 800 archaeologically excavated ground plans of charcoal kilns give evidence of the burning activity in the study area “Jänschwalde Heide” which is only a small part of the whole forest district. The study area in the apron of the active lignite mine Jänschwalde comprises the royal forest “Jänschwalder Heide” and the surrounding community forests. Our study approach combines archaeological research, a GIS-based approach (historical maps, airborne laser scanning (ALS) data, etc.) and archival studies.
High-resolution digital elevation data from airborne laser scanning (ALS) allow for identification and mapping of so far unknown small-scale relief features that are hidden by forest cover. Especially as a result of historic land use, small anthropogenic landforms can occur, e.g., remains of charcoal kilns on sites that were used for charcoal
production or ridge and furrow systems in former farmland areas. Mapping such relief features and analyzing their spatial distribution patterns can help to understand past land-use systems and their effects on landscapes. To efficiently detect and quantify small-scale relief features from high-resolution DEMs for larger areas, (semi-)
automated mapping routines are required.
During the last decades, archaeological research has revealed that large-scale charcoal burning was carried out
in Lower Lusatia (South Brandenburg) situated within the North Germany Lowland. From the 17th to the 19th century, charcoal was mainly produced for the ironwork in Peitz. Within the framework of the ICLEA project lake
sediments from two lakes, Byhleguhrer See and Großsee, are investigated to study the impact of pre-industrial charcoal production on the environment.
In the apron of three active lignite opencast pits in Lower Lusatia (Brandenburg, Germany), archaeological survey
trenches were investigated in areas where Quaternary aeolian sand deposits are widespread. The investigated
palaeoenvironmental archives in Jänschwalde, Cottbus-Nord and Welzow contain evidence of fluvial and aeolian
morphodynamics, soil formation and agricultural land use from (pre-)historic to modern times. To study the age
and the causes of sand drifting and landform stabilization, standard soil physical and chemical laboratory analyses as well as optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and radiocarbon dating (14C) were carried out. Two main sedimentological units were identified: Unit 1 consists of glacio-fluvial and Late Weichselian aeolian sands representing the parent material for the native Podsol-Braunerde and Podsol development, while Unit 2 represents the Late Holocene aeolian deposits. Four periods of Late glacial and Holocene aeolian activity and three phases of geomorphological stability have been identified: (i) Aeolian sedimentation during the Late glacial, (ii) Mesolithic reactivation of aeolian processes, (iii) soil formation until Late Roman Iron Age settlers intensified the agricultural land use, (iv) intensive drift sand formation during the High Middle Ages due to agricultural expansion, (v) stabilization
of the drift sands and weak soil formation, (vi) reactivation of aeolian processes due to the increasing wood consumption and charcoal production from the early 16th until the mid-19th century, (vii) surface stabilization and formation of Regosols since the mid-19th century due to afforestation.
Within the apron of the opencast mine Jänschwalde (SE Brandenburg, Germany) archaeological excavations on a
multiple populated small dune were complemented with soil-geomorphological investigations in the vicinity. Archaeological findings in the dune stratigraphy (especially cremation graves) are intercalated within aeolian sediments and/or buried soils and thus give a record of the Late Quaternary geomorphodynamic and soil development.
In Lusatia, Northeastern Germany, the production of ironware between the 16th and 19th century left behind a
remarkable amount of charcoal kilns in the forests north of Cottbus. Remote sensing surveys, underpinned by
archaeological studies, show that charcoal was gained around Cottbus from several thousand charcoal kilns which
had internal diameters up to 20 m. For the study site with 35 km2 area, the until now prospected total ground area
below the charcoal kilns which was potentially affected by the pyrolysis is about 0,5 km2. Historic data indicates that the pyrolysis in the charcoal kiln took up to several weeks, for the kilns with a diameter of 20 m about 20 days. To characterize the depth of thermal alteration of soils below the kiln our current focus is on the differentiation of the iron hydroxides by small-scale vertical analysis of soil profiles.
The constructed catchment Chicken Creek was established in 2005 as an experimental landscape laboratory for ecosystem research. The 6 ha area with clearly defined horizontal as well as vertical boundary conditions was left for an unrestricted primary succession. All Critical Zone elements are represented at this site, which allows the
study of most processes occurring at the interface of bio-, pedo-, geo- and hydrosphere. It provides outstanding
opportunities for investigating interactions and feedbacks between different evolving compartments during ecosystem
development. The catchment is extensively instrumented since 2005 in order to detect transition stages of the
ecosystem. Data recorded with a high spatial and temporal resolution include ydrological, geomorphological,
pedological, limnological as well as biological parameters.
South Brandenburg is the central part of the North European Lowland (NEL) extending as a plain landscape from
the North and Baltic Sea to the foothills of the Central European Highlands and reaching from the Netherlands to Poland. Since many decades lignite opencast mines have been operating in this region which is known as the Lusatian mining district. The total land demand in Lusatia is about 852 square kilometres and mining will continue
for many more years or even decades. Large-scale outcrops resulting from these mining activities are excellent archives to study the younger Earth’s history. The scope of our research in open cast mines is to reconstruct the
Late Quaternary landscape development and to distinguishing natural from anthropogenic forcing and processes. In more detail, the aims are to identify and to quantify the impact of past land uses, i.e. changes of vegetation, landforms and soils induced by agriculture and/or forestry. Here, we are presenting latest results from our research and review important findings giving novel insights into man-induced environmental changes in Lusatia within the past thousands years and thus improving the general understanding of Late Quaternary landscape dynamics.
Die hier vorgestellte Forschungsarbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Rekonstruktion der Landschafts- und Umweltgeschichte mithilfe Geographischer Informationssysteme (GIS) und historischer Karten. In einem Modell sollen die räumliche Dimension der Köhlerei, der damit verbundene Holzverbrauch, der Zustand der Wälder, die vorhandene Infrastruktur etc. errechnet und dargestellt werden. Zeitlicher Schwerpunkt ist die zweite Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts und die Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts.
Modelling the initial 3D sediment structure of an artificially constructed hydrological catchment
(2008)
Structures and processes of the initial ecosystem development phase in an artificial water catchment
(2008)
Bilanzierung der Sedimentmassen eines künstlichen Wassereinzugsgebiets mit einem 3D-Strukturmodell
(2009)
2D dual permeability modeling of flow and transport in a two-scale structural lignitic mine soil
(2009)
Trophic structure and complexity of early soil food webs in a post mining area in Lower Lusatia
(2009)
Reproducing the initial internal structural heterogeneity of an artificially created catchment
(2010)
For systems such as soils or watersheds, the initial distribution of sediment mass and composition at the starting point of the development are mostly not well-known. The development of such systems, however, has frequently been assumed to depend on boundary and initial conditions including the solid phase. Here, an experimental watershed of about 6 ha surface area was artificially-created in order to imitate an initial stage just at the beginning of the geo-ecosystem development. However, sediment homogeneity could not be achieved for this large-scale field experiment, and the 3D spatial distribution of structures and components remained uncertain. The objective of this study was to quantify and reconstruct the initial sediment distribution and the first development stages using aerial photographs, point information, and a 3D model. The watershed was made of coarse-textured sediments of quaternary origin with a low permeable clay liner as the bottom boundary. A 2D horizontal digital elevation model (DEM) of the surface and a DEM of the subsurface clay layer are used to construct a 3D triangulated numerical grid of the catchment’s initial spatial structure using the 3D-GIS software GOCAD. Physical and chemical soil properties obtained from borehole samples are assigned to this model and interpolated onto the 3D grid. The volumetric changes in space and time are quantified and related to material properties to obtain the mass changes. Correlations between terrain attributes, sediment properties, and mass changes are explored specifically in regions of differing source materials. A temporal sequence of surface DEMs is obtained from photogrammetric, high-precision ground based laser scanning and airborne laser scanning data. 3D models of elevation change are constructed from these DEMs. The processes following the initial state are mainly characterized by runoff-induced erosive mass relocations related to the distribution of surface and subsurface structures and sediment properties. The results suggest that both sediment structures and mass translocations differ between the western and eastern parts of the watershed and that correlations between initial surface structures and subsequent mass changes exist.
Analyzing initial geomorphologic processes and structures: An alternative remote sensing approach
(2010)
Robinia pseudoacacia L. is a pioneer tree species native from North America. Its original range is a climatic region classified as humid to sub-humid, with a mean annual precipitation of 1020 to 1830 mm. However, it grows under a wide range of edaphic and climatic conditions and the species has proven to be relatively drought tolerant. In central Europe, with a continental climate, the species has been successfully cropped for biomass production also on marginal land, even in post-‐mining areas characterized by water limitation and harsh edaphic conditions. Due its drought tolerance, fast resprouting rate and its ability to live in symbiosis with Rhizobia and thus fix atmospheric nitrogen, black locust could become a key species for short-‐rotation plantation on marginal land. Several studies have been already carried out to quantify the black locust above ground production and its water use efficiency. However, the relation between the black locust biomass allocation, root system development and plant water use has still to be examined. In our study we evaluated the drought stress effect on black locust below ground biomass production, root distribution, and the root and rhizobial association. Different irrigation regimes were chosen to test the plant’s performance in a lysimeter experiment, under semi-‐controlled environmental conditions, for the duration of two vegetation periods. From the results obtained we determined the root biomass allocation under different irrigation regimes and identified the close relation between the soil water condition and the rhizobial association.
It is widely acknowledged that increasing complexity is a key attribute of ecosystem genesis. This is particularly true for primary succession on homogeneous substrates. However, a mechanistic understanding of spatial colonisation and pattern formation during primary succession has not been achieved yet. Thus, we studied this topic for 7 years within an experimental catchment (6 ha) established in the post-mining landscape of eastern Germany. Equidistant permanent plots (120 plots à 25m²) allowed for autocorrelation analyses, and thus tracing the spatial development of species cover performance. For each species tested, the “cover balance” first increased due to colonization, while decreasing in the course of succession. Drawing a benefit from these temporal trends, we suggested cover balance levels revealed by autocorrelation analyses to best indicate well-defined phases in primary succession at spatial entities. Hence, with the help of this spatial approach, terrestrial succession can be understood now much better at the most general level of the hierarchy provided by Pickett et al. (1987). In accordance with these authors, at subordinated levels of the causal hierarchy differential species performance might get collectively explained by contributing processes or conditions, such as ecophysiological traits, life history strategies, competition and allelopathy of the occurring plant species. Further research is needed to understand their relative contributions to the pattern formation.
We studied the role of strutures and processes and their feedbacks during initial ecosystem development in the artificial catchment Chicken Creek. During the first seven years, considerable changes within the catchment were observed. Both internal and external factors could be identified as driving forces for the formation of structures and patterns in the artificial catchment. Initial structures formed by the construction process and initial substrate
characteristics were decisive for the distribution and flow of water. External factors like episodic events triggered erosion and dissection during this initial phase, promoted by the low vegetation cover and the unconsolidated sandy substrate.
The transformation of the initial geo-system into areas with evolving terrestrial or aquatic characteristics and from a very episodic to a more permanent stream network and discharge, together with the observed vegetation dynamics increased site diversity and heterogeneity with respect to water and nutrient availability and transformation processes compared to the more homogenous conditions at point zero.
The processes and feedback mechanisms in the initial development of a new landscape may deviate in rates, intensity and dominance from those known from mature ecosystems. It is therefore crucial to understand these early phases of ecosystem development and to disentangle the increasingly complex interactions between the evolving terrestrial and aquatic, biotic and abiotic compartments of the system. Artificially created catchments could be a
suitable tool to study these initial developments at the landscape scale under known, designed and defined boundary conditions.