Forschungszentrum Landschaftsentwicklung und Bergbaulandschaften (FZLB)
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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.