Effects of water management and grassland renewal on the greenhouse gas emissions from intensively used grassland on bog peat

Artificial drainage is prerequisite for conventional agricultural use of peatlands, but causes high emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), mainly carbon dioxide (CO2). Furthermore, grassland renewal is regularly practiced to maintain high fodder quality, but might cause high emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O). Raising water levels is necessary to reduce CO2 emissions. Water management by subsurface irrigation (SI) and ditch blocking (DB) is thus discussed as potential compromise between maintaining intensive grassland use and reducing GHG emissions. Here, we present results of a four year study on the effects of SI and DB in combination with grassland renewal on GHG emissions from an intensively used grassland on bog peat in North-Western Germany. The water management itself was successful and lead to average mean annual water levels of -0.33 m at the parcels with SI. This was 0.38 m higher than at the control parcels. Ditch blocking also raised the mean water levels to -0.33 m, but the parcel was dryer in summer and wetter in spring than those with SI. Despite clear effects on water levels, CO2 and total GHG emissions were much (38 % and 31 %) higher from SI parcels than from the control parcels. CO2 and GHG emissions of the DB parcel were similar to those of the control. Shallow ploughing increased N2O emissions for around 1.5 years, but there was no clear effect of direct sowing. Methane emission from all parcels were low. The surprising results regarding CO2 might be explained by an interaction of increased soil moisture in the topsoil and improved nutrient retention during periods of high soil temperatures facilitated by SI and, concurrently, by limitations of microbial activity due to dry conditions at the control parcels. Thus, results of this study do not support subsurface irrigation as a GHG mitigation measure at intensively used bog peatlands

Didaktik eristischer Literalität. Zu Kontroversen schreiben und darüber sprechen

Schüler L, Feilke H, Lehnen K, Steinseifer M. Didaktik eristischer Literalität. Zu Kontroversen schreiben und darüber sprechen. In: Bräuer C, Brinkschulte M, eds. Akademisches Schreiben – Lehren und Lernen. Osnabrücker Beiträge zur Sprachtheorie (OBST). Vol 88. Duisburg: Universitätsverlag Rhein-Ruhr; 2016: 145-173

Confirmation of the topology of the Wendelstein 7-X magnetic field to better than 1:100,000

Fusion energy research has in the past 40 years focused primarily on the tokamak concept, but recent advances in plasma theory and computational power have led to renewed interest in stellarators. The largest and most sophisticated stellarator in the world, Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X), has just started operation, with the aim to show that the earlier weaknesses of this concept have been addressed successfully, and that the intrinsic advantages of the concept persist, also at plasma parameters approaching those of a future fusion power plant. Here we show the first physics results, obtained before plasma operation: that the carefully tailored topology of nested magnetic surfaces needed for good confinement is realized, and that the measured deviations are smaller than one part in 100,000. This is a significant step forward in stellarator research, since it shows that the complicated and delicate magnetic topology can be created and verified with the required accuracy