Versuche zur Regulierung der Wühlmäuse im biologischen Obstbau

In the organic apple orchards in South Tyrol different voles (Fam. Arvicolidae) are the cause of big damages on the trees. At present there isn't any product listed t the annex 2b of the EC- decree 2092/91 for organic agriculture, which could control the voles efficiently. Therefore it is quite difficult to control the voles in organic orchards. It is necessary to convince European and national authorities, associations and organs of control to allow the use of suitable products. Our trials showed that Silmurin, an extract of the red sea-onion (Uriginea marsitima) controls quite efficiently the field mouse (Microtus arvalis), but hasn't any effect against the earth vole (Arvicola terrestris). Against these voles we obtained good results with Matox-cartridges based on sulphur gases. The results of the use of a machine which produces a mixture of CO and CO2 by burning organic materials were unsatisfactory with respect to both types of voles

Internationale und europäische Bedingungen politischer Bildung - zur Kritik der European Citizenship Education

Im Zuge der Internationalisierung und Europäisierung von politischen und ökonomischen Prozessen verändern sich die Bedingungen für politische Bildung, die bislang inhaltlich wie institutionell nationalstaatlich ausgerichtet war. Die Einschätzungen gehen dahingehend auseinander, inwieweit diese (Transformations-)Prozesse neue Möglichkeiten für die politische Bildungsarbeit eröffnen oder gegenteilig die etablierte Praxis eher weiter beschneiden. Der Beitrag skizziert insofern einige europäische Initiativen, die sich auf die institutionelle und inhaltliche Ausrichtung politischer Bildung auswirken. Das Demokratieverständnis der European Citizenship Education wird diskutiert und eine erweiterte Perspektive einer Global Citizenship Education eröffnet. Eine kritische politische Bildung, wie sie konzeptionell dem Beitrag zu Grunde liegt, verfolgt eine Weltperspektive, die eine europazentrierte Sichtweise übersteigt, alte Ausschlussmechanismen des Nationalstaates zu überwinden sucht sowie bei einem differenzierten Subjekt- und Demokratiebegriff ansetzt. (DIPF/Orig.)In the course of the internationalization and Europeanization of political and economic processes the conditions of political education are changing, - conditions which have so far been oriented by the nation-state on both the institutional and the content-related level. Estimations of the situation vary in so far as the (transformation-) processes are regarded as either opening up new possibilities for political education or as, on the contrary, further limiting the established practice. The author sketches a few European initiatives which do have an effect on the institutional and content-related orientation of political education. The understanding of democracy inherent in European Citizenship Education is discussed and a broadened perspective of a Global Citizenship Education is opened up. A critical political education, such as forms the conceptual basis of this study, pursues a world perspective transcending a Europe-centered point of view, trying to overcome old mechanisms of exclusion typical of the nation-state, and starting from a differentiated concept of the subject and of democracy. (DIPF/Orig.

Scientific results of the Bryotrop expedition to Zaire and Rwanda : 3., photosynthetic gas exchange of bryophytes from different forest types in eastern Central Africa.

During the BRYOTROP-Expedition to Zaire and Rwanda bryophytes were collected from a rainforest habitat at 800 m a.s.l. and from bamboo forest and tree-heath environments between 2200 and 3200 m. The microclimates influencing the mosses are different at the altitudinally separated locations. Conditions are rather constant with 24 °C, 100 % rel. hum. and PAR below 100 μmol photons m-2 sec-1 at the lowland station, rather versatile in the mountains with six times higher daily sums of PAR, temperatures between 10 and 25 °C and relative humidities between 60 and 1oo %. In the bamboo forest epiphytic mosses dry out during the day to less than 70 % of their water content, but regain saturation from the vapor-saturated air during night. Bryophyte photosynthesis and respiration were studied by Warburg manometry with moisture saturated samples. Temperature curves of gas exchange peaked between 22 and 30 °C. Optima of the lowland species were somewhat higher than those from samples collected at the mountain sites. Habitat separation of characteristics of photosynthesis was more pronounced with respect to light responses. Saturation gas exchange rates were reached by all species still below 400 μmol photons m-2 sec-1. But the slopes of the curves in the low-light range were distinctly steeper, and the light compensation points smaller in the lowland than in the highland species (compensation points of the former: 3 - 12 μmol photons m-2 sec-1, of the latter: 8 - 20 μmol photons m-2 sec-1). It is emphasized that bryophytes in the rainforest understory experience extremely high ambient C02 concentrations near the floor. This, their low light requirements for photosynthesis, and the permanently optimal temperature and humidity conditions for maximal carbon gain enable them to live successfully, but with less biomass development in this dark and damp environment. By contrast, bryophytes from the bamboo forest and tree-heath environments can utilize light conditions combined with variable temperatures and humidities similarly as species from extratropical vegetation types

Environmental Awareness and Labour Market Tightness: An Analysis on Regional Level

This thesis reveals methods for estimating individual perception at the regional level, such as environmental awareness or wage effects due to labour market tightness. Environmental awareness belongs to individual attitudes, which is driven by socialization, culture and education. Consequently, it is difficult to compare environmental awareness between regions. Labour market tightness might be reflected in individual wages, but the latter is also triggered by a lot of exogenous variables. Given that a simple linear regression model fails in both cases, existing alternative approaches from the econometrics like Multiple Indicator Multiple Cause model and Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operators are used. First, a Multiple-Indicator Multiple-Causes model is introduced, which allows us to estimate a not-directly observable individual attitude, environmental awareness, for different regions and to rank them. The method is cost-effective and less time-consuming, it also allows for comparisons between regions. The study area serves 81 regions in Russia. The model is constructed in such a way that Internet queries from the search engine Yandex are assumed to be indicators, which are affected by the regional environmental awareness index. In addition, regional characteristics, such as Gross Regional Product per capita, the proportion of employees in specific industry sectors, and also the environmental situation within the regions are potential cause variables. The regional environmental awareness index is estimated for each of the Russian regions from January 2014 until April 2016. Furthermore, the findings shows a rather non-linear positive relationship between the regional environmental awareness and regional wealth, as well as a strong negative correlation with the temperature. The colder the region and the observed month, the higher the interest of the population in environmental topics. Furthermore, the regions can be grouped into four environmental awareness clusters by using k-means clustering algorithm. It seems that the environmental awareness index shrinks from the Eastern to the Western part of Russia. The highest values can be estimated in Chukotka, Kamchatka, and Magadan. The lowest values are found in the rather poor and warm Caucasus area. Second, another issue concerns the estimation of an effect of an observable regional variable, such as labour supply shortage, on individual wages. This thesis investigates the ten year wage development of employees who first enter the labour market from 1995 until 2004 and looks for positive wage effects of labour market tightness in different occupational groups. Due to incomplete vacancy data, labour market tightness is measured as the number of unemployed people divided by the number of employees within an occupational field and region. Mean and quantile regression methods are applied. Because the number of right-hand side variables could lead to incorrect detected statistical significant coefficients, different Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operators are used for reducing the variables set. The findings suggests that regional labour market tightness in occupational fields affects individual wages. Employees who start their carrier in a tighter labour market enjoy higher wage growth compared to workers from more relaxed labour markets. The wages in technical professions, such as several engineer groups, IT-occupations, technicians, and also in some commercial occupations are especially affected by a shortage of labour supply. Health care occupations, such as nurse, reveals a complete reverse relationship. A shortage of workforce seems to be correlated with smaller wages

Utilization of Electric Prosumer Flexibility Incentivized by Spot and Balancing Markets

The use of energy flexibility to balance electricity demand and supply is becoming increasingly important due to the growing share of fluctuating energy sources. Electric flexibility regarding time or magnitude of consumption can be offered in the form of different products on electricity spot and balancing power markets. In the wake of the energy transition and because of new possibilities provided by digitalization, the decision intervals on these markets are becoming shorter and the controllability of electricity consumption and generation more small-scale. This evolution opens up new chances for formerly passive energy consumers. This thesis shows how electric flexibility can be monetized using the application example of commercial sites. These are often multimodal energy systems coupling electricity, heat, and gas, and thus deliver high flexibility potential. To leverage this potential, a comprehensive picture of demand-side flexibilization is provided and used to propose an energy management system and optimization for cost-optimized device schedules. The cost-optimization considers two simultaneous incentives: variable day-ahead spot market prices and revenues for offering possible schedule adjustments to the automatic Frequency Restoration Reserve (aFRR) balancing market. To solve the formulated optimization problem, a genetic algorithm is presented, tailored to the specific needs of consumers. In addition to addressing the trade-off between the two competing markets, the algorithm inherently considers the uncertain activation of aFRR bids and related catch-up effects. An analysis of the activation behavior of aFRR balancing market bids, based on a developed ex-post simulation, forms an important decision basis for the optimization. Finally, a simulation study concentrating on battery energy storage systems and combined heat and power plants on the consumer side enables the quantitative discussion of the optimization potential. The results show that consumers considering both markets simultaneously can achieve cost benefits that are up to multiples of those for pure day-ahead price optimization, despite the stochastic nature of aFRR balancing power activations. In conclusion, this thesis enables formerly passive electricity consumers to assume the role of alternative balancing service providers, hence contributing to the economic and reliable operation of power grids characterized by a high share of renewable energy sources

Das Dilemma mit der Rolle des Staates in der Wettbewerbsordnung: Zum 50. Todestag von Walter Eucken

Walter Eucken gilt als einer der bedeutendsten deutschen Wirtschaftswissenschaftler, der unter anderem die Freiburger Schule gründete und damit einen wesentlichen Einfluß auf die Entstehung der Sozialen Marktwirtschaft hatte. Haben sich Euckens Handlungsanweisungen an den Staat aber als praktikabel erwiesen? --

Das Dilemma mit der 'sozialen Gerechtigkeit'

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