DeltAdapt
Due to climatic changes, salinity intrusion increases in the Delta regions of Mekong and Red River (Vietnam). This results in drastical changes in land-use. In the international project "DeltAdapt - Sustainable adaptation of coastal agro-ecosystems to increased salinity intrusion" the consequences of and adaptions to these changes will be investigated.
In the multi-disciplinary research project DeltAdapt about 20 scientists from both countries will explore the current and historical land-use pattern, socio-ecological drivers of land-use changes, their feedback on climate and soil fertility, and evaluate the socio-ecological sustainability of the adaptation and adaptability of the coastal agro-ecosystems in the Mekong and Red River deltas to salinity intrusion and market challenges. The main focus is laid on the local drivers and consequences of management shifts between paddy rice, rice-shrimp farming, and saline aquaculture because these on-farm adaptation processes to salinity intrusion have immense consequences for soil quality, biodiversity of wild fish, climate, and livelihood. Furthermore, we aim to develop recommendations that enable farmers to stop the ongoing removal of topsoil to reverse soil fertility loss.
The overall goal of DeltAdapt is to advance ecologically- and economically-based decision-making processes towards a more sustainable and resilient agro-ecosystems management in both deltas by providing practice-oriented recommendations. This will enable the sustainable shaping of agricultural landscapes in both deltas as well as similar coastal agro-ecosystems. It thereby helps in securing global nutrition and producing safe and healthy products. Since both the research approach and the implementation of the results are based on the dual involvement of German and Vietnamese scientists as well as local stakeholders and German and Vietnamese small and medium enterprises, a high relevance and practice-orientation of the research is ensured.
Research areas: Mekong and Red River Deltas in Vietnam.
The project is a bilateral German-Vietnamese research project fundeded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the scope of “Bioeconomy international”. This 3 year project started September 2013 and is coordinated by Prof. Wulf Amelung and Dr. Jens Kruse, University of Bonn, Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation, Division Soil Science (INRES). Around 20 scientists from both countries are participating in DeltAdapt.
Contribution of TerrAquat:
The contribution of TerrAquat Consultancy focuses mainly on determining the fluxes of pesticides and antibiotics in the soil. Based on these measurements, the transfer between different ecosystem compartments will be quantified.
Before the measurements, the SIA method will be adapted to the target substances and tested. This development contains:
- Selection of suitable adsorber materials
- Test of ad- and desorption in batch experiments
- Test of the adsorption kinetics in perkolation experiments
- Stability tests in incubation experiments
The method will be applied in Vietnam after the successful method development.
