You are here: Home › Research › Climate Impacts & Vulnerabilities › Research › Research Field 1: Biosphere by 2100
 

Research Field 1

RF1

THE BIOSPHERE BY 2100

Head: Dieter Gerten

Co-workers: Lilibeth Acosta-Michlik (Post-Doc), Tim Beringer (PhD), Alberte Bondeau (Senior), Yvonne Brückmann (PhD), Marianela Fader (PhD student), Jens Heinke (PhD student), Ursula Heyder (PhD student), Holger Hoff (PhD student), Jonas Jägermeyr (PhD student), Markus Konzmann (Scientific assistant), Zbigniew Kundzewicz (Senior, assoc.), Wolfgang Lucht (Senior, Dept. Chair), Sebastian Ostberg (PhD student), Sibyll Schaphoff (PhD student), Daniela Seifert (Assistant)

Summary:

B21 investigates, at global scale and geographically explicit, limitations and trade-offs of land use and water use. Impacts of climatic change, options for mitigating and adapting to these impacts, and regional sustainability guardrails are accounted for. A core tool is the LPJmL dynamic global vegetation and water balance model for bio- and agrosphere.

Lead questions:

What are the hydrologic and biospheric impacts of climate change, esp. impacts beyond 2 degrees mean global warming? What trade-offs are possible in a sustainable way between land and water use for food production, bioenergy production, and ecosystem conservation?

Flagship projects:


*Hot publications* (see homepages of team members for full lists):

  • Gerten, D., Heinke, J., Hoff, H., Biemans, H., Fader, M., Waha, K. 2011: Global water availability and requirements for future food production. Journal of Hydrometeorology 12, 885-899.
  • Heyder U, Schaphoff S, Gerten D, Lucht W 2011. Risk of severe climate change impact on the terrestrial biosphere. Environmental Research Letters 6, 034036.
  • Acosta-Michlik L, Lucht W, Bondeau A, Beringer T 2011. Integrated assessment of sustainability trade-offs and pathways for global bioenergy production: framing a novel hybrid approach. Renew. Sust. Energy Rev. 15, 2791-2809.
  • Beringer T, Lucht W, Schaphoff S 2011. Bioenergy production potential of global biomass plantations under environmental and agricultural constraints. Glob. Change Biol. Bioen. 3, 299-312.
  • Fader M, Gerten D, Thammer M, Heinke J, Lotze-Campen H, Lucht W, Cramer W 2011. Internal and external green-blue agricultural water footprints of nations, and related water and land savings through trade. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 15, 1641–1660.
  • Bergmann S, Gerten D (Eds.) 2010. Religion and Dangerous Environmental Change. LIT, 256 pp.
  • Beer C, Reichstein M, Tomelleri E, Ciais P, Jung M, Carvalhais N, Rödenbeck C, Arain MA, Baldocchi D, Bonan GB, Bondeau A et al. 2010. Terrestrial gross carbon dioxide uptake: global distribution and covariation with climate. Science 329, 834-838.
  • Lucht W 2010. Earth system analysis and taking a crude look at the whole. In: Schellnhuber H-J et al. (Eds.), Global Sustainability: A Nobel Cause, Cambridge University Press, 19-32.
  • Lapola DM, Schaldach R, Alcamo JM, Bondeau A, Koch J, Kölking C, Priess J. 2010. Indirect land-use changes can overcome carbon savings by biofuels in Brazil. PNAS 107, 3388-3393.
  • Jung M, Reichstein M, Ciais P, Seneviratne SI, Sheffield J, Goulden ML, Bonan G, Cescatti A, Chen J, de Jeu, R, Dolman AJ, Eugster W, Gerten D, Gianelle D, Gobron N, Heinke J et al. 2010.  Recent decline in the global land evapotranspiration trend due to limited moisture supply. Nature 467, 951–954.
  • Rost S, Gerten D, Hoff H, Lucht W, Falkenmark M, Rockström J 2009. Global potential to increase crop production through water management in rainfed agriculture. Environ. Res. Lett. 4, 044002.
  • Hoff H 2009. Global water resources and their management. Curr. Opinion Environ. Sust. 1, 141–147.
  • Gerten D, Rost S, von Bloh W, Lucht W 2008. Causes of change in 20th century global river discharge. Geophys. Res. Lett. 35, L20405.
  • Rost S, Gerten D, Bondeau A, Lucht W, Rohwer J, Schaphoff S 2008. Agricultural green and blue water consumption and its influence on the global water system. Water Resour. Res. 44, W09405.


International cooperation partners:

Document Actions