Institut für ökologische Chemie, Pflanzenanalytik und Vorratsschutz
The German agricultural landscape is endowed with countless standing small water bodies. Climate change will lead to more frequent and prolonged drying out of more and more small water bodies due to longer and warmer dry periods. In particular, areas of water that are only temporarily flooded emit significantly more CO2 than permanently flooded areas due to increased decomposition of organic matter in the sediment. Small water bodies thus become sources of greenhouse gases. The WAKS project will scientifically monitor the removal of organic-rich sediment (desilting) from small water bodies in the agricultural landscape as a measure to reduce CO2 emissions and evaluate the CO2 reduction potential. Recommendations for agricultural practice will be developed from this. The measure is based on restoring the connection between groundwater and surface water as permanently as possible, so that the CO2 emissions induced by the drying out of small water bodies fall back to a normal level. In order to assess the effects of the desilting measure with regard to the potential for reducing CO2 emissions, the CO2 emissions from a rewetted watercourse are compared with those from a non-rewetted watercourse. To this end, measurements of CO2 emissions will be carried out in different hydrological phases. The project thus meets the requirements of the amended Climate Protection Act (§3a, Printed Paper 19/30230 of the German Bundestag), which calls for "safeguarding" the "CO2 sequestration effect" of agro-ecosystems. At the same time, rewetted small water bodies contribute to the protection and restoration of biodiversity by reversing habitat losses due to drying out. In this way, the project also serves the goals of the Arable Farming Strategy 2035, the National Strategy on Biological Diversity and the Insect Conservation Action Programme.
Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture
