Projects

Forecasts on the development of yield security in Austrian agriculture paint a bleak picture for the coming decades. For areas without irrigation, yield declines of over 50% of current yields are predicted in some cases.

GEMS (= Groundwater Management in Nitrate Vulnerable Zones with Agricultural Activities) is an Interreg Europe project launched in 2024, whose primary goal is to ensure a significant and sustainable reduction in nitrate levels in groundwater.

The project Green Flow Paths aims at identifying areas for green margins as well as for potential green flow paths on arable land in Austria's particularly erosion-prone catchment areas by means of innovative model approaches.

Under the project acronym Heck.in, a scientifically sound and ready-to-use evaluation system was developed that allows the fulfillment of ecosystem services by hedges or windbreaks in rural landscapes to be quantified.

The climate change-induced increase in extreme events such as droughts and floods also threaten natural and cultural heritage sites. These can be better protected through coordinated and adapted management plans, strategies, and tools.

The heavy precipitation of recent years in the Weinviertel region has led to increased soil erosion and sedimentation in affected water bodies. Effects on flood protection as well as on the ecology of water bodies often have to be remedied at high costs. Therefore, measures for the reduction of sediment input are needed with the aim of securing the flood discharge capacity.

As part of the EU's LUCAS program (Land Use and Land Cover Survey), sampling and analysis of soils in Austria is being carried out. Here, the topsoil of about 660 sites is sampled and subsequently examined for soil chemical, soil physical and partly also soil biological parameters.

Extreme weather events will continue to increase as a result of climate change. In addition to extreme drought, an increase in heavy rainfall events and floods is to be expected. Protection strategies are needed to keep the associated damage to a minimum.

The Marchfeld region can be characterized as intensively used agricultural production zone. Vegetables, cereals and maize are dominant crops in the region.

Optimization of the water balance in urban areas (multifunctional root space; abbreviated MuFuWu; from German multifunktionaler Wurzelraum).

Most recently, denitrification in groundwater was only assumed to be an average differential value for determining the national nitrogen budget without knowledge of regional differences. Further studies are required to gain a better understanding of denitrification potential.

Soil water balance monitoring sites were established on the Parndorf Plateau to determine the nitrate contamination of groundwater under local conventional and organic management.

Potatoes are one of the most erosion-prone crops in Austrian agriculture. Innovative optimization techniques in seedbed preparation, such as the transverse dam, help to reduce soil erosion during heavy precipitation events.

The effects of climate change are clearly noticeable and scientifically measurable in urban areas in Austria and the Czech Republic. Extreme weather events are on the increase and pose ever new challenges for the population. Planting can reduce the heat. The Plants4Cooling project focusses on the cooling effect of plantings on the local microclimate.

The main aim of the project RIBUST (RIparian BUffer STrip) is to analyse the effectivity of grassed filter strips to retain nutrients (especially phosphorus) and which factors are contributing the most to nutrient retention and release processes. Other research questions are to which extent buffer strips are already saturated with phosphorus in Lower Austria and if they could switch from nutrient sinks to sources.

For the municipality of Fernitz-Mellach, the existing slope water map of the municipality will be optimized within the framework of the pilot project Retention Soils Southeast Styria in order to gain better insights into the potential of the concept "retention soils".

As part of the European Joint Programme Soil project from the European Union, the SCALE project will evaluate concepts of improved landscape management in terms of connectivity of agricultural catchments for different European regions. The project is endowed with € 1.75 million.

The ErosAT project aims at a national calculation of soil erosion with regional data and local significance. In particular, the effectiveness of different erosion control measures in the Austrian program for environmentally friendly agriculture (ÖPUL) is to be evaluated.