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Microbe-assisted vegetation cover to reduce erosion in alpine environments
Glaciers are facing ongoing and fast retreat due to global warming. The receding ice leaves unvegetated surfaces covered by unconsolidated deposits of sediment, so-called moraines. Sediments remobilised during extreme precipitation and flooding events may have negative effects on natural and anthropogenic structures downstream. High vegetation cover serves as effective protection against erosion. This study aims at preventing sediment remobilisation and export from high mountain areas by developing a microbe-assisted vegetation cover for erosion-prone mountain slopes. Our investigation includes field sites in a glacier forefield in Kaunertal, Austria, where vegetation and bacteria sampling as well as erosion measurements are performed.
Studies on crop species demonstrated the growth-promoting abilities of microbes and also their ability to alter plant traits. We adopt this approach in order to exploit beneficial plant-microbe interactions to reduce sediment remobilisation. Our project provides new insights into plant-microbe interactions in natural ecosystems with implications for a nature-based solution to reduce sediment erosion in high mountain areas.
PIs: Sabine Kraushaar, Jan-Christoph Otto, Robert R. Junker
Team: Lisa-Maria Ohler, Stefan Haselberger
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 776681.