Category Archives: PSC Science-Policy Fellowship

Land Use Change, PSC Science-Policy Fellowship

Landscape Diversity Begets Landscape Functioning -Relevance for policy implementation

Leave a comment

Response Doctoral Program

It is that range of biodiversity that we must care for – the whole thing – rather than just one or two stars. – David Attenborough

When we think about ecological diversity, our minds often jump to different species of plants and animals. But what if there is more to this story? Diversity extends beyond genes, plants, and animals—it is also about the variety of ecosystems in the landscapes around us (Fig. 1). Imagine a patchwork quilt of croplands, forests, grasslands, wetlands and meadows. Could this mosaic be the key to a healthier, more resilient environment? Do these diverse ecosystems, working together, contribute to the overall balance of our landscapes on a grander scale?

Figure 1: Suggested hierarchy of ecological systems as nested component units. Each level of ecological organization can feature diversity e.g. genetic diversity in individuals, species diversity in communities, community diversity in ecosystems  and ecosystem type diversity in landscapes (Credits: Mayor et al., 2023)

Recently, researchers have started to explore the role that landscape diversity plays in the broader functioning of our environment. While the question is challenging, the answer is crucial for shaping policies that guide how we plan and manage landscapes in the long term. For example, think about zoning maps. These tools dictate how land is used, and they could greatly benefit from insights into how different ecosystems interact and support each other. To make a real impact, it is essential to connect academic research with political decision-making. By doing so, we can ensure that our understanding of landscape diversity goes beyond the theoretical, and has practical, real-world applications that benefit society as a whole.

Simon Landauer, is a PhD student in the Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies at the University of Zurich, as well as a RESPONSE fellow in the PhD program Science and Policy. He tackles this challenge by using satellite remote-sensed imagery of land covers derived every year for fifteen years for around 50’000 rectangular plots of 500m by 500m distributed on the North American continent. From this data, he calculates the number of different land covers in each plot, and correlates it with ecosystem functioning, which he operationalizes as the productivity of vegetation for each land cover type in a plot. Then, he determines positive and negative effects of diversity across all plots.

Figure 2: Graphical abstract of Simon’s research project. Study Area: Investigated region in North America, where different colors represent various biogeographic regions, where the superimposed rectangular grid further subdivides them into smaller units (so called “blocks”). Example: Shows a block in orange (bottom) with investigated plots therein, holding a different number of distinct land-cover types. Zoomed in on one plot, the different land-cover types (e.g. forest and cropland) are visible with the respective functioning of each land cover type area. The functioning is estimated greenness of vegetation (NDVI-normalized difference vegetation index) derived from satellite imagery. Insights: Simplified results of project, showing an average increase in landscape functioning with land cover type richness. (Credits: Simon Landauer)

Key research findings

Simon has identified that landscapes with mixed land cover type show higher vegetation productivity, compared to landscapes with a single land cover type. Analysis of the mechanistic underpinnings of these associations indicate that they are driven by two processes. On the one hand, positive complementarity is at play, whereby land cover types in a landscape complement each other and benefit on average from the mixture, bringing about enhanced vegetation productivity. And on the other hand, negative selection is a significant process, whereby those land covers that are generally less productive, for instance shrublands, benefit more from the presence of diverse land covers in the landscape. Interestingly, these patterns are comparable to results from traditional biodiversity research experiments at smaller spatial scales in grasslands. Simon further identified that productive land cover types supported local productivity, while the type thereof differed by location. These results further hint towards the presence of a so-called spatial insurance in diverse landscapes.

Stakeholder engagement at the science-policy interface

Simon acknowledges the importance of identifying and aligning interests of governmental and organizational entities to ensure that these findings of landscape diversity are contextualized for local policy in Switzerland. Therefore, he organized a stakeholder meeting of those engaged at the science-policy interface at the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT). This meeting in Bern was attended by the Head of Sustainability Research, the Head of the forum Landscapes, Alps, Parks, and Simon’s research partner organization at the Swiss Biodiversity Forum.

The stakeholders identified the Landscape Quality Assessment Unit of the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) as an essential entity for matters of landscape diversity in Switzerland. Similar to other European countries, Switzerland has witnessed a continuing trend in land consolidation with re-adjustment and industrialization of agricultural land parcels. Consequently, special interest is given to a time series analysis of landscape diversity and the effects of such a process of homogenization. This is also visible in the Areal Statistik – a re-occurring sampling approach-based land use map of Switzerland. Identifying and measuring effects of landscape diversity at a large scale is therefore, likely, of particular interest to landscape quality assessing institutions such as FOEN as well as the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL).

Insights from the stakeholder meeting

Stakeholders acknowledged an increasing awareness of the idea of landscape diversity (Table 1), although political action in this regard is deemed to be still lacking. The trend of landscapes with a single land cover, i.e. monetization, is still predominant and spreading, despite being contradictory to the growing desire for sustainable diversification of landscapes. Despite being a fundamental issue affecting society, there is little bottom-up interest for landscape diversity. This may be due to the difficulty to assess short-term, direct effects of diverse landscapes on everyday life. Simon also emphasizes that this stakeholder exchange indicated that science and politics are often more closely connected than it appears. Further, he highlighted the value in seeking dialogue to discuss and align interests that can create effective outcomes for society.

Table 1: Relevance of potential insights from landscape-diversity-functioning research for different stakeholders. The table represents interests of different actors from the domains: government (GOV), research (RES), organization (ORG).

Simon Landauer is a fellow of the RESPONSE Doctoral Program (DP) «RESPONSE – to society and policy needs through plant, food and energy sciences» funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No 847585.

This article is co-authored by Simon Landauer and Mary Ann George (University of Zurich, RESPONSE Program office assistant).

Featured Image credits: Hendrik Wulf (2024). The featured image titled “WunderTundra” won the 2nd prize under category “Locations and instruments” in the MNF Science Photo Contest 2024. Image description: “This false-color Landsat 8 image shows the North Siberian tundra along the Indigirka River. In addition to the meandering river, this landscape features several lakes (pink and yellow) next to grasslands and shrubs (green and blue). The vivid colors and patterns of the image reveal the beauty and diversity of the almost untouched tundra landscape in summer.”

Biodiversity, PSC Science-Policy Fellowship

Landscape Diversity Begets Landscape Functioning -Relevance for policy implementation

Leave a comment

Response Doctoral Program

It is that range of biodiversity that we must care for – the whole thing – rather than just one or two stars. – David Attenborough

When we think about ecological diversity, our minds often jump to different species of plants and animals. But what if there is more to this story? Diversity extends beyond genes, plants, and animals—it is also about the variety of ecosystems in the landscapes around us (Fig. 1). Imagine a patchwork quilt of croplands, forests, grasslands, wetlands and meadows. Could this mosaic be the key to a healthier, more resilient environment? Do these diverse ecosystems, working together, contribute to the overall balance of our landscapes on a grander scale?

Continue reading Landscape Diversity Begets Landscape Functioning -Relevance for policy implementation →
Climate change, PSC Science-Policy Fellowship

Securing one apple a day in a changing climate

Leave a comment

Response Doctoral Program

Apple orchards across many parts of the world are under stress due to a rapidly-changing climate characterized by more frequent and intense extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts and episodes of spring frost. Despite being the most produced fruit in Europe, can apples withstand the changing environmental conditions that accompany climate change? What have local farmers done so far and what should they do in the future to adapt to these changing circumstances? Laurent Giguère, is a PhD student at ETH Zurich, as well as a RESPONSE fellow in the PhD program Science and Policy. He sought to answer these questions using mixed methods involving econometric modelling, index-based hazard assessment as well as both quantitative and qualitative surveying.

Continue reading Securing one apple a day in a changing climate →
Climate change, PSC Science-Policy Fellowship

Securing one apple a day in a changing climate

Leave a comment

Response Doctoral Program

Apple orchards across many parts of the world are under stress due to a rapidly-changing climate characterized by more frequent and intense extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts and episodes of spring frost. Despite being the most produced fruit in Europe, can apples withstand the changing environmental conditions that accompany climate change? What have local farmers done so far and what should they do in the future to adapt to these changing circumstances? Laurent Giguère, is a PhD student at ETH Zurich, as well as a RESPONSE fellow in the PhD program Science and Policy. He sought to answer these questions using mixed methods involving econometric modelling, index-based hazard assessment as well as both quantitative and qualitative surveying.

Future apple yields will suffer from higher summer temperatures
He applied this approach to 32 French apple-growing departments from the years 1989 to 2020 to analyze how climate change has so far affected apple yields, and the extent to which production systems could adapt to its effects. On the one hand, apple production systems have performed well at harnessing the benefits of rising spring temperatures. Meanwhile, they have not adapted as well to increasing temperatures in the summer, especially in early summer, when the apple fruit is most sensitive to heat stress. As a result, past changes in climate have already caused yield losses in the southern French departments surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. Given the current adaptation capacity of production systems, a total of 11 departments are expected to undergo yield losses as a consequence of increasing heat stress by 2050. These conclusions are in spite of the widespread use of irrigation in the departments studied. Hence, new strategies to adapt to the consequences of climate change, such as canopy architecture allowing for natural shading of apple trees and the introduction of heat-tolerant apple varieties in orchards, will likely be needed in the future.

Figure 1: Expected change in apple yield at the department level in France from 2020 until 2050 given current adaptation capacity (source: Giguère et al. (in review))

The type and level of climate hazard faced by apple growers will depend on greenhouse gas concentrations
Laurent also conducted finer-scale analyses in Switzerland to understand the evolution of climate hazards to apple production systems while considering the biophysical vulnerability of these systems, such as water availability for irrigation and soil characteristics. The results indicate decreases in spring frost hazard and increases in heat, and to a lesser extent, drought hazard across all Swiss apple-growing regions over the coming decades. Under a intermediate-emissions scenario (RCP 4.5; climate change scenario in the future with 4.5 W/m2 of radiative forcing given projections of greenhouse gas concentrations), by the mid-21st century, these trends could lead to summer heat becoming the dominant source of hazard in Valais and in the area surrounding Lake Geneva. On the other hand, in north-eastern growing areas such as Lake Constance, spring frost should remain the most important factor of climate hazard. Conversely, if a high-emissions scenario (RCP 8.5; climate change scenario in the future with 8.5 W/m2 of radiative forcing given projections of greenhouse gas concentrations) were to come true, extreme heat would become the main climatic hazard in all Swiss apple-growing areas by the end of the century, thereby exposing around 60% of current Swiss apple surfaces to either high or very high climate hazard. 

Figure 2: Dominant source of climate hazard to apple production systems across Swiss apple-producing districts in the mid-term (2045-2074) under a moderate-emissions scenario (RCP 4.5)

“[talking about whether he could picture himself making new investments on his farm to adapt to climate change]…I just don’t see the returns from the industry, which is very, very depressing.” (British apple grower)

Supply chains will need to better support the shift to climate-resilient apple production
Laurent assessed the supply chain environment of apple production to determine its influence on apple grower’s capacity for resilience to climate change. In the process, he also distinguished between the type of resilience favored by growers, namely intrinsic versus extrinsic resilience. Intrinsic resilience refers to a process whereby production systems rely on their internal features such as soil, cultivars grown, biodiversity and the interaction between these to lessen their sensitivity to climate hazards. Meanwhile, extrinsic resilience depends on the incorporation of inputs such as irrigation, fertilizers and pesticides into the system to guarantee stability of production in the face of climate hazard. For this study, Laurent conducted structured surveys as well as semi-structured interviews in Switzerland and Great Britain. His results show that the open market environment in which British growers operate has so far been more conducive to overall climate adaptation, despite the higher level of financial pressure they are subject to compared with their Swiss counterparts. In the vast majority of cases, extrinsic resilience has been favored over intrinsic resilience, a likely sign of the path dependency of the large-scale input-based growing systems that characterize the British fruit sector. Nevertheless, despite being largely industrial, the British apple sector has already seen a significant share of its growers take up adaptation measures tied to intrinsic resilience, like climate-resilient cultivars and rootstocks, which indicates a certain degree of complementarity between input-based adaptation measures like irrigation and more sustainable ones. When it comes to fostering intrinsic climate resilience, the Swiss apple sector only performs better than its British counterpart on one measure – cultivar diversity in the orchards. This has likely been made possible by the more coordinated nature of the Swiss supply chain. However, when combined with the fact that Swiss growers are sheltered from foreign competition through import tariffs, this feature has also created a relatively low-risk business environment which can disincentivize the foresight needed for building long-term climate resilience. The final conclusion that Laurent drew from this comparative case study is that in order for apple growers to invest in building intrinsic climate resilience on their farm, value-based collaborative supply chains are needed in which producers and other food system actors agree on the kind of financial and commercial support needed to encourage the redesign of production systems along agroecological lines. 

Learnings from the secondment
During the secondment, Laurent collaborated with the Schweizer Obstverband (Association of Swiss Fruit Growers, located in Zug), an experience which allowed him to gain insights into the socio-economic realities of fruit-growers in Switzerland and to carry out a structured survey on how Swiss apple growers adapt to climate change. This was of utmost importance to understand how climate change has an impact on the livelihoods of farmers and to put the need to adapt to climate change into the context of the relations apple farmers enjoy with supply chain actors. 

Policy recommendations from these learnings
Laurent calls for policies that support apple farmers in adopting more heat-tolerant varieties and production systems in which apple trees are provided with more shade to effectively manage the negative effects of heat stress. He also emphasizes another need of the hour – to rectify the imbalance in market power between producers and food distributors, so that apple growers receive the necessary economic support to make their orchards more resilient to climate change. 

Laurent Giguère is a fellow of the RESPONSE Doctoral Program (DP) «RESPONSE – to society and policy needs through plant, food and energy sciences» funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No 847585.

This article is co-authored by Laurent Giguère and Mary Ann George (University of Zurich, RESPONSE Program office assistant).

This featured image was created using Leonardo.Ai on 20 August 2024 at 3:27 PM. Text: “A high-contrast, horizontal photograph of a serene apple orchard with lush green grass and vibrant trees, their branches stretching towards the sky, capturing the warm sunlight filtering through the leaves, with a sick and unhealthy apple placed prominently in the foreground, its wrinkled, brown skin and wilted stem standing out against the otherwise idyllic backdrop, the camera’s shallow depth of field blurring the background trees, drawing attention to the lone, afflicted fruit, the image exuding a sense of contrast between the orchard’s natural beauty and the apple’s decay, shot in a naturalistic style with muted earth tones, and a subtle play of light and shadow.”

PSC Science-Policy Fellowship

The Role of Linker Histones in Plant Reproduction and Seed Formation

Leave a comment

Response Doctoral Program

Have you ever marveled at how a tiny seed grows into a towering tree? Seeds are at the foundation of all life, and their quality and yield are inevitably influenced by environmental conditions. Therefore, it is vital to enhance our understanding of how seeds form, such that sufficient yields can be ensured even during adverse conditions.

Seed formation is a complex process that involves the development of seeds from fertilized ovules, ultimately enabling the propagation of plant species. This process is closely tied to germline initiation, which is the initial phase of reproduction where germ cells are established. These germ cells later differentiate into gametes necessary for fertilization. Germline initiation sets the stage for seed formation by ensuring that the genetic material is prepared and ready for the creation of viable seeds. This process encompasses epigenetic changes, regulating gene expression without altering the underlying DNA to ensure proper germ cell development. Linker histones are special proteins that package DNA, and contribute to the process of epigenetic changes during germline initiation in the process of plant reproduction.

Linker Histones and Germline Initiation

Inside a plant cell’s nucleus, DNA is wrapped around histone proteins called nucleosomes, forming a structure that looks like beads on a string, known as chromatin. Chromatin facilitates these long strings to be contained within the small nucleus by packaging long DNA molecules into more compact, denser structures. Linker histones, also called H1, are proteins that bind the DNA between these nucleosomes, helping structure the chromatin and regulate genes.

Linker histone, chromatin and epigenetic changes of chromatin. (Source: Yadav et al., 2018, Célia Baroux)

Female germline initiation involves the development of the spore mother cell, which undergoes meiosis to produce megaspores, ultimately giving rise to female gametophytes and egg cells necessary for fertilization. Research indicates that during germline initiation, linker histones show a transient disappearance in the spore mother cell for a short period, triggering major epigenetic changes.Danli Fei, is a PhD researcher who aims to uncover why linker histones disappear, and its implications for plant reproduction and thereafter, seed yield, in particular for the model plant, Arabidopsis.  She is at the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at the University of Zürich, and she is also a RESPONSE fellow in the PhD program Science and Policy.

How Linker Histone Degradation Triggers Reproductive Cell Formation

Proteins in cells are often regulated by a process called ubiquitination, which tags them for a large protein complex called proteasome found in cells to degrade and recycle damaged or unused proteins. Danli hypothesized that ubiquitination controls the loss of linker histones during germline initiation. Through various molecular and genetic experiments, Danli confirmed that ubiquitination is indeed involved in degrading linker histones. The enzyme responsible for linker histones was identified, and through her research, she pinpointed the specific amino acids of linker histones that get tagged as well. Crucially, Danli’s research has identified that if linker histone degradation is blocked during female germline initiation, plants cannot produce functional gametes, and thereafter, become sterile.

Linker histones transient disappear in the spore mother cell leading to normal seed formation. The linker histone persistence in the spore mother cell leads to sterile seeds. (Source: Fei et al., to be published)

Wide-Reaching Implications for Advancements in Scientific and Practical Domains

Danli’s research has revealed the pivotal role of linker histones in determining the ability of a plant to reproduce. She advises future studies to investigate the role of linker histone ubiquitination in other developmental processes and its specificity. This knowledge has far-reaching implications across various fields, including agriculture and conservation biology, among others. Understanding the role of linker histone ubiquitination and its impact on seed fertility can revolutionize crop development. By leveraging this insight, we can create crop varieties with higher yields and improved fertility through selective breeding techniques. Additionally, it paves the way for producing nutrient-rich crops, addressing malnutrition, and enhancing public health. This knowledge can also help develop plant varieties that are more resilient to environmental stresses such as drought, salinity, and pathogens, ensuring robust reproductive processes even under adverse conditions. In conservation biology, applying this understanding can aid in the successful reproduction and seed formation of endangered plant species, as well as ensure the successful reintroduction of plant species in habitat restoration projects.

Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Research

These findings are a result of combining methods in molecular biology (cloning, genotyping, DNA and RNA work, gene expression analyses), cell biology (tissue fixation and staining, immunolabeling) and microscopy imaging (light microscopy, fluorescence confocal microscopy) to describe chromatin organization at a microscopic and quantitative scale. Moreover, Danli pursued this research by collaborating with a software company, which exposed challenges in adapting image analysis tools for specific scientific needs, underscoring the intricacies of developing algorithms capable of processing complex biological data. This means that high-resolution microscopic images collected using a confocal laser scanning microscope were processed, such as partially or fully projected and three-dimensionally rendered using Imaris software, which revealed challenges given the complexity of the biological data. These insights from her collaborations emphasize the nuanced interactions between fundamental biology and technological innovation, thereby opening new avenues for exploration.

Stakeholder Engagement

As part of her RESPONSE fellowship, Danli organized a stakeholder engagement workshop in Schlieren, Switzerland, in 2022 titled, “How Imaris can help with Plant Science”, which was attended by the engineering team of Bitplane in Switzerland, application specialists, and the sales and marketing team of Bitplane in Switzerland and USA. Imaris is the world’s leading Interactive Microscopy Image Analysis software. During this workshop, Danli presented and discussed publications showcasing how Imaris is used in plant science, as well as communicating about survey and analysis of all plant science publications that had made use of Imaris in the previous 5 years. The aims of the workshop were successfully accomplished, which included highlighting the successful functions of Imaris functions, identifying missing or inappropriate Imaris functions for future improvement and development, and showcasing material for motivating a broader use among plant scientists.

Danli Fei with the Imaris Microscopy Image Analysis Software Engineers, who had attended the Stakeholder Engagement Workshop, at the Botanical Garden in Zurich. (Credit: Danli Fei)

Danli Fei is a fellow of the RESPONSE Doctoral Program (DP) «RESPONSE – to society and policy needs through plant, food and energy sciences» funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No 847585.

This article is co-authored by Danli Fei and Mary Ann George (University of Zurich, RESPONSE Program office assistant).

PSC Science-Policy Fellowship

The Role of Linker Histones in Plant Reproduction and Seed Formation

Leave a comment

Response Doctoral Program

Have you ever marveled at how a tiny seed grows into a towering tree? Seeds are at the foundation of all life, and their quality and yield are inevitably influenced by environmental conditions. Therefore, it is vital to enhance our understanding of how seeds form, such that sufficient yields can be ensured even during adverse conditions.

Continue reading The Role of Linker Histones in Plant Reproduction and Seed Formation →
Land Use Change, PSC Science-Policy Fellowship

Unlocking Forest Restoration Success: DNA traces are Revolutionizing Wildlife Monitoring and Conservation

Leave a comment

Response Doctoral Program

The tropics lost a whopping 4.1 million hectares of primary forests in 2022, equivalent to losing 11 football fields of forest per minute, according to research from the World Resources Institute. Numerous restoration projects worldwide target counteracting these large scales of forest destruction that are causing insurmountable loss of biodiversity. By planting native vegetation as well as by assisting in natural regrowth of vegetation, these projects aim to restore degraded forests back to their flourishing state. These efforts are not just about the trees. They are crucial for the recovery of animal communities too. However, it is unfortunately undermined by the limited data available on the influence of forest loss and regeneration on recovery of faunal species and communities.  

Continue reading Unlocking Forest Restoration Success: DNA traces are Revolutionizing Wildlife Monitoring and Conservation →
Land Use Change, PSC Science-Policy Fellowship

Unlocking Forest Restoration Success: DNA traces are Revolutionizing Wildlife Monitoring and Conservation

Leave a comment

Response Doctoral Program

The tropics lost a whopping 4.1 million hectares of primary forests in 2022, equivalent to losing 11 football fields of forest per minute, according to research from the World Resources Institute. Numerous restoration projects worldwide target counteracting these large scales of forest destruction that are causing insurmountable loss of biodiversity. By planting native vegetation as well as by assisting in natural regrowth of vegetation, these projects aim to restore degraded forests back to their flourishing state. These efforts are not just about the trees. They are crucial for the recovery of animal communities too. However, it is unfortunately undermined by the limited data available on the influence of forest loss and regeneration on recovery of faunal species and communities.  

Continue reading Unlocking Forest Restoration Success: DNA traces are Revolutionizing Wildlife Monitoring and Conservation →
Land Use Change, PSC Science-Policy Fellowship

Charcoal Chronicles: Navigating Environmental Sustainability and Societal Needs in sub-Saharan Africa

Leave a comment

Response Doctoral Program

In the vast expanse of sub-Saharan Africa, trees sustain the timeless tradition of producing charcoal; the very charcoal used to grill food at barbecues. Charcoal is a vital energy source fueling households and industries. Having said that, this seemingly innocuous practice of burning wood in a kiln comes at a hefty price tag. Converting trees to charcoal disrupts the delicate balance of carbon in ecosystems, with consequences that reverberate far beyond the local landscape.

Continue reading Charcoal Chronicles: Navigating Environmental Sustainability and Societal Needs in sub-Saharan Africa →