Sustainable agriculture is a key concept for scientists, researchers, and agricultural engineers alike.
This book focuses on results of  the FAM- project (Munich Research Network on Agroeco-systems) of the 1990s as a means to assessing, forecasting, and evaluating changes in the agroecosystems that are necessary for agricultural sustainability. The management of two separate management systems: an organic and an integrated farming system are described to provide an interdisciplinary approach Changes of matter fluxes in soils, changes of trace gas fluxes from soils, precision farming in a small scale heterogen landscape, influence of management changes on flora and fauna, as well as the development of agroecosystem models, the assessment of soil variability and the changes in nutrient status are important aspects of this book.

• Contains detailed results and insight of a long-time project on agricultural sustainability
• Provides an interdisciplinary approach for comprehensive understanding by scientists and researcher of soil, plants, agriculture, and environment
• Includes an international perspective

Natural and agro-ecosystems are frequently exposed to natural or synthetic substances, which, while they have no direct nutritional value or significance in metabolism, may negatively affect plant functioning. These, xenobiotics, may originate from both natural (fires, volcano eruptions, soil or rock erosion, biodegradation) and anthropogenic (air and soil pollution, herbicides) sources. And, while affected plants have only a limited number of possibilities for avoiding accumulation of these compounds, they do exhibit several enzymatic reactions for detoxification including oxidation, reduction, hydrolysis and conjugation reactions. In agro-ecosystems in particular these mechanisms have great significance in relation to herbicide detoxification and tolerance. In this volume an international group of experts present an overview of the nature and distribution of organic xenobiotics, including their uptake, effects on plant functioning and detoxification mechanisms. The particular significance of glutathione S-transferases in bio-indication and bio-monitoring, and in the detoxification of volatile organic air pollutants and herbicides is evaluated, and their potential significance in phytoremediation and bioaccumulation will be discussed. This volume will be of interest to a wide audience, from graduate students to senior researchers in a wide range of disciplines including plant ecology, plant biochemistry, agriculture and environmental management. It will also be of practical interest to environmentalists, policy makers and resource managers.

Vol. 63(1), Januar 2008

Das Bild zeigt eine Aufnahme mit dem konfokalen Laserscanningmikroskop: Gerstenwurzeln inokuliert mit Listeria ivanovii nach zweiwöchiger Inkubation. Die Listerien wurden mittels in situ Hybridisierung durch die Sonden EUB-338-mix-Cy5 (blau) und Lis-1255-Cy3 (rot) markiert und sind deshalb magenta gefärbt (Mischung aus blau und rot). Aus Kutter S., Hartmann A., und Schmid M. (2006) FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 56: 262-271

Eine Team von Wissenschaftlern der Abteilung Mikroben-Pflanzen Interaktionen, des Instituts für Biomathematik und Biometrie und der Universität Bonn erhält  den Erwin-Schrödinger-Preis 2007 für herausragende interdisziplinäre Kooperation.
Foto: ganz rechts der Präsident der Helmholtz Gemeinschaft, Jürgen Mlynek, v. r. n. l. die Preisträger M. Rothballer, A. Hartmann, C. Kuttler, B. Hense, J. Kreft und J. Müller bei der Preisverleihung anlässlich der Helmholtz Jahrestagung in Berlin