Agro-Environmental Systems (AES) Group

The AES research group investigates the bio-geophysical functioning of Agri-Environmental Systems to better understand and manage the interactions of agriculture and natural resources under increasing societal demands and climate change. Our research underpins assessments related to crop production, agricultural nutrient and water use, and soil carbon management. We focus on robustly up-scaling field based crop models and trials to regional and global level with detailed representations of agricultural management. Combining insights from data and models, and novel representations of management, identification of bio-geophysical production constraints, and explorative research, allows us to identify feasible adaptation and mitigation options with the aim to design Agri-Environmental Systems that are more robust to climate change impacts while producing food more sustainable.

The AES group is using gridded global EPIC and GEPIC models coupled with the most recent and complete information on cropland and crop cultivation currently available globally to simulate global and regional crop production as well as agricultural impacts on the environment. The models are powered by a number of climate change and land-use scenarios, including RCPs, climate models, crop managements and adaptations. The EPIC model is used to describe crop-based supply of food, feed and fiber for economic land-use optimization model GLOBIOM and techno-economic engineering model BeWhere.

AES has recently contributed to various international studies on climate and land-use change, including IMPACT2C and AGRICISTRADE FP7, GROW H2020, ERC Synergy Grant IMBALANCE-P, and the AgMIP/GGCMI and AgMIP Wheat initiatives that bring together an international community of crop modelers for climate impact assessment, model inter-comparison and improvement at the global scale.

Last edited: 02 July 2019