Research

CircularFoods has set itself the goal of making the best possible use of regionally available food residues and producing new high-quality products from such residues. In a circular approach, CircularFoods aims to obtain high-quality protein components from various residual materials, investigate the effects on possible subsequent biogas production, and develop innovative liquid biofertilizers, new growing media (peat substitutes) and fertilizer pellets from the fermentation residues (possibly in a mixture with other residual material fractions). The best possible cascading use should contribute to a significant increase in the added value of food residues and, in line with the Austrian circular economy strategy, to maximum material use in combination with possible biogas production (not the focus of research in this project). The use of energy-efficient processes and research into optimal carbon utilization via the cascading approach should lay the foundation for the long-term vision of a climate-positive food cycle.

Winter dormancy is a recurring period of suspended development and reproduction, allowing insects to survive harsh conditions. It may occur as an immediate response to adverse conditions (quiescence), or as diapause, a more complex and dynamic process. Facultative diapause is triggered by specific environmental cues that precede unfavourable conditions, typically by decreasing photoperiod. Obligate diapause is genetically fixed, independent of environmental conditions. Winter dormancy is associated with reduced activities and metabolic adjustments. The oligophagous, koinobiont endoparasitic wasp Glyptapanteles liparidis is a key natural enemy of the spongy moth, Lymantria dispar, a major defoliating pest in oak forests. Despite of a long history of research in this parasitoid-host-system, the overwintering biology of G. liparidis is still poorly understood. Eggs or first instar wasp larvae overwinter inside a caterpillar host. Since the univoltine spongy moth passes the winter months inside the egg, the multivoltine G. liparidis is dependent on alternative lepidopteran hosts that overwinter as larvae. A possible overwintering host is Lasiocampa quercus, a common species in oak forests with a wide ecological amplitude. The moth passes the winter months as early or intermediate instar larva; however, their overwintering biology has not been studied sufficiently. Our goal is to investigate the overwintering strategy of the parasitic wasp and its potential overwintering host, and whether the system might also be susceptible to asynchronicity due to changing environmental conditions. We will characterize and compare the induction, duration, and depth of winter dormancy in G. liparidis and L. quercus in laboratory and semi-field trails. Specifically, various day lengths and temperature combinations will be used in different phases of the life cycle of host and parasitic wasp. Parasitized hosts will be dissected at specific intervals to determine the developmental progress of the wasp larvae inside the host. Metabolic changes such as food consumption and feces production, oxygen consumption, the ability to supercool, and specific metabolites such as glycogen, trehalose, polyols, amino acids, and proteins will be assessed.

Raising awareness and modelling the forest fire danger are essential aspects of preventive measures for an integrated forest fire management. In Austria, there are currently only a few initiatives for rising awareness about the current fire danger and platforms that support the modelling. The Institute of Silviculture is currently running the prototype of an integrated system for forest fire risk assessment (waldbrand.at) and the only forest fire blog (fireblog.boku.ac.at). These two established platforms require constant support and further development. Within the scope of this project, measures are therefore to be taken to ensure the functionality and performance, conduct necessary updates and bug fixes as well as ensure the security of both platforms. Additionally new functionalities should be implemented and a higher media outreach should be achieved through cooperations with different target groups and communication channels. The platforms should be used as an expert tool for forest fire danger assessment, bundle existing knowledge on forest fires and serve as an effective communication channel in close cooperation with ongoing forest fire projects.