At a glance: Summary of PhD research

The LUCA matrix provides a brief overview of the ten PhD topics: objective, methodology, study area, data input and output.

Description of the subprojects and the PhD research

SP 1: Water Resources of Central Asian Mountain Areas – relevance for the agriculture in semiarid regions under climate change conditions

In terms of a sustainable development, water resources play an important role in Central Asia. Therefore, high mountains play an important role in the water cycle of arid regions, on whose function we need to focus. Scientific tasks of this project include the knowledge improvement of glacier ablation and retreat, permafrost distribution, investigation of hydrologic relevant parameters of ground ice occurrences, and the winter snow cover.

Principal investigators (PhD supervisors):

• Prof. Dr. Lorenz King  (Institute of Geography, Justus Liebig University Giessen)
• Dr. Ryskul A. Usubaliev (Dep. for Climate, Water and Geoecology, CAIAG, Bishkek)

SP 2: Monitoring dust events in Central Asia and the impact of desertification on land use

Due to global warming, dust and precipitation have severe impacts on agriculture, climate and human health. There is a lack of scientific approaches which focus on the effects that dust and sand storms have on agricultural land. Hence, this study is crucial in order to identify natural risk regions. The proposed research contributes to securing the planning of infrastructure, agriculture and regional economy.

Principal investigators (PhD supervisors):

• Prof. Dr. Christian Opp  (Faculty of Geography, Philipps-University Marburg)
• Dr. Nataliya Vereshagina (Hydrometeorological Research Institute, Department of Environmental Pollution Investigation and Forecasts, NIGMI, Tashkent)

SP 3: Remote sensing and GIS based analysis of landslide occurrence and related land use changes in areas of high landslide activity in Southern Kyrgyzstan

The ongoing continental collision between the Indian and the Eurasian plates represent a tremendous threat in the mountainous areas of Central Asia. Through the development of an integrated multitemporal remote-sensing satellite, the aim of this PhD project is to identify typical spatial and temporal patterns of landslide occurrences as well as land use changes in Southern Kyrgyzstan.

Principal investigators (PhD supervisors):

• Dr. Sigrid Roessner (GFZ Potsdam)
• Dr. Alexander Zubovich (Dep. of Data Management and Technical Infrastructure, CAIAG, Bishkek)

SP 4: Sustainable transition in agriculture - the impact of macroeconomic conditions, water availability, and land degradation on the agricultural sector of Central Asian countries.

Agriculture plays an important role in Central Asia: first, as the producer of food for its population that often depends on subsistence agriculture in poor rural areas, and second, as the producer of export revenues through international trade of cotton and agricultural commodities. The subproject analyses the impact of changes of macroeconomic/ sectoral framework conditions (population growths, labour migration and remittances, trade policy, agricultural policy, exchange rate changes) as well as water availability and land degradation/ reduced soil fertility on the agricultural sector of Tajikistan and Kazakhstan through the application of a partical equilibrium model.

Principal investigators (PhD supervisors):

• Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. P. Michael Schmitz  (Chair of Agricultural and Development Policy, Justus Liebig University Giessen)
• Prof. Dr. Khojamahmad Umarov  (Institute of Economic Studies, Dushanbe)

SP 5: Land use, food and nutrition security – case studies in rural Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan experienced rising poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition as well as serious degradation of natural resources because of the transition to a market oriented economy. In order to analyse the actual socio-economic, nutritional and health situation of the rural population, current detailed information is needed.

Principal investigators (PhD supervisors):

• Prof. Dr. Ingrid-Ute Leonhäuser (Chair of Nutrition Education and Consumer Behaviour, Justus Liebig University Giessen)
• Dr. Galina Stulina  (Scientific Information Center of Interstate Coordination Water Commission, SIC-ICWC, Tashkent)

SP 6: Land use strategies in Central Asia: Cash crops or food crops?

In Central Asia, various land use patterns, with differences in natural and agronomic conditions, exist in farming. Those land use patterns are affected by the government whose direct and indirect agricultural policies are relevant for agricultural incentives towards food crops or export cash crops. The aim of this PhD project is to measure trade costs and to combine it with the measurement of agricultural protection in order to get a more reliable evaluation for food crops versus export crops and land use.

Principal investigators (PhD supervisors):

• Prof. Dr. Roland Herrmann  (Chair of Agricultural and Food Market Analysis, Justus Liebig University Giessen)
• Prof. Dr. Yurii R. Naaber  (Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University, Department of Economy)

SP 7: Grassland phytodiversity in mountainous regions at the patch and landscape scale: Indicator for environmental and socio-economic change

Since the breakdown of the Soviet Union, land use and landscape structure have changed significantly. Non-sustainable current land use caused severe environmental problems and changes in grassland phytodiversity occurred. Therefore, the project aims at providing a consistent GIS-based hierarchical classification of today's landscape patches and furthermore elucidates scale-dependent interrelationships between phytodiversity and land use amongst others.

Principal investigators (PhD supervisors):

• Prof. Dr. Dr. Annette Otte (Chair of Landscape Ecology and Landscape Planning, Justus Liebig University Giessen)
• Prof. Dr. Lev F. Spivak  (Space Research Institute, National Center of Space Researches and Technologies, National Space Agency)

SP 8: Eco-hydrology in a changing environment

Although climate, natural resources and ecosystems in Central Asia are very diverse, land use and its impact on water resources are focal concerns when considering human welfare and sustainable development in the region. The study will take a first step towards an integrated assessment of the environmental and socio-economic drivers of land use and its effect on water quality. Thus, eco-hydrological conditions will be analysed and water quality will be determined.

Principal investigators (PhD supervisors):

• Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Frede (Chair of Resources Management, Justus Liebig University Giessen)
• Prof. Dr. Victor A. Dukhovny (Scientific Information Center of Interstate Coordination Water Commission, SIC-ICWC, Tashkent)

SP 9: Implementation of the Kyoto protocol and post-Kyoto commitments in Kazakhstan: legal implications for land use

Kazakhstan is a party to the Kyoto protocol since 2009 and is an Annex I country which means that it should reduce its green house gas (GHGs) emissions. However, Kazakhstan is the only Annex I country which has no quantified commitments fixed in Annex B of the Kyoto Protocol but has voluntary declared commitments to reduce its GHGs emission. The subproject concentrates on the legal aspects of how Kazakhstan can implement its commitments on GHGs, in particular in the land use, land-use change and forestry sector (LULUCF sector). It also explores possibilities on how participation in voluntary carbon markets can contribute to reduction of GHGs emissions in Kazakhstan through increasing projects on afforestation and reforestation.

• Prof. Dr. Thilo Marauhn  (Faculty of Law,  Justus Liebig University Giessen)
• Vadim Ni (Kazak Scientific Research Institute of Ecology and Climate, Almaty)

SP 10: Sustainable pasture management in Tajikistan: Solving the transition problem of fodder scarcity by a better management of ecosystem services

The agro-pastoral system of Tajikistan has deteriorated. The deterioration has taken place with a considerable simultaneous decline of eco-system services, due to food security reasons in transition. As a consequence, food crops have expanded and fodder availability has decreased. In addition, institutional deficits, scarcity in eco-system recognition and bad management occur. Tajikistan will be used as an example of how to solve fodder problems in transhumance and alpine pasture management which are a generic problem for sedentary and semi-nomad livestock systems in Central Asia.

Principal investigators (PhD supervisors):

• Prof. Dr. Ernst-August Nuppenau  (Chair of Agricultural and Environmental Policy, Justus Liebig University Giessen)

• Dr. Jalil Safarovich Piriev (Tajik Agriculture Economy Institute)