Universität Bonn

Faculty of Agricultural, Nutritional and Engineering Sciences

14. August 2024

Research in High-Tech Climate Chambers Research in High-Tech Climate Chambers

Simulating future growing conditions for the future of our food supply

How will crops grow in the future under the aggravated conditions of climate change? Future research projects at the University of Bonn will use the new climate chamber greenhouse, in which temperature, humidity and light can be regulated for experiments with the highest precision. This new 656 square-meter climate chamber-greenhouse complex, which was built at the Faculty of Agriculture, has now been inaugurated and will be used by researchers from several faculties.

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Plants are significantly influenced by temperature. Each type of crop has a temperature range in which it thrives optimally, wheat for example between 10 and 25 °C, whereas corn is more heat-tolerant. If the optimum temperature is not maintained, there is a loss of quality and yield. In addition to risks such as plant diseases and harmful organisms as a result of temperature changes, drought, heavy rain, hail and storms are becoming increasingly common, affecting plants and agricultural production. Agriculture must prepare for this.

For this adaptation process, scientists are researching the genetic and physiological processes of corn, barley, wheat, rice, sugar beet, potatoes and tomatoes in order to produce “climate-fit” crop varieties. This requires precise and reproducible growing conditions in climate chambers through the exact regulation of temperature, humidity, air circulation, light intensity and light quality. With the new greenhouses and climate chambers, all of this is now available at the University of Bonn, for example on UV stress or climate change. The new climate chambers make it possible to conduct experiments to see how future conditions are likely to affect plants: an experimental facility for high-class research.

The crops are pre-grown in glass greenhouse cabins and then planted in one of the climate chambers. A sustainable energy concept, consisting of an energy screen and heat recovery, ensures that the waste heat from the climate chambers can be used to heat the greenhouses.

“This climate chamber complex is another important step forward for transdisciplinary research at the entire University of Bonn. I think this is great and would like to thank everyone in the Faculty of Agriculture and in other parts of our university who have made this possible,” declares the Rector of the University of Bonn, Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Michael Hoch.

 


 

... to press release of the University of Bonn:

www.uni-bonn.de | 15.08.2024

 

... more on this topic:

www.wdr.de | 14.08.2024 [DE]

www.ga.de | 14.08.2024 [DE]

www.kabinett-online.de | 09.08.2024 [DE]

  


 

Adjustable parameters for lighting, humidity and temperature allow special environmental conditions to be simulated, which can be used to research the growth of plants.
Adjustable parameters for lighting, humidity and temperature allow special environmental conditions to be simulated, which can be used to research the growth of plants. © Volker Lannert | Uni Bonn
Pre-growing for the climate chamber
Pre-growing for the climate chamber © Volker Lannert | Uni Bonn
Moving to the climate chamber
Moving to the climate chamber © Volker Lannert | Uni Bonn
Create climate conditions
Create climate conditions © Volker Lannert | Uni Bonn
Monitor growth
Monitor growth © Volker Lannert | Uni Bonn
Check conditions
Check conditions © Volker Lannert | Uni Bonn
View growth in the climate chamber
View growth in the climate chamber © Volker Lannert | Uni Bonn
Opening of the climate chamber
Opening of the climate chamber - Planning participants (left to right): Prof. Dr. Frank Hochholdinger; Dr. Birgit Hoegen, Dean’s office; Dr. Christa Lankes, Service Platform for Plant Experiments; Dr.-Ing. Burkhard von Elsner, expert for horticultural technology © Volker Lannert | Uni Bonn
Welcome by Dean Heiko Schoof
Welcome by Dean Heiko Schoof © Volker Lannert | Uni Bonn
Dean Heiko Schoof and Rector Michael Hoch in conversation
Dean Heiko Schoof and Rector Michael Hoch in conversation © Volker Lannert | Uni Bonn
Astonished visitors on the guided tour through the climate chambers
Astonished visitors on the guided tour through the climate chambers © Volker Lannert | Uni Bonn

 

The Core Facility offers researchers 12 state-of-the-art climate chambers, ten for the safety standard S1 and two for the safety standard S2; this ensures a high degree of flexibility and safety in the realization of the experiments. The Core Facility “Climate Chambers” is operated within the Bonn Technology Campus (BTC) by the Service Platform for Plant Experiments, an organizational unit of the Faculty of Agriculture.

Contact DLP office:
Dr. Alina Klaus
klaus@uni-bonn.de

Further information on the climate chambers

 

The climate chamber-greenhouse complex was jointly funded with a total of around seven million euros by the University of Bonn, the Bau- und Liegenschaftsbetrieb NRW, the German Research Foundation (DFG) as part of a large-scale equipment application, and the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.

 

Prof. Dr. Heiko Schoof
Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Bonn
E-Mail: fakultaetsmanagement@lwf.uni-bonn.de

Prof. Dr. Frank Hochholdinger
INRES - Crop Functional Genomics
E-Mail: hochholdinger@uni-bonn.de

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