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Life Sciences - Environment - 16.05.2022

Chimpanzees combine calls to form numerous vocal sequences
Evidence of structured vocal sequences in wild chimpanzee communication provides insights into human language evolution Compared to the complex use of human language, the way animals communicate with each other appears quite simple. How our language evolved from such a simple system, remains unclear.

Environment - Earth Sciences - 12.05.2022

Algae reveal clues about climate changes over millions of years
Göttingen scientists identify and investigate algae which register sea water temperatures of the warmest months Organisms adjust their cell walls according to environmental conditions such as temperature. Some adaptations involve changes in lipids which may still be preserved long after the rest of the organisms has been degraded.

Environment - 06.05.2022

Tropical dry forests are disappearing rapidly around the globe
Most comprehensive global assessment of deforestation processes in the world's dry forests published in Nature Sustainability Dry tropical forests are important ecosystems, yet these forests are increasingly threatened, a new study discovers. Aninnovative approach to characterize how deforestation took place since 2000 showed that more than 71 million hectares of tropical dry forests were lost, particularly in South America and Asia.

Environment - 04.05.2022

Making the drinking water supply climate-proof
The research network "TrinkXtrem" wants to improve the forecast quality of groundwater models during extreme weather events. [Picture: Pixabay/tvjoern] Ensuring the supply of drinking water during extreme weather events such as a long drought or heavy rainfall - this is the overarching goal of a new research project named TrinkXtrem.

Life Sciences - Environment - 02.05.2022

Sweet spots in the sea
Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology now report that seagrasses release large amounts of sugar, largely in the form of sucrose, into their soils - worldwide more than one million tons of sucrose, enough for 32 billion cans of coke.

Environment - 28.04.2022

Forest plants now flower a week earlier than a century ago
Early-flowering plants in European forests today start their flowering season on average a week earlier than they did a hundred years ago. This is reflected by herbarium specimens, as Dr. Franziska Willems and Professor Oliver Bossdorf from the Institute of Evolution and Ecology at the University of Tübingen, together with Professor J. F.

Environment - History / Archeology - 26.04.2022

Neanderthals of the North
A multidisciplinary research team from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, the Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, the Leuphana University Lüneburg, the Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics and other partner institutions investigated whether Neanderthals were well adapted to life in the cold or preferred more temperate environmental conditions.

Agronomy / Food Science - Environment - 26.04.2022

Meat substitutes: Environment does not motivate consumption
Animal welfare and health aspects, on the other hand, promote the use of meat alternatives People who have a critical attitude toward factory farming or who pay attention to their health in everyday life are more likely to turn to meat substitutes. Concern for the environment, on the other hand, plays no role in this decision.

Environment - Life Sciences - 25.04.2022

When male bees don’t get lucky
04/25/2022 Do pesticides have anything to do with the decline in bee populations? A research team led by the University of Würzburg has investigated - and found a connection between fenbuconazole and the insects' mating behavior. Bees are among the most important pollinators on earth. They pollinate not only plants with beautiful flowers, but also many crops.

Environment - Agronomy / Food Science - 20.04.2022

Bumblebees’ nutrition influences their pesticide resistance
Effects of a common fungicide differ depending on the plant to which it is applied How susceptible bumblebees are to a common fungicide depends on the flowering plants to which it is applied on and how diverse the food supply is that is available to the insects. Monocultures can increase the insects' sensitivity to the fungicide or generally have negative effects on health, growth and fertility.

Environment - Life Sciences - 20.04.2022

Flying into a clean and safe future
In the race to avoid runaway climate change, two renewable energy technologies are being pushed as the solution to powering human societies: wind and solar. But for many years, wind turbines have been on a collision course with wildlife conservation. Birds and other flying animals risk death by impact with the rotor blades of turbines, raising questions about the feasibility of wind as a cornerstone of a global clean energy policy.

Environment - Earth Sciences - 19.04.2022

No glacial fertilization effect in the Antarctic Ocean
International study led by the University of Bonn records 1.5 million years of climate in the drill core Can iron-rich dust fertilize the ocean, stimulate algae growth there, and thereby capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere? An international research team led by the University of Bonn used deep-sea sediment cores from the Scotia Sea to investigate whether this hypothetical greenhouse gas sink had an effect during ice ages.

Environment - Life Sciences - 14.04.2022

Bean cultivation in diverse agricultural landscapes encourages bees and increases yields
Researchers led by the University of Göttingen study bee behaviour and yield development Pollination by insects is essential for the production of many food crops. The occurrence of pollinators such as bees depends on whether nesting sites and sufficient food are available. If these conditions are lacking, the pollinators also fail to appear and the yield of flowering arable crops such as field beans and rape suffers.

Environment - Earth Sciences - 06.04.2022

Streaming water on farmland lowers pollutants in water
Ditches and small streams at the edge of agricultural land contribute significantly to reducing agricultural pollutants in the water cycle. They promote nitrate reduction by microorganisms and thus have an important influence on nitrogen fluxes towards larger rivers and lakes. A research team led by Tillmann Lüders of the University of Bayreuth has now demonstrated this for the first time.

Environment - 05.04.2022

Shaping nature conservation in an integrated, equitable and fair way
International research team including Göttingen University investigates areas of tension and prospects for inclusive approach to management of protected areas New global guidelines for the management of nature increasingly focus on environmental justice and fair and equitable decision-making. As part of the ENVISION project, researchers around the world, including the Universities of Kassel and Göttingen, examined the tensions and prospects in the reform of the management of protected areas, moving towards fair nature conservation management.

Chemistry - Environment - 31.03.2022

A new catalyst for sustainable chemistry
The alpha-olefins, consisting of carbon and hydrogen, are the most important precursors in the chemical industry. Researchers at the University of Bayreuth now present a discovery in the journal "Science" that opens up previously unimagined prospects for the design and the selective as well as sustainable production of these chemical products.

Environment - Life Sciences - 30.03.2022

European earthworms reduce insect populations in North American forests
Researchers recommend taking underappreciated factors for biodiversity loss into account Earthworms introduced into northern North America have a negative impact on the insect fauna above ground. Soil ecologists, led by the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and Leipzig University describe this observation in the journal Biology Letters.

Environment - 22.03.2022

Tropical peatland, sea level rise and climate change
Researchers investigate development of coastal peatland in Indonesia over thousands of years Tropical peatlands are one of the most efficient carbon sinks. The flipside is that they can become massive emitters of carbon if they are damaged, for instance by land use change, degradation or fire. This can lead to faster climate warming.

Environment - Earth Sciences - 18.03.2022

Dramatic warming in the Arctic - HALO-(AC)3 field campaign investigates an alarming phenomenon
In mid-March 2022, the large-scale international HALO-(AC) 3 research campaign will begin investigating transformations of air masses in the Arctic. Three German aircraft will be deployed, scientists from the UK and France will also be involved during joint flights with two further aircraft. The team of researchers will be focusing particularly on northwards-flowing warm air reaching into the central Arctic, which are often called warm air intrusions.

Earth Sciences - Environment - 16.03.2022

In search of pure quartz
A small heap of very fine white quartz sand glistens in the palm of Prof. Ralf Hetzel's hand. The grains of sand allow him to look deep into the past. To be precise, the cosmogenic nuclide Beryllium-10 (10Be) does. Such nuclides are produced by cosmic radiation in solid rock.