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Environment - Life Sciences - 27.10.2020

Shifts in Flowering Phases of Plants Due to Reduced Insect Density
It still sounds unlikely today, but declines in insect numbers could well make it a frequent occurrence in the future: fields full of flowers, but not a bee in sight. A research group of the University of Jena and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) has discovered that insects have a decisive influence on the biodiversity and flowering phases of plants.

Environment - Life Sciences - 27.10.2020

On the way to fish-friendly hydropower
EU project "FIThydro" studies environmental impact of hydroelectric power plants In the Europe-wide project "FIThydro" coordinated by the Technical University of Munich (TUM), researchers worked with industrial partners to study existing hydroelectric power plants. Based on their results, they have developed new assessment methods and technologies such as a fish population hazard index, fish migration simulations and an open-access decision support tool for power plant planning.

Life Sciences - Environment - 26.10.2020

A molecular break for root growth
Length of plant roots is controlled by hormones The dynamic change in root growth of plants plays an important role in their adjustment to soil conditions. Depending on the location, nutrients or moisture can be found in higher or lower soil layers. This is why, depending on the situation, a short or a long root is advantageous.

Environment - 21.10.2020

Vanilla cultivation under trees promotes pest regulation
Research team led by University of Göttingen investigates agroforestry systems in Madagascar The cultivation of vanilla in Madagascar provides a good income for small-holder farmers, but without trees and bushes the plantations can lack biodiversity. Agricultural ecologists from the University of Göttingen, in cooperation with colleagues from the University in Antananarivo (Madagascar), have investigated the interaction between prey and their predators in these cultivated areas.

Environment - 21.10.2020

Humanity Has Consumed More Energy since 1950 than in the Past 12,000 Years
An international research team is investigating human energy consumption over the last millennia - and has even determined a new geological epoch No 197/2020 from Oct 21, 2020 Researchers from many different countries - including paleontologist Professor Reinhold Leinfelder from Freie Universität Berlin - have joined forces to investigate how humanity's ecological footprint has developed over the millennia.

Social Sciences - Environment - 19.10.2020

High social and ecological standards for chocolate
Research team including agroecologists from Göttingen University study conditions in Peruvian cocoa agroforestry systems Worldwide demand for food from the tropics that meets higher environmental and social standards has risen sharply in recent years. Consumers often have to make ethically questionable decisions: products may be available to the global market through child labour, starvation wages or environmental destruction.

Environment - 14.10.2020

More diversity needed in oil palm plantations
Scientists from the University of Göttingen call for meaningful support for smallholder farmers in Indonesia The growing global demand for palm oil has led to a rapid spread of oil palm monoculture plantations in South East Asia. This is often associated with the loss of natural habitat and biodiversity.

Environment - 09.10.2020

Researching ecosystems from the air
It looks absolutely idyllic, watching the Heck cattle and Konik horses grazing in the meadows in the Emsaue wet meadows near the village of Vadrup. This pasture landscape, covering an area of 33 hectares and used all year round, lies in the Emsaue nature conservation area and was set up in 2004 as part of the implementation of the plan to protect the wet meadows by the River Ems.

Environment - Life Sciences - 07.10.2020

Are there hydroelectric power plants that are fish-friendly?
Complex investigation of new hydropower plants Modern hydroelectric power plants do not always protect fish better than conventional ones. In addition to the technologies employed, the specific location of the plant and the fish species being present at that location also play a role in fish protection.

Environment - 06.10.2020

A New Look at Soil Health: How Healthy Is Our Soil?
An International Research Team Partnered with Freie Universität Berlin Analyzes Current Research on "Soil Health" No 185/2020 from Oct 06, 2020 Soil experts and ecologists, including Freie Universität Berlin biologist Professor Matthias Rillig, have been analyzing the current state of research on soil health in a new study.

Environment - 28.09.2020

Artificial Intellegence Can Help Protect Orchids
Orchids may be decorative, but many orchid species are also threatened by land conversion and illegal harvesting. However, only a fraction of those species are included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, because assessments require a lot of time, resources and expertise. A new approach, an automated assessment developed under the lead of biodiversity researchers from Central Germany, now shows that almost 30 per cent of all orchid species are possibly threatened.

Environment - 28.09.2020

Hand pollination, not agrochemicals, increases cocoa yield and farmer income
Agroecologists from Göttingen University compare pesticides, fertilisers, manual pollination and farming costs in Indonesia Cocoa is in great demand on the world market, but there are many different ways to increase production. A research team from the University of Göttingen has now investigated the relative importance of the use of pesticides, fertilisers and manual pollination in a well replicated field trial in Indonesian agroforestry systems.

Life Sciences - Environment - 23.09.2020

Genome Duplications as Evolutionary Adaptation Strategy
Genome duplications play a major role in the development of forms and structures of plant organisms and their changes across long periods of evolution. Heidelberg University biologists under the direction of Marcus Koch made this discovery in their research of the Brassicaceae family. To determine the scope of the different variations over 30 million years, they analysed all 4,000 species of this plant family and investigated at the genus level their morphological diversity with respect to all their characteristic traits.

Environment - 22.09.2020

Ecologists confirm Alan Turing’s theory for Australian fairy circles
International research team led by Göttingen University shows patterned vegetation regenerates by -ecosystem engineering- of the grasses Fairy circles are one of nature's greatest enigmas and most visually stunning phenomena. An international research team led by the University of Göttingen has now, for the first time, collected detailed data to show that Alan Turing's model explains the striking vegetation patterns of the Australian fairy circles.

Environment - 15.09.2020

Reforestation can only partially restore tropical soils
Research team from Göttingen and the USA investigates subsoil in deforested forest areas Tropical forest soils play a crucial role in providing vital ecosystem functions. They provide nutrients for plants, store carbon and regulate greenhouse gases, as well as storing and filtering water, and protection against erosion.

Environment - 14.09.2020

Satellite images display changes in the condition of European forests
Newly created map indicates openings in the European forest canopy The forest canopy (the closed vegetation cover consisting of treetops) is rapidly declining according to a research team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna.

Environment - 10.09.2020

Bumblebees benefit from faba bean cultivation
Research team led by the University of Göttingen investigates influence of -greening measures- on pollinators About one third of the payments received by farmers are linked to specific -greening measures- to promote biodiversity. The cultivation of nitrogen-fixing legumes is very popular. However, these measures have been criticized because the benefits for biodiversity are unclear.

Environment - 09.09.2020

Downward Trend Is Reversible
Ambitious, integrated action combining conservation and restoration efforts with a transformation of the food system. This is the recipe for turning the tide of biodiversity loss by 2050 or earlier, a new study led by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) with participation of researchers from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) suggests.

Environment - 08.09.2020

Consequences of the 2018 summer drought
Research team with participation from Göttingen University investigates effects on plants, forests and grassland The drought that hit central and northern Europe in summer 2018 had serious effects on crops, forests and grasslands. Researchers from the European Research Infrastructure Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS), including researchers from the University of Göttingen, are showing what effects this had and what lessons can be learned.

Environment - 27.08.2020

Land use change leads to increased flooding in Indonesia
International team led by Göttingen University investigates effects on local water cycle While high greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss are often associated with rapid land-use change in Indonesia, impacts on local water cycles have been largely overlooked. Researchers from the University of Göttingen, IPB University in Bogor and BMKG in Jakarta have now published a new study on this issue.