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Environment - 13.11.2024 - Today
Diverse and diverging demands on forests in Germany
Research team analyse biodiversity, ecosystems and economics of enriching beech forests with conifers Forests provide biodiversity, ecosystem functions, income and much more. How can these diverse and seemingly diverging demands be met? An international research team led by the University of Göttingen addressed this question by analysing the effects of enriching beech forests in Germany with commercially valuable native (to mountainous regions of Europe) and non-native conifer species, in this case, the Norway spruce and Douglas fir, respectively.
Environment - Chemistry - 13.11.2024 - Today
Pollutants in shipping: researchers recommend stricter regulations
New study on the toxicity of hydrocarbons The international maritime shipping industry contributes to air pollution, particularly in coastal areas and port cities. The 'International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships' regulates, among other things, air pollution from shipping and sets limits for the sulphur content in fuels.
Environment - 06.11.2024
Making ’Stressed’ Potatoes Climate-Resilient
A research alliance is studying how future potato cultures could be adapted to handle climate change Heat, dry spells and flooding-the whole of nature is under stress, and potatoes are no exception. As a food staple, there is particular interest in getting potatoes fit for the new climate reality. As part of the EU's four-year ADAPT project, an international team led by the University of Vienna and involving the University of Bonn has now investigated how this might be done.
Environment - Agronomy / Food Science - 05.11.2024
Animal teamwork: Bees, bats and birds work together to promote macadamia production
International research team investigates sustainable increase in macadamia nut production An international research team led by the Universities of Göttingen and Hohenheim has gained new insights into how the interaction between bees, bats and birds significantly increases the quantity and quality of macadamia nuts.
Environment - Agronomy / Food Science - 05.11.2024
Birds, bees and bats working together means more macadamia nuts
International research team finds pollinators and predators promote profitable, sustainable farming An international research team led by the universities of Göttingen and Hohenheim in Germany has gained new insights into how the interaction of birds, bees and bats significantly increases the quantity and quality of macadamia nuts.
Agronomy / Food Science - Environment - 31.10.2024
How ’stressed’ potatoes become climate fit
Research network investigates how future potato varieties can be adapted to climate change Heat, drought and flooding - nature is under stress, and so is the potato. As a staple food, there is a particular interest in making potatoes climate-ready. An international team led by the University of Vienna and with the participation of the University of Bonn has now investigated how this can be achieved in the four-year EU project ADAPT.
Environment - 30.10.2024
Islands are key to protecting plant biodiversity
International research team finds that islands are home to around one in three of world's plant species From Tasmania to Madagascar to New Guinea, islands make up just over five per cent of Earth's land. Yet, a study led by Macquarie University, Australia, and Göttingen University, Germany, reveals that islands are home to over 31 per cent of the world's plant species.
Environment - 30.10.2024
The changing climate could increase mobility of toxic metals in soils
The changes scientists expect in the climate could cause the toxic metals naturally occurring in soils to become more mobile, destabilize ecosystems and increasingly enter the human food chain via agriculture. Such scenarios are particularly likely to occur in slightly acidic soils, which make up around two thirds of all soils.
Environment - 24.10.2024
More resources needed to protect birds in Germany
Citizen scientists enable Göttingen researchers to analyse effectiveness of protected areas Member states of the European Union are obliged to designate Special Protection Areas (SPAs) as part of the Natura 2000 network. These areas are designed to guarantee the preservation and restoration of bird populations.
Environment - 21.10.2024
Plant Guard Cells can Count Environmental Stimuli
Plants adapt their water consumption to environmental conditions by counting and calculating environmental stimuli with their guard cells. Plant researchers from Würzburg report this in 'Current Biology'. Plants control their water consumption via adjustable pores (stomata), which are formed from pairs of guard cells.
Environment - 17.10.2024
Biodiversity change amidst disappearing human traditions
Life Sciences - Environment - 15.10.2024
Animal life beneath the seafloor
Scientists discover worms and snails in cavities and caves around hydrothermal vents Scientists discovered significant numbers of animals living in cavities and caves below the deep-sea seafloor, some growing up to half a meter of length. The discovery, which underlines how many secrets still hide in the inaccessible deep sea and how important it is to protect this ecosystem, was aided by the support of data scientists André Luiz de Oliveira from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology.
Environment - 11.10.2024
Nitrogen pollution drives forest plants west
Climate change not main driver of shift in distribution of European forest plants The movement of plant species across Europe has mainly been attributed to climate change. However, a new study shows that other environmental factors play an important role. An international research team led by the University of Ghent, with the participation of the University of Göttingen, examined the biodiversity of forests in relation to climate change and the input of nitrogen and sulphur.
Environment - 10.10.2024
European forest plants are migrating westwards
New research reveals nitrogen deposition, and to a lesser extent climate change, unexpectedly as the key driver behind surprising westward shifts in the distribution of plants. These are the results of a study published in the journal Science, in which three researchers from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) were involved, among them Professor Dr Markus Bernhardt-Römermann from the University of Jena.
Environment - 09.10.2024
Light Pollution Disturbs Moths Even in the Dark
Light pollution is more serious than expected: Moths not only lose their orientation directly under street lamps. Their flight behaviour is also disturbed outside the cone of light. The increasing use of artificial light at night is one of the most dramatic man-made changes on earth. Streetlights and illuminated buildings are significantly changing the environment for nocturnal animals.
Life Sciences - Environment - 30.09.2024
Symbiotic interactions in marine algae
In a recent study, researchers from the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz IPHT) and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena have shown how they can investigate the growth and interactions of the green algae "Ulva" and its bacterial community non-invasively and non-destructively using Raman spectroscopy.
Environment - 27.09.2024
More CO2 in the atmosphere during El Niño
A recent study challenges previous assumptions about the connection between CO2 in the atmosphere and temperatures in the tropics. Between 1959 and 2011, the CO2 content in the atmosphere responded twice as strongly to temperatures in the tropics than before. This has often been attributed to increasing droughts in the tropics and to changes in carbon cycle responses caused by climate change.
Life Sciences - Environment - 23.09.2024
When darkness never falls
Artificial light at night changes the behavior of fish, even into the next generation Scientists have shown that light pollution-especially light in the blue spectrum-can alter the behavior of fish after only a few nights, and have knock-on effects for their offspring. The team studied how female zebrafish responded after being exposed to artificial light at night, which is considered to be the main source of the world's light pollution.
Environment - Chemistry - 23.09.2024
Heavy Metal Pollution, Herbicide, Microplastics: Anthropogenic Factors in Soil Ecosystems Have Greater Impact the More Dissimilar and Numerous They Are
Researchers from Freie Universität Berlin examine the effects of multiple, co-acting global change factors on soil biota and functions in new "Nature Communications" study A research team from Freie Universität Berlin has discovered that soil properties are severely impacted when subjected to a large number of different environmental stressors.
Environment - 20.09.2024
Megadiverse flowering plant family on isolated islands
International research team find highest speciation in Asteraceae family on oceanic islands Asteraceae, a family of flowering plants which includes daisies, sunflowers and asters, are the most diverse group of flowering plants in the world. This plant family comprises around 34,000 species, some of which are well-known, such as artichokes, chamomile, dahlias and lettuce.