In tropical mountains, the number of insects declines with increasing altitude. This intensifies in high altitudes competition between plant species that specialize in catching insects as an important source of nutrients. How creatively some of these plant species have reacted to this situation is shown by an international research team with Prof. Dr. Gerhard Gebauer from the University of Bayreuth in the "Annals of Botany": In mountain regions on Borneo, some species of the pitcher plant Nepenthes have changed their diet: With their traps, which originally served to capture insects, they catch the excrement of mammals and are thus even better supplied with nutrients than before.
The University of Bayreuth is contributing its expertise in additive manufacturing to a major European project: The EU is funding the Hybrid ElectriC regional Aircraft distribution Technologies (Hecate) project with more than 34 million euros, which aims to make aviation more environmentally friendly. The Chair of Environmental Production Technology at the University of Bayreuth is responsible for sustainable components in the project.
Mapping trees, finding heat islands: Research drones offer many new options for small-scale observation of the environment.
Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) see major potential for the expansion of deep geothermal energy in Bavaria. In its Geothermal Energy Master Plan analysis the research group Geothermal-Alliance Bavaria looks at possibilities for providing geologically disadvantaged regions in the State of Bavaria with sustainable district heating using long-distance heat transport. This is the first time that the technical potential of the hydrothermal geothermal energy in southern Bavaria has been analyzed. The study was commissioned by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy, which recently published the report.
The distribution of microplastics and nanoplastics in the environment, the potential of human exposure and particle uptake, and the absorption of these particles into tissues are topics that are being intensively researched worldwide. An international research group of the EU project "PlasticsFatE" under the leadership of Prof. Dr Christian Laforsch at the University of Bayreuth has evaluated international research literature on these issues. The results presented in the journal "NanoImpact" show: Concerning the risks for humans, the evidence is less certain than the broad spectrum of publications might suggest.
Nature in city environs has a positive effect on people's well-being. At the same time biological diversity in urban areas continues to shrink, for example because of increasing building density. In the "Ecolopes" project, researchers led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) are searching for specific solutions which will make it possible to create green infrastructure with a higher degree of biological diversity in urban areas.
Dr. Martin Löder, environmental researcher at the University of Bayreuth, has been featured as "Highly cited researcher 2022" by the U.S. company Clarivate. This is shown by the ranking "Highly cited researchers 2022" published by the US company Clarivate. The internationally renowned ranking identifies those researchers whose scientific publications from the period 2011 to 2021 are cited most frequently to date. The Bayreuth scientist is a member of the Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER) and the DFG Collaborative Research Center "Microplastics" at the University of Bayreuth. Here he has been teaching and researching at the Chair of Animal Ecology I since 2014.
Numerous plastics are principally biodegradable, but are only degraded very slowly in the open air, wastewater, or composting plants. Known enzymes with the ability to degrade plastics could solve this problem. To do so, however, they must be able to withstand high temperatures. An interdisciplinary team from the Collaborative Research Center "Microplastics" at the University of Bayreuth has now presented new methods in the journal "Biomacromolecules" that are a crucial prerequisite for protecting enzymes from high heat. If enzymes are thermally stable, they can be added to biodegradable plastics during production and later accelerate natural degradation.
The German Research Foundation (DFG) will again fund the Collaborative Research Center 1357 "Microplastics" at the University of Bayreuth with approximately 13 million euros over the next four years. Established in 2019, the CRC investigates the increasing contamination of the environment by plastics worldwide and develops innovative solutions to counteract the resulting ecological, health and economic dangers. The close linking of interdisciplinary basic research with problem-related application research will enable well-founded risk assessments and further strengthen the transfer of knowledge to the public.
If Germany is to achieve the UN Climate Change Conference’s target of reducing CO₂ emissions to limit global warming to 2 °C, the expansion of renewable energy is necessary. But which areas are suitable for wind turbines and solar parks and what are the economic, ecological, and social conditions and conflicts that accompany such locations? This is the focus of a new research project in geography funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) at the University of Augsburg.
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