Wolfgang Kießling traces Earth’s history through layers of fossils. The data he uncovers together with his team serves to create a reliable database for climate research, opening up opportunities for nature-based conservation solutions.
Biodiversity researchers develop mechanistic simulation models to unravel the processes influencing biodiversity origin, maintenance and dynamics across space and time, from individuals to entire ecosystems.
Scientists at the University of Bayreuth are investigating how extreme weather events affect biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Together with their international partners, they study the local impacts of global climate change.
Although more than half of the world’s rivers have been altered by human activity and climate change, the floodplain ecosystems along the Naryn River in Kyrgyzstan remain largely untouched.
Four of the most important interconnected parts of the Earth's climate system are losing stability. This is shown by an international scientific study based on observational data published in Nature Geoscience. The researchers succeeded in highlighting the warning signals for destabilization of the Greenland Ice Sheet, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), the Amazon rainforest, and the South American monsoon system.
A University of Passau-led project with African scientists shows the extent to which plant communities in the African mountains will be affected by global climate change. The results of the study were published today in the renowned journal Global Change Biology.
The European Research Council (ERC) is awarding four early-career researchers at the University of Bayreuth new ERC Starting Grants, each worth €1.5 million. Their research topics span from sustainability in metal material cycles, to artificial intelligence, polymer science, and high-pressure mineralogy. In addition, Professor Dr. Stephen Mojzsis, a recipient of an ERC Synergy Grant, is joining the University of Bayreuth. He is researching the physical and chemical properties of Earth-like planets in our galaxy.
Lightning has a greater impact on forests than previously thought. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed new model calculations that, for the first time, estimate the global influence of lightning on forest ecosystems. According to their findings, an estimated 320 million trees die each year due to lightning strikes. Tree losses caused by direct lightning-ignited wildfires are not included in these figures. In the future, lightning-induced tree mortality could rise due to an increase in flash frequency.
SNSB and LMU paleontologists identify a new ancient reptile from the Solnhofen limestone slabs. Thanks to a chance discovery: a PhD student recently found the counterpart of the original fossil at the Natural History Museum in London. The research team published their findings in the journal Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
The Cluster of Excellence “From the Origin of the Universe to the First Building Blocks of Life”, ORIGINS Cluster for short, will start its second funding period on 1 January 2026. This was de-cided today by the Excellence Commission under the leadership of the German Research Foun-dation (DFG). The interdisciplinary research network investigates the origin and development of the Universe, from the Big Bang to the emergence of life.
