Scientists from the University of Regensburg (Germany) and Université de Tours (France) found out how the Cardiocondyla elegans finds her partner
Humans have significantly altered biodiversity in all climate zones of the Earth. This has been shown by a study now published in "Science". Led by Prof. Dr. Manuel Steinbauer at the University of Bayreuth, and Dr. Sandra Nogué at the University of Southampton, an international team has investigated how the flora on 27 islands in different regions has developed over the last 5,000 years. Almost everywhere, the arrival of humans has triggered a markedly accelerated change in species composition in previously pristine ecosystems. This dynamic was particularly pronounced on islands colonised in the last 1,500 years.
During drought, plants use a signalling molecule known from animals to limit their water loss. The molecule provides them with a kind of memory of how dry the day was.
The rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and concurrent climate change has led to yield reductions of grass-rich grassland vegetation in the past century. This observation was made by researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) who, working jointly with colleagues from Rothamsted (U.K.), conducted a study on the world’s oldest permanent ecological experiment there.
The uptake of CO₂ from the air is an essential process of plant photosynthesis. In dry areas, some plants shift this process to the night so that they can keep their stomata closed during the day and thus reduce the evaporation of water. To do this, they possess a special photosynthesis mechanism (Crassulacean acid metabolism, CAM). The extent to which plants use this mechanism for their energy balance depends, in part, on the unpredictability of precipitation. Scientists from the University of Bayreuth, the University of Hohenheim, and Stellenbosch University in South Africa report on this in the journal "New Phytologist".
Will there soon be packaging in the supermarket made with biowaste from local cideries or agricultural film with coffee grounds? At the Institute for Biopolymers and Sustainability at Hof University (ibp) a junior research group wants to explore the influence of natural radiation and biogenic residues on the properties and structure of biopolymers. This could make these bioplastics interesting for a sustainable product economy in the future. Among other things, biowaste from the food industry and forestry is to be used in bioplastic blends and thus fed into a natural reuse.
Sustainable food production in aquacultures entirely without microplastics - that is the long-term goal of a new research project at Hof University of Applied Sciences that will run for two years. The scientists led by project manager Prof. Dr. Manuela Wimmer have now received funding of EUR 220,000 for "BioBioCarrier" from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and as part of the Central Innovation Program for SMEs (ZIM).
With a research project on the chemical analysis of ultrafine particles, the University of Bayreuth is participating in the new project network "BayUFP – Measurement, Characterization and Evaluation of Ultrafine Particles" funded by the Bavarian State Ministry for the Environment and Consumer Protection. The sub-project is headed by Prof. Dr. Anke Nölscher, Junior Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry. The Ministry of the Environment has approved funding totalling around € 635,000 for this over the next three years.
Climate change may challenge organismal responses through not only extreme cues. An uncommon combination of benign cues – warm and short days – can also trigger reactions such as misregulations of leaves.
Changes in climate that occur over short periods of time influence biodiversity. For a realistic assessment of these effects, it is necessary to also consider previous temperature trends going far back into Earth's history. Researchers from the University of Bayreuth and the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg show this in a paper for "Nature Ecology and Evolution". According to the paper, future climate-related species extinction could be less severe than predictions based only on the current trend of global warming. However, the researchers do not give the all-clear. At present, the effects of climate change are being exacerbated by human intervention.
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