The Bayreuth plant ecologists Prof Dr Steven Higgins and Dr Timo Conradi argue in favour of interpreting the coming climatic changes from the perspective of plants in order to better assess the risks of climate change for ecosystems. If information on the physiological reactions of plant species to changing temperatures, soil water content and atmospheric CO2 concentrations is taken into account, the consequences of climate change for ecosystems can be better predicted. They report this in a recent article in the scientific journal "Nature Ecology & Evolution".
A pioneering development enables the targeted replication of the chemical structure of low-density polyethylene (LDPE), a plastic that has been difficult to imitate until now, and shows great potential for sustainable alternatives in the plastics industry. Prof. Dr Rhett Kempe, Chair of Inorganic Chemistry II - Catalyst Design, Sustainable Chemistry Centre, at the University of Bayreuth, and his interdisciplinary research team have presented this material in a recent publication in the journal "Advanced Science".
In view of the pressing challenges posed by global environmental crises, skills shortages, rising energy prices and financial pressure in the healthcare sector, the University of Bayreuth and several partners are initiating the joint project 'Planetary Health - Curriculum for Sustainable Healthcare Facilities'. The project aims to enable the integration of climate resilience and sustainability in all areas of healthcare.
The influence of humans is causing originally diverse ecosystems around the world to to become increasingly similar. Scientists in an international research collaboration have uncovered this phenomenon, with their findings recently published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.
The German Research Foundation (DFG) and the British Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) are providing a total of EUR 880,000 to fund research into scientific poetry in Britain and Germany from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment. The joint project between the universities of Marburg, York, Bayreuth and Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, focusses on the poetic communication of natural philosophical knowledge from fields such as geology, astronomy, and botany.
In an innovative approach to controlling ultrashort laser flashes, researchers from the Universities of Bayreuth and Konstanz are using soliton physics and two pulse combs within a single laser. The method has the potential to drastically speed up and simplify laser applications. The results of the research have now been published in Science Advances.
An international research team including a Bayreuth scientist and her research group has investigated the links between extreme drought, biodiversity and production losses on a global scale. With the help of a worldwide experiment at 100 locations on six continents, they have identified Biodiversity in grassland is an effective protection against crop failure during droughts. The study has now been published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The colour of dragonfly communities reacts to seasonal variation in solar radiation. Over the last 30 years, however, this colour pattern has changed – probably as a result of climate change.
Whether spider silk is stronger and tougher depends on the environmental influences to which it is exposed. Prof Dr Thomas Scheibel, Chair of Biomaterials at the University of Bayreuth, and his team have now published a study in which they show that spider webs are particularly robust in areas of heavy rainfall. They are now presenting the results of the study with 50 spider species in the journal Current Biology.
With the participation of the Bayreuth ecologist Prof. Dr. Manuel Steinbauer, an international team of researchers found that humans have so far wiped out over 1,400 bird species. The team has thus documented the largest human-caused vertebrate extinction in history. The impact on the ongoing biodiversity crisis cannot yet be predicted.
