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.
Using optogenetics, Würzburg researchers have detected a new acid sensor in plant cells that is addressing a cell-internal calcium store, as they report in the journal "Science".
A DFG research group led by the University of Würzburg has developed a method that makes it possible to analyse the relationship between biodiversity within and between ecosystems and the multifunctionality of entire landscapes.
Better alignment with the market is one of the goals pursued by the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in recent decades. One of the measures used to achieve this was to decouple direct payments from production. Agricultural economists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have now found that this form of direct payments makes farms more productive. Despite higher productivity, the environmental impact remains at a comparable level.
Inspiring children around the globe to learn about soil diversity - that is the aim of an initiative launched by Malte Jochum, an ecologist at the University of Würzburg (JMU).
Plants in which an ion channel of the vacuole is hyperactive are extremely stressed and grow poorly. But the broad bean is an exception, as Würzburg researchers have discovered.
Sharks have existed for millions of years, rarely develop cancer, and react sensitively to ecological changes. An international study led by Würzburg scientists shows that one explanation lies in the fish's genes.
Hop-derived constituents not only increase shelf-life and bitterness of beer, but can also significantly influence aroma. An important hop odorant is linalool, which has a floral and citrus-like scent. Under the leadership of the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich, a team of scientists has now disproved a roughly 20-year-old assumption about this odorant. The new study contributes to a better understanding of changes in beer bouquet during the brewing process and beer aging.
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