Bayreuth biologist PD Dr. Andreas Hemp has discovered a previously unknown orchid species of the genus Rhipidoglossum in northeastern Tanzania. Together with his British colleague Dr. Phil Cribb from the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, London, he has scientifically described it in the journal "Kew Bulletin". The new species was named Rhipidoglossum pareense, in keeping with its location in the South Pare Mountains.
Alternative proteins are now considered essential components of a sustainable, safe, and equitable diet. The Good Food Institute (GFI) is a global NGO that aims to advance the research, production, use and marketing of such proteins. The University of Bayreuth has recently become a member of the GFI’s Alt Protein Project. Alexandra Molitorisová, Federica Ronchetti and Alessandro Monaco, research associates in the Food Law research group, are leading the new "Bayreuth-Kulmbach Alt Protein Project".
After studying financial management at Coburg University of Applied Sciences, Melkamu Taye is now writing his doctoral thesis on how to develop efficient agricultural markets in poor countries.
The disruptions in global trading markets resulting from the war in Ukraine, among other causes, have focused public attention on the issue of securing a sufficient supply of high-quality foods for the global population. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) are searching for modern methods to boost global harvests and thus to ensure global food security. Wheat plays a special role in these efforts.
Composting plants process biowaste into finished compost, which ends up as fertiliser in the soils of fields. A study by the University of Bayreuth shows that finished compost from composting plants in Germany contains a large number of biodegradable plastic particles. Applicable legal and certification standards are not violated by the sizes and quantities of the particles detected. However, the data published in "Scientific Reports" call into question the contribution of these standards to effective environmental protection. They draw into question whether biodegradable plastics are suitable for replacing conventional plastics in environmentally and nutritionally sensitive areas.
Proteins control and organize almost every aspect of life. The totality of all proteins in a living organism, a tissue or a cell is called the proteome. Using mass spectrometry, researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) characterize the proteome, or protein complement of the genome, in important model organisms. In 2014, a team at the Chair of Proteomics and Bioanalytics reported a draft human proteome for the first time, followed by that of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana in 2020, and now that of the most common laboratory mouse.
Nitrogenous fertilisers are necessary to feed a growing world population. The sustainable production of industrially usable nitrogen, especially for fertiliser production, is consequently the focus of the German Research Foundation priority programme "Nitroconversion" (SPP 2370). The coordinator of the programme is the Bayreuth physical chemist Prof. Dr. Roland Marschall. The University of Bayreuth is also home to two of eleven research projects that the DFG has selected for funding. The DFG will initially fund the two projects and the coordination of the programme for three years with a total of around 1.5 million euros.
Living conditions for forests at high elevations have changed significantly in recent decades as a result of climate change. In many mountain regions, they have become more favorable above the tree line than in lower-lying forested areas. Nevertheless, climate change has not yet led to forests adapting directly to this change and shifting to higher regions. This is confirmed by a new biogeographical study of the University of Bayreuth using the example of the Mediterranean island of Crete. The scientists present their research results in the journal "Forest Ecosystems". They warn of the possible consequences.
The nature park "Franconian Switzerland - Franconian Jura" is a biodiversity hotspot in Germany and exceptionally rich in habitats that are part of the EU's Natura 2000 network of protected habitats. The biodiversity is particularly high here in the pine forests that grow on the dolomite bedrock of the Northern Franconian Jura. A new study by the University of Bayreuth shows that the area of the Northern Franconian Jura covered by these forests has declined by more than 75 percent since 1990, and by as much as about 99 percent since 1950. In the journal "Biodiversity and Conservation", the scientists explain this dramatic loss of a valuable biodiversity resource.
Sparse data often make it difficult to track how climate change is affecting populations of insect species. A new study by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) has now evaluated an extensive species mapping database (Artenschutzkartierung, ASK) organized by the Bavarian State Office for the Environment (LfU) and assessed the population trends of butterflies, dragonflies and grasshoppers in Bavaria since 1980. The main finding: heat-loving species have been increasing.
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