news

International research team investigates pollination performance in macadamia plantations To reduce biodiversity loss in agricultural landscapes, more sustainable and environmentally friendly agricultural practices are needed. A research team from the Universities of Göttingen and Hohenheim in Germany, and Venda in South Africa, investigated how ecosystem services such as pollination could be improved in macadamia plantations.

International research team including Göttingen University investigates extent of drainage and conversion The drainage of natural wetlands has been useful for farming, forestry and peat extraction, but has also had a major impact on greenhouse gas emissions, flood control, nutrient loss and biodiversity.

International team led by Göttingen University compares agroforestry with conventional cultivation "Alley cropping- is the agricultural practice of planting rows - or alleys - of trees in fields of crops. According to a new study by an international, multidisciplinary research team led by the University of Göttingen, this type of land use rapidly leads to significant ecosystem improvements in farmland.

Agroecologists from Göttingen University study their socio-ecological importance in South America In the western Amazon region, cacao has been cultivated since prehistoric times and the area is a valuable resource for genetic diversity of cacao plants. There is growing interest here in switching cultivation from high-yielding but mostly low-quality cacao to indigenous cacao varieties that produce chocolate with particularly fine flavours.

Researchers at Göttingen University develop new method for X-ray colour imaging A research team at the University of Göttingen has developed a new method to produce X-ray images in colour. In the past, the only way to determine the chemical composition of a sample and the position of its components using X-ray fluorescence analysis was to focus the X-rays and scan the whole sample.

Researchers at Göttingen University investigate attractiveness of wheat-bean crop mixtures for pollinating insects There are often too few flowering plants in agricultural landscapes, which is one reason for the decline of pollinating insects. Researchers at the University of Göttingen have now investigated how a mixture of crops of faba beans (broad beans) and wheat affects the number of pollinating insects.

Research team analyses oxygen isotopes in 550 million-year-old samples Several billion years ago, the oceans were probably not as hot as often assumed, but were instead at much more moderate temperatures. This is the conclusion of a research team from the University of Göttingen and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), Potsdam.

Researchers including Göttingen University analyse resources, demographics and disruption in energy transition Research led by University of Queensland (UQ) and including the University of Göttingen analysed the effects of decarbonisation strategies by linking global resource inventories with demographic systems to generate a matrix showing the risks and benefits.

Research team from the University of Göttingen demonstrates widespread drought stress in copper beech More and more trees are suffering the consequences of the man-made climate change of recent decades. The growth of the copper beech - mainly at home in Central Europe and Germany's most important native forest tree species - has so far declined mainly in southern Europe.

Research team at the University of Göttingen finds widespread drought stress in European beech More and more trees are suffering the consequences of decades of man-made climate change. The growth of the European beech has so far suffered decline mainly in southern Europe. European beech is Germany's most important native forest tree species and it is most commonly found in Central Europe.

New methods for conservation management of wild bees on calcareous grasslands investigated . Relatively little is known about the nesting requirements of ground-nesting wild bees, although nesting sites are of central importance for the support of most wild bee species. Of the nearly 600 wild bee species in Germany, 75 percent nest in the soil, but studies to date have mainly focused on wild bee species nesting above ground in cavities.

Göttingen researchers investigate ways to improve conservation management of wild bees on calcareous grasslands Relatively little is known about the nesting requirements of ground-nesting wild bees, although nesting sites are of central importance for most wild bee species. There are almost 600 wild bee species in Germany and 75 per cent nest in the soil.

International research team led by Göttingen University use advanced machine learning to model biodiversity Why are there more plant species in some places than in others? Why is diversity highest in the tropics? What is the connection between biodiversity and environmental conditions? To help answer these questions, an international team led by researchers at the University of Göttingen has reconstructed the distribution of plant diversity around the world and made high-resolution predictions of where and how many plant species there are.

Göttingen University geobiologist discovers diversity of patterns in 240 million-year-old seashells UV light makes it possible to see intricate structures of fossils that are barely visible in normal daylight. This method has often been used on the fossilised seashells from the Earth's current geological era to reveal patterns of colour that had long since faded away.

The asteroid Ryugu probably formed at the outer edge of the solar system beyond the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. This conclusion is suggested by high-precision measurements that determine the ratio of different iron isotopes in rock samples from Ryugu. An international research group with participation of the Göttingen MPI for Solar System Research (MPS) and the University of Göttingen reports these results in the journal Science Advances .

Researchers led by Göttingen University show that plant water stress not termites causes mysterious circles Scientists have puzzled over the origin of Namibia's fairy circles for nearly half a century. It boiled down to two main theories: either termites were responsible, or plants were somehow self-organizing.

Researchers led by Göttingen University use earthquake sensors to track magnitude and velocity of 2021 summer flood Rapidly evolving floods are a major and growing hazard worldwide. Currently, their onset and evolution is hard to identify using existing systems. However, seismic sensors already in place to detect earthquakes could be a solution to this problem.

Research team led by Göttingen University identify DNA -hotspots- that tell zebrafish to change sex in warmer waters. Environment leaves its mark on genome through DNA methylation. In many species, such as zebrafish, sex is partly or completely determined by the environment. Genes can predispose to a particular sex but may be -overruled- by the influence of the environment, for example temperature or population density.

Research team led by the Universities of Göttingen and Würzburg highlights importance of critical animal species Without insects, there would be no cacao - a much-desired raw material for the food industry. Insects ensure that the flowers are pollinated and that the cacao fruits develop. In addition, birds and bats contribute significantly to increasing the crop yield.

Research team investigates reactivity of single molecules under controlled conditions Researchers around the world are working to develop efficient materials to convert CO2 into usable chemical substances. This is especially important in light of global warming. A team from the University of Göttingen and the Ulsan National Institute for Science, South Korea, has found a promising approach: Catalytically active molecules are anchored to a surface that serves as a conductive electron supplier.