Biodiversity Exploratories

👇 Key insights:
• Eukaryotic bacterivores & Bdellovibrionota decline in subsoils
• Myxococcota show no depth-related drop
• Prey bacteria & predators often sync seasonally
• Seasonal effects vary by site, organism & depth

🧬 #Metatranscriptomic data suggest predatory #bacteria may dominate subsoils.

🦠 Curious about who eats whom in #grassland #soils? New BE-study on the dynamics of #bacterivores across depths & seasons!

🔗 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

🌐 #SoilEcology #MicrobialEcology

BE20: Meet our next confirmed keynote speaker: Prof. Dr. Richard Bardgett @lancasteruni.bsky.social, UK. 🌱
He investigates how belowground biodiversity regulates ecosystem processes and responds to global environmental change.🌍

Stay tuned for more #BE20conference (Berlin, 8–12 June 2026!) updates!

The next confirmed keynote speaker for the BE20 Conference is Prof. Dr. Rachael Winfree from the USA ! 🌿🐝
She researches wild bees and their vital role in healthy ecosystems, offering key insights for pollinator conservation. 💡

FMI: www.biodiversity-exploratories.de/de/be20/

#BE20conference

Exploring the future of the Hainich-Dün landscape: Together we discussed how nature, people, and regional traditions can thrive. Thanks to all participants for the inspiring dialogue! 💚
@isoe-institut.bsky.social @sgn.one @unikassel.bsky.social @unipotsdam.bsky.social @leuphana.bsky.social

We’re thrilled to introduce the next confirmed Keynote Speaker Prof. Dr. Andrew Gonzalez from Canada! 🌿🌎

A pioneer in evolutionary rescue, advancing global biodiversity conservation. 🔬💡

Stay tuned for more #BE20conference keynotes — June 8–12, 2026, in Berlin! ✨

#bexplo #conservation

Our next confirmed Keynote Speaker: Prof. Dr. @Helmut Hillebrand (@hillebr1.bsky.social) from Germany! 🌊
His research highlights the vital role of ocean health in sustaining planetary and marine ecosystem stability. 🌍🔬

Stay tuned for more #BE20conference keynotes — June 8–12, 2026, in Berlin! ✨

We’re excited to announce the next confirmed keynote speaker:
Tim Newbold (@tnewbold31.bsky.social, @ucl.ac.uk )
He researches global biodiversity patterns and the effects of climate and land-use change on ecosystems.🌍🐝

Stay tuned for more #BE20conference Keynote Speakers.

#bexplo #conservation

Out today in PNAS: Mobile species' responses to surrounding land use generate trade-offs and synergies among nature's contributions to people" www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2505401122 by Sophie O'Brien et al.

#BE20Conference first confirmed keynotes!

Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Borer (USA)
Borer will share insights on ecological diversity & sustainable landscapes 🌱

Over the next weeks, we’ll introduce BE20 keynote speakers.
📅 June 8–12, 2025, Berlin — celebrating 20 years of Biodiversity Exploratories

#bexplo

📢 New BE-publication out about StrataSeq – a workflow to optimise #DNA reference database generation for hard-to-identify taxa!
👉 Improving #biodiversity monitoring across taxa & habitats. 🌐

🔔 Reminder: #BE20Conference 2026 🔔
Here’s the latest news!

📅 Registration and Call for Abstracts open this November – mark your calendars!

✨Some keynote speakers are already confirmed – check them out on our website: www.biodiversity-exploratories.de/en/be20/

📢 Please help spread the news!

@dan-rie.bsky.social

Preparations for our new #deadwood experiment BEClimWood are in full swing! 🌳
The experiment explores how land use & #climate factors shape #biodiversity around deadwood.

Our local management team is hard at work—moving stones (one weighed 28.5 kg!) to set up the logs at the Hainich Exploratory. 💪

New BE study explores how canopy gaps & #deadwood shape #forest soundscapes, focusing on biophony (animal) & geophony (natural abiotic sounds).🌲🎧 Machine learning shows: deadwood boosts biophony, gaps geophony & soundscape analysis can effectively monitor biodiversity.

🔗 doi.org/10.1016/j.fo... 🌐

Habitat and land‐use intensity shape moth community structure across temperate forest and grassland This study reveals how land-use intensity, plant diversity, weather and artificial light interact to shape moth diversity across forests and grasslands. Using 300 plots across Germany, we highlight h...

🌿🦋 Interested in how #land-use intensity shapes #moth communities? Check out this BE-paper in @animalecology.bsky.social
🌳 #Forests host higher abundance & diversity than grasslands. 🌡️Temperature is a key factor. It's all a complex interplay of habitat , LUI and weather.
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/1365... 🌐

📢Check out our latest BE-publication on #invertebrate 🐞abundance in #grasslands 🌱 published in @basicapplecol.bsky.social.

Reducing land use (single late #mowing) increased #insects by +41% after 1 yr and +99% after 3 yrs.
Species diversity, however, remained unchanged.

🔗 doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...

Last week our infrastructure teams gathered in the Exploratory Schwäbische Alb for the annual meeting – sharing ideas and shaping future steps of the Exploratories. Great to connect, exchange, and build visions together! 🤝

📷 L. Marian

#bexplo #Teamwork #Research #SwabianAlb

👉 Interested in joining our #Bexplo Synthesis Team?
Apply now – the deadline is October 25!
🔗 www.reassembly.de/the-team/job...

MicGeo team on the DBG conference 2025 in #Tübingen.

Talk given by Nils Volles.

Mechanisms of Methane Sink Recovery in Grasslands

@zalf.bsky.social @dfg.de @bexplo.bsky.social #Methanotrophs

Trade-offs with other goals exist, but joint optimization across multiple goals helps minimize them. 🌍
Regional strategies are essential.
Our study shows: multi-goal, cost-effective management is both ecologically & economically viable.

Using data from the #BExplo, the study optimized management for plants & butterflies 🦋 in 2 regions.
👉 With only 30% of the budget, up to 80% of the maximum achievable in the ecological optimizations can be reached - if cost-effectiveness is prioritized.

📢New BE-paper out on cost-effective #conservation of multiple goals in #grasslands.

🔗 doi.org/10.1016/j.bi...

Permanent grasslands are key for #biodiversity but face rising threats. Traditional #conservation looked at species counts, but resilience, #ecosystem services & interactions matter too. 🌐

🌱 New paper highlights how #BExplo & #BioDivKultur advance grassland research through collaboration, interdisciplinarity & transdisciplinarity. Conserving #grasslands is a shared societal task - requiring long-term, inclusive efforts across #science, #policy & practice. 🌐

🔗 doi.org/10.1002/glr2...

🍄 How does land use shape the world of #fungi beneath our feet?
📣 New BE-study: #Land-use intensity (LUI) affects soil fungal communities – but #forests 🌳 show more resilient fungal diversity, while #grasslands 🌱 are more sensitive to management.
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/1462...

📢Save the Date!👩‍🔬
Join us in Berlin, June 8–12, 2026 for the #BE20 Conference:
“Emerging Topics in Long-Term and Large-Scale Biodiversity Research” 🦋🌱🌳

📍 Langenbeck-Virchow-Haus, Berlin
🎉 Celebrating 20 years of the #Biodiversity Exploratories!

Please RT and share this news!

#Research #Conference

🌳Making forests accessible for all!
With #Nationalpark Hainich we supported an inclusive field trip for students with and without mobility challenges.
Thanks to rangers, volunteers & off-road wheelchairs (Joelette), everyone could experience the forest and its #biodiversity up close. 🌲♿

📷 S. Pompe

First report of phoretic deutonymphs of Thyreophagus corticalis (Michael, 1885) (Acari: Acaridae) on Ixodes ricinus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Ixodida: Ixodidae) Phoretic deutonymphs of Thyreophagus corticalis (Michael, 1885) were found associated with a male and nymphs of Ixodes ricinus during a sampling condu…

First record of Thyreophagus corticalis deutonymphs phoretic on Ixodes ricinus in Germany (found in our exploratory Schwäbische Alb). Rare, geographically restricted occurrence; likely incidental contact at sites with established mite populations.
🔗Read more: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🌐

🎋 Mikado in the field? Not quite!
In May, ~ 600 bamboo sticks were used as multiple #research projects investigated our experimental plots in the Hainich-Dün Exploratory.
It may look like a game, but it's all about precise planning and coordination!

📷 S. Pompe, M. Rubenbauer
#BExplo #Fieldwork

Context‐dependent relationships between genomic traits and plant performance in temperate grasslands Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Chongyi's paper from the biodiversity exploratories (@bexplo.bsky.social‬) is finally out ! How do genomic traits interact with community ecology?

Antropogenic

havoc. Communities shake.

Genomes grow and break.

doi.org/10.1111/1365...