Functional Diversity and Ecology group - Uni Graz

📍 Vienna & online
🗓️ Deadline: 15 Jan 2026

#EGU26 #SoilBiology #BiogeochemicalCycles #EarthSystemScience

🦠🌿 How do cryptogamic and microbial communities shape ecosystem processes?

Session BG3.28 at #EGU26 invites contributions on biodiversity and functional roles of cryptogamic or microbial communities from local to global scales.

📢 Call for abstracts!
Join us at #EGU26 in Vienna & online for session SSS6.3 on Next-Generation Soil Physics. We welcome contributions combining remote sensing, AI, and process-based modeling across scales. 🌍🛰️
🗓️ Abstract deadline: 15 Jan 2026
#EGU26 #RemoteSensing #SoilPhysics #EarthSystemScience

📅 EGU26 | Vienna & online
🗓️ Abstract deadline: 15 Jan 2026
#EGU26 #Drylands #RemoteSensing #Ecology #FieldData

🌿🛰️ Interested in dryland ecosystems?

Session BG9: Dryland Remote Sensing – Applications, Challenges, and Opportunities invites studies on surface component mapping, monitoring, and integrating field & remote sensing data.

Happy to announce that our newest article on "Image-based analysis of long-term biocrust degradation utilising joint energy-based deep learning" got published this week! 🎉📝

Read the whole article here: doi.org/10.1016/j.ec...

The study was conducted by the Nitrogen Working Group and supported by the USGS John Wesley Powell Center, the project was led by Sian-Kou Giesbrecht (Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada).🌿📄

#PNAS #Ecology #Research #Nitrogen #GlobalChange

Overestimated natural biological nitrogen fixation translates to an exaggerated CO2 fertilization effect in Earth system models | PNAS CO2 fertilization of the terrestrial biosphere is limited by nitrogen. Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is the dominant natural nitrogen source t...

Thrilled to share that our study on the role of nitrogen in CO₂ fertilization has been published in PNAS. 🎉

More details here:
Overestimated natural biological nitrogen fixation translates to an exaggerated CO2 fertilization effect in Earth system models | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Out last week for data collection in Unterpremstätten for our functional ecology field course 🌿🔬 Despite the cold weather the students were motivated as ever! Amazing to see classroom theory come to life in the field. 🍃🔍

#UniversityCourse #FunctionalEcology #FieldWork

It supports our recent Nature paper on global terrestrial nitrogen fixation and its modification by agriculture. 🌍🌿
doi.org/10.1038/s415...

#NitrogenFixation #NaturePaper #Agriculture

Under the leadership of Carla Reis Ely (Oregon State University), we just published “A global dataset of terrestrial biological nitrogen fixation” in Scientific Data! 🎉
doi.org/10.1038/s415...

#NitrogenFixation #OpenData

We were very happy to be actively participating in the Symposium on Bacterial Genetics and Ecology, with great talks from Stefanie, Minsu, and Bettina.

#BAGECO2025 #ScienceTalks #Biocrusts

The event was organised by the ÖAW, FFG, the Federal Environment Agency, and the Austrian Soil Science Society.

Thank you for the great talks, workshops and discussions!
#ÖAW #FFG #Umweltbundesamt # Österreichische Bodenkundliche Gesellschaft

Maier presented 'In situ tracking of soil invisibles: Simultaneous monitoring of soil microbes, soil chemicals, and soil gases'.

Pfingstl presented 'BIOMES: The Pillars of Soil – Monitoring and Documenting Arthropod Soil Biodiversity to Assess Soil Quality and Implement Measures for Soil Management and Renaturation'.

The research projects align with the EU mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’, which aims to establish sustainable soil management in urban and rural areas. 🔗 research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/funding/fund...

Soil for everyone — everyone for the soil!

Tobias Pfingstl and Stefanie Maier from the Institute of Biology were invited to present their projects, which are funded by the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), at the Soil Forum's spring conference. 🔗 www.umweltbundesamt.at/bodenforum/f...

Our study, showing how deep learning can be applied to distinguish liverworts of the genus Riccia, has been published! Check it out here: doi.org/10.1016/j.ec...
#NewPublication #DeepLearning #Liverworts

We are extremely happy that our publication 'Biodiversity in mountain soils above the treeline' has been published in Biological Reviews! 🎉 doi:10.1111/brv.70028

#NewPublication #BiologicalReviews #AlpineResearch #SoilBiodiversity #Ecology

Yesterday, Lina, Luciano, and @jannecreve.bsky.social had a successful day in the field, shovelling snow for a climate change experiment near the Großglockner!

#Alpine #Fieldwork #SnowRemoval #ClimateChange #ScienceInAction

News! Open PhD Position on "Biopatinas on Buildings in Urban Environments: Biofilters, CO₂ Sinks, and Cooling Systems with an Aesthetic-Architectural Effect."

diversitaet-oekologie.uni-graz.at/en/news/open...

Great day at Helsinki Day, our PhD symposium at the Institute of Biology - @uni-graz.at!
Our PhD students @philophil89.bsky.social and @jannecreve.bsky.social presented their research, and Janne won Best Talk 🏆! Read more on our newspage: diversitaet-oekologie.uni-graz.at/en/news/hels...

After the talk by @panemma.bsky.social , we enjoyed a great dinner and inspiring discussions! Always great to connect with passionate researchers over good food. 👍

This week, our research group hosted Professor Emma Sayer (@panemma.bsky.social) from the University of Ulm, who shared insights from the Gigante Litter Manipulation Project on tropical tree growth, nutrient cycling, and greenhouse gases. #TropicalForests #Litterfall #Cryptogams #NutrientCycling

We are happy that Lina Clasen, Luciano Silva, and Ruilin Chen joined our team to support our research on microbial communities and their roles in biogeochemical cycling under the effects of global change!🌍

With the next field work, we’re excited to return to this stunning alpine environment - a breath-taking but challenging place to work.
Stay tuned for updates, and feel free to reach out with questions! 👇

#Science #Ecology #ClimateChange #AlpineResearch #Biocrusts #Alps #PhDLife

To answer this, our research group is running warming and snow-removal experiments in the Großglockner in Austria!
This project is led by Bettina together with our PhD student Janne Creve @jannecreve.bsky.social

🌍 Investigating Climate Change Effects on Alpine Biocrusts ❄️🌱
How do alpine biocrusts respond to rising temperatures and changing snow conditions?

If you're new here - welcome! If you followed us from X - thank you for making the move!
Over the next few posts, we’ll introduce ongoing research and our group members behind it.
Stay tuned! 🔬🌱
#Science #Ecology #Microbiology #Biocrust #Cryptogam #ATTO #FunctionalDiversity #NewHere

🌿 Welcome to the Functional Diversity and Ecology Group (AG Bettina Weber) @uni-graz.at Graz on Bluesky! 🎉