The Wirth-Weigelt Working Group

Autumn is coming to the Arboretum #ArboFun! The field season is drawing to a close, but the colours are still a work of art at this time of year 🥰 Goodbye summertime! #fieldwork #season #autumn #Biodiversity #Research

A few throwback impressions from this year’s #iDivConference 🌱 Great to see so many contributions from our group - here featuring @lsachsenmaier.bsky.social, Annalena Lenk, and @karlandraczek.bsky.social.
Thanks to everyone who made it such a nice meeting! @idiv-research.bsky.social #Science

Start of our new root shrinkage campaign on 40 herbaceous species, led by Dr. Anvar Sanaei. Excited to see what we’ll uncover! 🌿 #PlantEcology #Research #BelowgroundEcology #LeipzigUniversity

Congrats on the publication! 👏

Rooting for function: community‐level fine‐root traits relate to many ecosystem functions Humans are driving biodiversity change, which also alters community functional traits. However, how changes in the functional traits of the community alter ecosystem functions—especially belowground...

Super excited to see that the last chapter of my PhD on root trait - ecosystem functioning relationships is now published in @newphyt.bsky.social!
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Mid-September a new #BioSmoke campaign in Spain kicked off 🇪🇸. Julia Olbrich collected pyrophyte leaf samples, while Kai Weber (@kai-jwd.bsky.social) ran vegetation surveys and drone-based LiDAR & hyperspectral imaging in a region with high wildfire risk near Albacete (Castilla-La Mancha).

#iDivConference2025 today I present our study co-lead w C Guimaraes-Steinicke. Great work by our student K Wende.
& great collaborators
@agwirthweigelt.bsky.social A Weigelt, S Saxena & A Anwar.

Floral vs veg structure fingerprints from #TLS intensity

#JenaExperiment #Phenology #biodiversity

🌱 iDiv @idiv-research.bsky.social begins a new chapter: core funding is now jointly supported by #Saxony, #SaxonyAnhalt & #Thuringia. Grateful for this strong commitment to #biodiversity #research – proud to be part of this inspiring community shaping the future of #science

💧 Last week, we measured the leaf water potential at the #Auwald #crane - key data for understanding the water status of trees and their responses to drought.

#WaterPotential #Drought #ClimateResponse #Trait #Leipzig #CanopyCrane #Fieldwork

Big thanks to @idiv-research.bsky.social & the Early-Career Women in Science fund for a powerful afternoon: short talks and hands-on learning 🔍💡 Shout-out to our Prof. Dr. Alexandra Weigelt, who was among the contributing speakers!

Writing retreat recap: focused days drafting and revising, laptops, printed pages, evenings of hikes, games, and a campfire/BBQ. What a nice and productive week! 📝 🌲 🔥

Scenes from China, where PhD student Michèle ter Huurne is doing fieldwork with the @treedi.bsky.social project: forests, measurements, and big smiles between long days. Keep it up, Michèle!🌱📷
Photos: Michele ter Huurne #TreeDi #Fieldwork

🌱 #Fieldwork days at The Jena Experiment - @jena-experiment.bsky.social!
Scanning roots with a minirhizotron, tracking seasonal changes & traits, plus plant surveys & soil checks. Led by PhD candidate Srijna Saxena with support from Tom Künne. Can’t wait to see what the data reveal!
#RootTraits

Back in the floodplain forest 🌳
We’re monitoring oak regeneration under different conditions. These seedlings are part of an experiment to better understand forest dynamics in changing environments. #Quercus #Leipzig #Floodplainforest #Oak #Regeneration

📍 Leipzig Auwald

📊 „Faktencheck Artenvielfalt“ is the first comprehensive report to show the actual state of biodiversity in Germany🌿. The full report has now been published in English! 📥Download for free here: www.feda.bio/faktencheck-en. Watch the full video: tinyurl.com/mps5vfhf #Biodiversity #research #factcheck

Very cool to see this coming together! 🌲🔬
Sampling from 12 conifer species at #ARBOfun – part of our trait campaign @idiv-research.bsky.social
We are curious to see what stomata can tell us about drought responses!
#conifers #stomataltraits #fieldtolab

Root shrinkage measurements of 40 #tree species at #ARBOfun completed! We've measured root #shrinkage, to understand #root-soil contact under #drought. The campaign was led by Dr. Anvar Sanaei with great support of our technician Nicole Nabel. Excited to see the results! #RootTraits #PlantScience

I am very proud to share this conceptual work of the #sUnderfoot working group, supported by @idiv-research.bsky.social. We propose a new plant classification based on belowground persistence.

Last week we had our campaign for measuring leaf water potential - at 38°C outside – thank you, #Leipzig #Floodplainforest, for the shade! 🌳💧
#fieldwork #plantphysiology #heatwave #Auwald #Science #leafwaterpotential #AuwaldKran

We‘re excited which insights the campaign will bring! 👀🌿 #ecology #stomata #drought #tree #forest

🌙 We had a great #LongNightOfScience in Leipzig!
Thanks to Annalena Lenk, Mathias Scholz (UFZ) & Stefan Alsheimer (City of Leipzig) for the inspiring Auwald walk & crane tour.
And thanks to everyone who joined us!
#Auwald #ScienceForAll #Leipzig

Come visit us and have a look on our project in the botanical garden for the #longnightofscience in #Leipzig! 🌿🍁🍃 #science #biodiversity #research #fun

🎉 Proud to share that our lab has achieved LEAF Gold Certification for sustainable lab practices!
As part of the NachLabs project, we're committed to reducing environmental impacts in research.
Learn more: www.ucl.ac.uk/sustainable/...
#SustainableScience #LEAF #GreenLab

🌿 Fieldwork – Leipzig, Spring 2025 🌿
Pollen traps in the canopy, soil sensors in the arboretum – and a top team in action!
Huge thanks to Ron, Tom, Lena, Daniel, Melanoie & Anneke – and everyone behind the scenes.
#Fieldwork #Ecology #CanopyCrane #ARBOfun

Functional traits explain growth response to successive hotter droughts across a wide set of common and future tree species in Europe Functional traits can explain significant tree growth reductions in response to the 2018–2020 drought for a wide set of 71 species including angiosperms and gymnosperms. Moreover, four distinct respo...

Proud to share our new study on how functional traits shape 🌳 tree growth responses to consecutive hotter #droughts — led by Dr. Lena Kretz & Dr. Florian Schnabel (@mixedforests.bsky.social).
Read more: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
#Ecology #TreeGrowth #PlantBiology

Many non‐native plant species are threatened in parts of their native range Click on the article title to read more.

New study led by Dr. Ingmar R. Staude: 🌿 Over 25% of #plant species with non-native populations are threatened in their native range — a #conservation paradox calling for smarter, balanced strategies.
🔗 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

🔬 Exciting times in the lab!
We’ve just installed our brand-new Unicube - an elemental analyzer – now being set up and tested.
With it, we’ll be analyzing the carbon-to-nitrogen (C:N) ratio in roots and leaves to better understand plant nutrient dynamics.

Stay tuned for first results! 🌱💡

🌿Time to get green!🌿
The Leipzig Plant Market is coming up:
Spring: May 3 & 4
Autumn: September 20 & 21
At the Botanical Garden @unileipzig.bsky.social
Drop by for plants & more!
#Leipzig #PlantMarket #BotanicalGarden #GardenLovers #PlantAddict
🌿🪴🌼☀️

🌿Grüner wird's nicht!🌿
Der Leipziger Pflanzenmarkt steht vor der Tür:
Frühjahr: 03. & 04. Mai
Herbst: 20. & 21. September
Im Botanischen Garten der Universität Leipzig.
Kommt vorbei und entdeckt Pflanzen & mehr!
www.lw.uni-leipzig.de/botanischer-...

#Leipzig #Pflanzenmarkt #Pflanzen🌿🪴🌸☀️

Throwing a birthday party for a five-year old – and what that tells us about root functioning Commentary by Elsa Matthus and Joana Bergmann from the Sustainable Grassland Systems group of Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF e.V.) in Müncheberg, Germany. In the picture a…

👉Read the full blog here:
plantlifebelowground.wordpress.com/2025/04/23/t...