Michael ヘビ Steinwandter

I am using Le Chat from Mistral 🇨🇵
For simple queries and question, I am using #ECOSIA 's AI Search 🇩🇪

Ich würde sagen Stadt-Dorf Gefälle. Jedenfalls ist im Großraum Bozen viel Elektrisches unterwegs. 🤓

Soil animal biogeography? Using oribatid mites as a good start! — Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative Xue Pan, University of Göttingen (Germany) Every soil biologist has likely asked themself: Why are soil organisms so diverse and abundant even within a small patch of soil; Why have some species a c...

📣 Start your week with a (virtual) trip from the Alps to Changbai Mountain! ⛰️

In our newest GSB4 ECR blog, Xue Pan investigates persistent questions in biogeography by leveraging the incredibly diverse order, Oribatida- soil oribatid mites.

www.globalsoilbiodiversity.org/blog-beneath...

"Egal was der Liter kostet, ich tanke immer nur 20€!" Höhöhöhöhö 😵‍💫

Gar nicht! ✋
Südtirol hat sogar eine recht gute E-Auto Quote, vergleichbar mit 🇦🇹 und 🇨🇭, so um die 20% bei den Neukaufen 2025.
Leider auch viele Plug-in-Hybride, die wohl selten elektrisch gefahren werden... (ca. 15% Marktanteil 2025).
Deutlich höher als in Italien! Aber wohl ungleich verteilt.

Earthworm Casting Drives Soil Microplastic Upward Transport and the Formation of Biogenic Polymer Aggregates Earthworms act as key ecosystem engineers influencing the distribution of soil microplastics (MPs), however, the residence, transport, and fate of these particles within the drilosphere, particularly within biogenic cast aggregates, remain poorly understood. Here, we combined a field survey of 43 paired soil-cast samples across three agricultural land-use scenarios with complementary laboratory soil column experiments to elucidate earthworm-driven MP dynamics. The field survey revealed ubiquitous in situ MP occurrence and upward fluxes from bulk soils to casts, with transport efficiency modulated by soil clay and organic carbon contents. Laboratory simulations using epigeic and anecic species validated that different ecotypes actively ingest MPs from source soils and deposit them in surface casts. Crucially, both field and laboratory data demonstrated a significant reduction in particle size in casts compared to soil (6.48% and 19.8%, respectively), supporting the potential earthworm effects on MP mechanical attrition. Polymer compositions in casts mirrored those in soils, exhibiting a nonselective and passive ingestion pathway. Beyond physical transport, the formation of field biogenic polymer aggregates facilitated chemical aging of MPs, as evidenced by elevated oxidation indices. This process was likely accelerated by the enrichment of plastic-degrading microbial taxa (e.g., Flavobacterium) within casts, which exhibited up to a 35.6-fold increase in relative abundance. Collectively, these findings highlight the dual role of soil-engineering invertebrates in driving the vertical redistribution and physicochemical degradation of MPs in agricultural systems.

New paper out:

Huang et al. w/ Deyi Hou
Earthworm Casting Drives Soil Microplastic Upward Transport and the Formation of Biogenic Polymer Aggregates

pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

SOIL BIODIVERSITY Attendee White T-shirtsAdult Small Campaign Created by Global Soil Biodiversity Conference

Attending the 4th Global Soil Biodiversity Conference #GSB2026 and want a conference t-shirt? Pre-order now and pick-up at the conference. Must order by March 29th tees.ca/products/soi... #Soil #Biodiversity @thegsbi.bsky.social @carlosbarreto.bsky.social

From Brunico? WTF Euronews... 😅
It is Toblach/Dobbiaco, as Bruneck/Brunico is 30km away from that spot... 🤓

Postcards from the Field 📬📧🌿

Can you beat this?😲 Send us your best fieldwork photo for a chance to feature in this month's newsletter.

Featured: Arthur Broadbent shoveling snow for a snow manipulation experiment near Vent in the Austrian Alps (photo credit: Michael Bahn) doi.org/10.1111/gcb....

Yeah, "ICE out!" fits perfectly here :)

Man sollte dort einfach aussteigen... ich hab schon mal angefangen, nichts mehr zu posten, und alles Öffentliche von mir zu verstecken. Es ist geflutet von AfD und Werbung... schlimm.

a man in a green shirt is sitting on a couch holding a paper bag in his mouth . ALT: a man in a green shirt is sitting on a couch holding a paper bag in his mouth .

Es ist (anscheinend) nie genug, you know, "German Reichweitenangst"... 😅

Interessant auch die "Topographie", also Gebirge im Midwest, keine Gebirge entlang der Westküste Amerikas... :D

a black and white map of the world shows the latitude and longitude ALT: a black and white map of the world shows the latitude and longitude

Did anyone tell him that the Mercator projection is not reflecting the real country sizes...? Greenland is big, but not bigger than Africa etc.

...a few more to illustrate the morphological diversity of staphyliniform beetles 🤩

🐜ant-like stone beetle, Scydmaenus, under log, Oklahoma
🫓flipped Eurylister carolinus, a flattened hister beetle, OK
✨sleek scaphidiine "Shining Fungus Beetle", OK
🤏TINY Ptinella sp feather-winged beetle, OK

Saleinaz Mountain Hut in the Swiss Alps is perched high above a steep slope, facing the cliffs and glaciers of Mont Dolent. The hut is small and built of stone, with a metal roof and two wooden extensions attached. Next to it is a small terrace with two tables and a few chairs. Photo by Jean Miczka.

A new article by Jean Miczka and colleagues analyzes how mountain huts in the western European Alps are being adapted to climate change, what the challenges are, and how adaptation could be improved. Recommendations include ensuring long-term coordination. Find out more: doi.org/10.1659/mrd....

Discover European Alternatives to Big Tech Companies – EuroAlternative Keep your data in Europe, support local innovation, and simplify business operations. Our directory connects you with European digital service providers.

So, as sympathy for the US (government!) and its big tech and #broligarchs decreases (again and again)...

... let us #MEGA (make Europe great again) and use European tools! Break free from US-tech. ;) 🇪🇺

1️⃣ euroalternative.co
2️⃣ www.goeuropean.org

Drama sells 💲💲💲

Morgen erscheint meine erste Doku. CYCLING CITIES. Es geht um die schönsten Fahrradstädte Europas, um die Gegenwart, aber auch um die Vergangenheit und wie Städte wie Amsterdam & Utrecht so geworden sind, wie sie heute aussehen. Ich freu mich sehr, wenn ihr den Film anschaut. Ab Morgen auf Youtube😊

📢 Call for Collaborators!

Interested in Isopods? Check out this call in Soil Organisms by Konstantin Gongalsky and colleagues @msteinwandter.bsky.social @soilscholar.bsky.social

soil-organisms.org/SO/article/v...

Interns wanted! - Biodiversity Monitoring South Tyrol

Want to work on biodiversity in the Alps? ⛰️

We are offering several internship positions for the upcoming spring and summer in collaboration with the Biodiversity Monitoring South Tyrol 🕷️🦋🦇🐜🌼🦗🪱

biodiversity.eurac.edu/interns-want...

Still of microbial ecologist Magdalena Nagler in her winning video for the Junior Research Award South Tyrol.

Microbial ecologist Magdalena Naglee presenting her research on soil respiration and eDNA.

Microbial ecologist Magdalena Nagler (left) and her former supervisor Julia Seeber (right) and former peer Michael Steinwandter (centre).

Congratulations to our former #MSCA fellow and microbial ecologist Magdalena Nagler for being one of three winners of the Junior Research Award South Tyrol. 🦠🏅🏞️

Looking forward for new collaborations and insights in #eDNA of soils.

scholar.google.at/citations?us...

Small light brown arachnid with thin legs and red spiky palps; her cylindrical abdomen is held vertical and just the tip is peeking out from a dozen or so ghostly white babies wrapped around it, facing downward

Just a girl and her bundle of baby clones she's wearing like an ass turban 🥹
My population of Schizomida (parthenogenic tailless whipscorpions) are so happy in their box of dirt. As always, tending a box of dirt is such a good decision and I recommend it.

Screenshot of the title and authors of the new review and data call paper on Oniscidae (terrestrial isopods, woodlice) and the new network called 'OniscidBase'.

Overview of 16 photos of terrestrial isopods (woodlice, Oniscidea) taken from the review on the new network 'OniscidBase'.

Very happy to be part of and to see this review on #Oniscidea (woodlice, terrestrial #Isopoda) published in @soilorganismsj.bsky.social .

Many thanks to Konstantin Gongalsky & Pallieter De Smedt for leading this! 🎊

Read/download the review: doi.org/10.25674/466
Have data? SHARE THEM!

#OniscidBase

Das wurde. ich auch mal gefragt und habe gesagt: diese 30 Jahre beinhalten bereits einige der wärmsten Jahre ever, also ist dann ein +1 °C nochmal krasser. Jedenfalls sehr hilfreiches Tool!

Job offer: PostDoc in “Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in European forests in the face of global changes” 80-100% (f/m/d) The aim of the projects is to investigate the impact of global changes on temperate forests toward designing management plans that allows ecosystem resilience and high levels of biodiversity. Within these projects, you will develop standard and more efficient ecological monitoring methodologies to understand how different aspects of biodiversity and/or associated ecosystem processes, in particular deadwood decomposition, in forests are altered by global change factors such as climate change, disturbances, and management-induced structural changes at different spatial and temporal scales. Through this research, you will gain a better mechanistic understanding of these relationships as a basis for predicting future changes related to management decisions and climate change. To measure biodiversity, you will use cutting-edge DNA-based methods, such as e-DNA metabarcoding of fungi, from soil and dead wood, and detecting arthropods and mammals from vegetation surfaces. Data on biodiversity and forest functions will be analyzed in an interdisciplinary manner. Depending on your skills and expertise, you can focus on more technical aspects of biodiversity quantification using eDNA, fundamental ecological research questions on modelling ecosystem processes or the more applied design of management practices. You are expected to publish your findings in high-impact journals and present them at international conferences. You hold a PhD degree in Biology or Environmental Sciences or in a related field and have a strong background forest ecology, in DNA-based biodiversity assessments (e-DNA metabarcoding), bioinformatics and multivariate statistical analyses, and/or experimental planning. Furthermore, we expect very good knowledge in R programming, a good command of English, as well as strong skills in scientific paper writing.

#PostDoc Alert! PhD in #Biology or #EnvironmentalSciences? Strong background in #ForestEcology, DNA-based biodiversity assessments, #Bioinformatics, and experimental planning? Our #ForestEntomology Group offers a 2-year #PostDoc position 🌳🧬💻: apply.refline.ch/273855/1798/... #ScienceJobs #eDNA

The same with highways... in the Nordic it is so easy to drive around, but then in Germany... honking all the time, pushing all the time, a Porsche coming with 300 km/h behind you and he (yes, of course a man...) does not want to brake at all... uff

Jungforscher:innen, aufgepasst!
Der #Nationalpark #HoheTauern vergibt mehrere Forschungsstipendien. Also wer gerne im Gebirge forscht und/oder dort unterwegs sein will, sollte sich das ansehen.

--> hohetauern.at/de/forschung...

#NPHT #MountainScience #YoungResearcher #Scholarship

hm, Grünwaldalm? 🤔 beautiful

Give it a try :)