The Exploratory Schorfheide-Chorin organized a Forest-day with the Schorfheide-Chorin Biosphere Reserve and the Chorin Chief Forester's Office. In mid-October forester and scientists met at Chorin Monastery. There were presentations by our Explorers on their research in the forests, as well as a talk by Eberhard Luft (Head of the Chorin State Forestry Office) on the historical background and structure of the Chorin Forest (Forest Area of the Year 2023) and a talk by Ulf Pommer (LFE employee, former local manager […]
Our core projects, the Local Management Team - LMT, the Central Coordination Office - BEO, the Data Management Team - BExIS and the Instumentation Team, met for their annual meeting this time in Jena. Four days long we talked about the latest news from the exploratories and future plans for our project. A guided tour of the Jena Experiment and the nearby Park an der Ilm in Weimar was also included.
More than 2000 visitors attended the Long Night of Science at the University of Ulm on July 14, 2023. Different faculties opened their doors and put on more than 80 different program items for visitors. During the BioNight, the Department of Biology once again celebrated their 50th anniversary and put together an exciting program, from lectures on bumblebee breeding to a science slam. The Exploratories also had a booth where visitors could get information about our project and insights into […]
Master students of biology and geoecology from the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen visited the Exploratorium Schwäbische-Alb last week. As part of the master's module Plant Ecology, this excursion took place for the third year in a row. This year it was organized by Maria Majekove, from the BE project ExploreNiche. The excursion included visits to two forest and two grassland areas with different management intensities, which gave the students a good impression of the areas. In addition, they […]
The Department of Biology at the University of Ulm celebrated its 50th anniversary on June 13, 2023. At a reception followed by a celebration, institute members and biology enthusiasts from all over the city came together. In a keynote speech by Markus Fischer, he emphasized the extinction of species and included a call to action to society - "We are at the beginning of a mass extinction if we do nothing about it." German news article:
The Exploratorien are with their research results on television. "It has become quiet in Germany's forests, they are running out of insects...." - reports the Hessian broadcast, Hessicher Rundfunk. In this contribution Dr. Michael Staab, from the TU Darmstadt, leads the viewers into our exploratories and explains their research and connections of the insect death in German forests. Duration: 06:27Min.
The meaning of deadwood in the forest, decomposition processes of rats by small animals and microbes, as well as the effect of clear-cutting on bats, among other things, are being researched at the exploratory in Hainich-Dün. In addition to familiar and well-tried research methods, artificial intelligence is being used as a research tool in the course of the new funding phase. For a more exact and faster data acquisition it is applied in two areas: Counting and identification of insect […]
Last Thursday, our 19th Biodiversity Exploratories Assembly ended. It was three long, but also interesting and exchange-filled days packed with project presentations, scientific discussions and informative keynote presentations. Even though everything went well and we were happy about every single participant and contribution, we also understand that online conferences are exhausting and face-to-face exchange is hampered. Therefore, we keep our fingers crossed that hopefully next year in week 8 (21.02-24.02.23) we will be able to exchange in person again (probably […]
On Dec. 15, 2021, the DFG published the call for proposals for the upcoming phase (2023-2026) of the Biodiversity Exploratories. The call can be found on the DFG website under "Informationen für die Wissenschaft Nr. 114". We have also summarized the most important dates as well as the pdf of the call again under "Participation" and "Dates".
240 researchers and practitioners came together virtually and on site in the Swabian Alb biosphere region to exchange ideas on basic principles, developments and sustainable solutions for the protection of biodiversity. Current findings on the decline of biodiversity highlight an acute need for action and call for an interdisciplinary exchange between scientists, regional decision-makers and other stakeholders. This exchange was promoted by the research platform "Biodiversity Exploratories" funded by the German Research Foundation, in particular the Institute for Evolutionary Ecology […]
