A study by a research team of the University of Oldenburg, Germany, reveals that spider webs mirror varying levels of microplastic contamination of urban air. Flies, mosquitoes, dust and even microplastics – spider webs catch things flying through the air. Researchers at the University of Oldenburg, Germany, have now for the first time examined the webs for microplastics on inner-city streets with varying levels of traffic. The team mainly found the plastic PET, presumably from textiles, as well as particles…
The decline of insects, and in particular pollinating insects, threatens ecosystems and economies around the world. The dimensions are staggering: Between 1989 and 2016, the biomass of all flying insects in Germany decreased by 76 per cent, according to the Krefeld study (2017). The ever-increasing use of pesticides in agriculture is considered a driver of this phenomenon. The world’s most widely used herbicide glyphosate may contribute more to this development than was previously known, according to a new study by…
New research finds toxic metals absorbed by Great Salt Lake plants and insects. Plants in Great Salt Lake wetland ecosystems are able to pull hazardous metal pollution from the lake and sometimes pass it up the food chain, according to work by a team of researchers from the Department of Watershed Sciences led by Edd Hammill. The study, coauthored by former master’s student Maya Pendleton and current faculty Janice Brahney, Karin Kettenring, and Trisha Atwood, sampled three types of native…
Climate research: KIT researchers prove global increase of ultrafine particles from exhaust gases of fossil fuels and warn of major weather effects. Strong precipitation or extreme drought – the frequency of extreme weather events is increasing worldwide. Existing climate models, however, do not adequately show their dynamics. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) assume that ultrafine particles in the atmosphere have a significant impact on cloud physics and, hence, on weather. Their aircraft measurements confirm an increase in particle…
With the rapid reduction in the costs of renewable energy generation, such as wind and solar power, there is a growing need for energy storage technologies to make sure that electricity supply and demand are balanced properly. IIASA researchers have come up with a new energy storage concept that could turn tall buildings into batteries to improve the power quality in urban settings. The world’s capacity to generate electricity from solar panels, wind turbines, and other renewable technologies has been…
New carbon sorbent is 99% efficient, lightning fast, and easily recyclable. Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have developed a new carbon capture system which removes carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere with unprecedented performance. Isophorone diamine (IPDA) in a “liquid-solid phase separation” system was found to remove carbon dioxide at the low concentrations contained in the atmosphere with 99% efficiency. The compound is reusable with minimal heating and at least twice as fast as existing systems, an exciting new development…
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can track the health of coral reefs by learning the “song of the reef”, new research shows. Coral reefs have a complex soundscape – and even experts have to conduct painstaking analysis to measure reef health based on sound recordings. In the new study, University of Exeter scientists trained a computer algorithm using multiple recordings of healthy and degraded reefs, allowing the machine to learn the difference. The computer then analysed a host of new recordings, and…
Study shows unexpected negative impact by CO2 on important plankton group. While calcifying organisms like oysters and corals have difficulty forming their shells and skeletons in more acidic seawater, diatoms have been considered less susceptible to the effects of ocean acidification – a chemical change triggered by the uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2). The globally widespread tiny diatoms use silica, a compound of silicon, oxygen and hydrogen, as a building material for their shells. That diatoms are nevertheless under threat…
– which is better for bees? How effective environmental measures in agriculture are for biodiversity and wild bee populations depends on various factors and your perspective. This is shown by agroecologists from the University of Göttingen, Germany and the Centre for Ecological Research in Vácrátót, Hungary. The research team found that when assessing the effectiveness of different measures, whether in the field (organic farming) or next to the field (flower strips in conventional farming), biodiversity benefits should be evaluated differently….
Coral reef fish breed more successfully if motorboat noise is reduced, new research shows. Scientists introduced “traffic calming” on three reefs for an entire breeding season – cutting the number of boats within 100m, and reducing the speed of those within that distance. They then tracked the breeding of fish called spiny chromis – and found 65% of nests on quieter reefs still contained offspring at the end of the season, compared to 40% on reefs with busy motorboat traffic….
Satellites and drones can provide key information to protect pollinators, researchers say. Their study examines new ways of using these technologies to track the availability of flowers, and says this could be combined with behavioural studies to see the world through the eyes of insects. The flowers available to insects vary from day to day and place to place, and human activity is changing landscapes in ways that affect all pollinators. The University of Exeter research team, supported by the…
Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have developed several new varieties of wheat that tolerate soils with higher salt concentrations. After having mutated a wheat variety from Bangladesh, they now have a wheat with seeds that weigh three times more and that germinate almost twice as often as the original variety. The wheat, which grows in fields near the coast in Bangladesh, has a certain tolerance to salt in soils, which is important when more and more farmland around the…
MBARI’s autonomous technology uses eDNA to survey biodiversity. In a major step forward for monitoring the biodiversity of marine systems, a new study published today in Environmental DNA details how MBARI researchers are using autonomous underwater robots to sample environmental DNA (eDNA). eDNA allows scientists to detect the presence of aquatic species from the tiny bits of genetic material they leave behind. This DNA soup offers clues about biodiversity changes in sensitive areas, the presence of rare or endangered species,…
The drought event from 2018 to 2020 was the most intense in over 250 years. Withered meadows and fields, dry stream beds, dead forests, and reduced power plant outputs – the drought years of 2018, 2019 and 2020 were exceptional and had substantial impacts on nature and the economy. Previously it was not clear where they should be classified in their historical dimension. Now we know: “The 2018 to 2020 drought sets a new benchmark for droughts in Europe”, says…
A big success for Oldenburg’s environmental and marine research: the DFG approves funding for new research group on exchange processes in the microlayer between oceans and atmosphere. The uppermost layer of the oceans is a very special but as yet little explored part of the planet. Less than a millimetre thick, this surface layer functions like a skin, regulating the exchange of gases, energy and momentum between the ocean and the atmosphere. To study the complex biological, chemical and physical…
An extensive metagenomic study provides detailed insights into the composition and ecological functioning of the microbial communities of the Atlantic Ocean. At first glance, the open ocean seems to be a uniform habitat: Water as far as the eye can see. A research team from the universities of Oldenburg and Göttingen has now been able to show on the basis of extensive data that communities of microbes, so-called prokaryotes, nevertheless differ regionally in the Atlantic Ocean from the Southern Ocean…
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