Exploring the Earth System
We contribute to the understanding of how living organisms – including humans - exchange fundamental resources like water, carbon, nitrogen and energy with their environment, and how this affects and responds to global climate and environmental change.
News
 | Hidden Soil Moisture Effects Drive Land Carbon UptakeMarch 31, 2021Interannual variability of carbon uptake by land ecosystems is dominantly affected by soil moisture variations, through indirect effects on air humidity.
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 | Mitigating climate change through alternative control strategiesMarch 11, 2021Closed-loop feedback control, a concept from control theory, might help to better control the global carbon-climate system. more |
 | Climate change threatens European ForestsFebruary 23, 2021Windthrow, insect attacks, fire - forests are increasingly exposed to these hazards.
A new study examines the vulnerability of Europe's forests in relation to climate change. more |
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Recent Publications
| More floods, fires and cyclones — plan for domino effects on sustainability goals Reichstein, M., Riede, F., Frank, D. (2021) Nature. 592, 347-349. doi:10.1038/d41586-021-00927-x |
| How nitrogen and phosphorus availability change water use efficiency in a Mediterranean savanna ecosystem El-Madany, T. S., Reichstein, M., Carrara, A., Martín, M. P., Moreno, G., Gonzalez-Cascon, R., Peñuelas, J., Ellsworth, D. S., Burchard-Levine, V., Hammer, T. W., Knauer, J., Kolle, O., Luo, Y., Pacheco-Labrador, J., Nelson, J. A., Perez-Priego, O., Rolo, V., Wutzler, T., Migliavacca, M. (in press) Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences. doi:10.1029/2020JG006005 |
| The Flora Incognita app – interactive plant species identfication Mäder, P., Boho, D., Rzanny, M., Seeland, M., Wittich, H. C., Deggelmann, A., Wäldchen, J. (in press) Methods in Ecology and Evolution. |
| A reassessment of the impact of temperature change on European conflict during the second millennium CE using a bespoke Bayesian time-series model Carleton, W. C., Campbell, D., Collard, M. (2021) Climatic Change. 165, 4. doi:10.1007/s10584-021-03022-2 |
| Continuity of the Middle Stone Age into the Holocene Scerri, E. M. L., Niang, K., Candy, I., Blinkhorn, J., Mills, W., Cerasoni, J. N., Bateman, M. D., Crowther, A., Groucutt, H. S. (2021) Scientific Reports. 11, 70. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-79418-4 |
| Using TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) measurements and Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) CO modelling to understand the contribution of meteorology and emissions to an extreme air pollution event in India Vellalassery, A., Pillai, D., Marshall, J., Gerbig, C., Buchwitz, M., Schneising, O., Ravi, A. (2021) Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. 21, 5393-5414. doi:10.5194/acp-21-5393-2021 |