Plant Traits

An international research team succeeded in identifying global factors that explain the diversity of form and function in plants. Led by the University of Zurich, the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena and the University of Leipzig, the researchers collected and analyzed plant data from around the world. mehr

Ecosystems provide multiple services for humans. However, these services depend on basic ecosystem functions which are shaped by natural conditions like climate and species composition, and human interventions. A large international research team, led by the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, identified three key indicators that together summarize the integrative function of terrestrial ecosystems. mehr

The efficiency of plants to use water and take up carbon dioxide for growth critically depends on the availability of nitrogen, phosphorus and their balance in the ecosystem. In a recent study, researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry and their Spanish partners analyzed how plants and their environment respond to the addition of these nutrients. mehr

Mobile apps like Flora Incognita that allow automated identification of wild plants cannot only identify plant species, but also uncover large scale ecological patterns. This opens up new perspectives for rapid detection of biodiversity changes. These are the key results of a study led by a team of researchers from Central Germany, which has recently been published in Ecography. mehr

Which plant species grow where - and why? In a new study in “Nature Ecology & Evolution”, an international research team presents the world's first global vegetation database which contains over 1.1 million complete lists of plant species for all terrestrial ecosystems. mehr