Winkler, A.; Sierra, C.: Towards a new generation of impulse‐response functions for integrated earth system understanding and climate change attribution. Geophysical Research Letters 52 (8), e2024GL112295 (2025)
Ruiz-Erazo, C. E.; Riascos-Acosta, R. I.; Guerrero-Martínez, E. S.; Marín-Vélez, A. M.; Sierra, C.; Ramírez-Correa, J. A.: Carbon sequestration potential in Retrophyllum rospigliosii (Pilg.) C. N. Page plantations for restoration purposes in the Colombian Andean region. Revista Chapingo Serie Ciencias Forestales y del Ambiente 91, e24009 (2025)
Chanca, I.; Levin, I.; Trumbore, S. E.; Macario, K.; Lavrič, J. V.; Quesada, C. A.; de Araújo, A. C.; Dias Júnior, C. Q.; van Asperen, H.; Hammer, S.et al.; Sierra, C.: How long does carbon stay in a near-pristine central Amazon forest? An empirical estimate with radiocarbon. Biogeosciences 22 (2), 472, p. 455 (2025)
Tangarife-Escobar, A.; Guggenberger, G.; Feng, X.; Munoz, E.; Chanca, I.; Peichl, M.; Smith, P.; Sierra, C.: Radiocarbon isotopic disequilibrium shows little incorporation of new carbon in mineral soils of a boreal forest ecosystem. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 129 (9), e2024JG008191 (2024)
von Fromm, S. F.; Hoyt, A. M.; Sierra, C.; Georgiou, K.; Doetterl, S.; Trumbore, S. E.: Controls and relationships of soil organic carbon abundance and persistence vary across pedo-climatic regions. Global Change Biology 30 (5), e17320 (2024)
Ramirez, J. A.; Craven, D.; Herrera-Ramirez, D.; Posada, J. M.; Reu, B.; Sierra, C. A.; Hoch, G.; Handa, I. T.; Messier, C.: Non-structural carbohydrate concentrations in tree organs vary across biomes and leaf habits, but are independent of the fast-slow plant economic spectrum. Frontiers in Plant Science 15, 1375958 (2024)
Muñoz, E.; Chanca, I.; González-Sosa, M.; Sarquis, A.; Tangarife-Escobar, A.; Sierra, C.: On the importance of time in carbon sequestration in soils and climate change mitigation. Global Change Biology 30 (3), e17229 (2024)
Tangarife-Escobar, A.; Guggenberger, G.; Feng, X.; Dai, G.; Urbina-Malo, C.; Azizi-Rad, M.; Sierra, C. A.: Moisture and temperature effects on the radiocarbon signature of respired carbon dioxide to assess stability of soil carbon in the Tibetan Plateau. Biogeosciences 21 (5), pp. 1277 - 1299 (2024)
Estupinan-Suarez, L. M.; Mahecha, M. D.; Brenning, A.; Kraemer, G.; Poveda, G.; Reichstein, M.; Sierra, C.: Spatial patterns of vegetation activity related to ENSO in Northern South America. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 129 (1), e2022JG007344 (2024)
Sierra, C.; Ahrens, B.; Bolinder, M. A.; Braakhekke, M. C.; von Fromm, S. F.; Kätterer, T.; Luo, Z.; Parvin, N.; Wang, G.: Carbon sequestration in the subsoil and the time required to stabilize carbon for climate change mitigation. Global Change Biology 30 (1), e17153 (2024)
Munoz, E.; Chanca, I.; Sierra, C.: Increased atmospheric CO2 and the transit time of carbon in terrestrial ecosystems. Global Change Biology 29 (23), pp. 6441 - 6452 (2023)
Eglinton, T. I.; Graven, H. D.; Raymond, P. A.; Trumbore, S. E.; Aluwihare, L.; Bard, E.; Basu, S.; Friedlingstein, P.; Hammer, S.; Lester, J.et al.; Sanderman, J.; Schuur, E. A. G.; Sierra, C. A.; Synal, H.-A.; Turnbull, J. C.; Wacker, L.: Making the case for an International Decade of Radiocarbon. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London - Series A: Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences 381 (2261), 20230081 (2023)
Munoz, E.; Sierra, C. A.: Deterministic and stochastic components of atmospheric CO2 inside forest canopies and consequences for predicting carbon and water exchange. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 341, 109624 (2023)
Stoner, S.; Trumbore, S. E.; González-Pérez, J. A.; Schrumpf, M.; Sierra, C. A.; Hoyt, A. M.; Chadwick, O.; Doetterl, S.: Relating mineral–organic matter stabilization mechanisms to carbon quality and age distributions using ramped thermal analysis. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London - Series A: Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences 381 (2261), 20230139 (2023)
Stoner, S.; Schrumpf, M.; Hoyt, A. M.; Sierra, C. A.; Doetterl, S.; Galy, V.; Trumbore, S. E.: How well does ramped thermal oxidation quantify the age distribution of soil carbon? Assessing thermal stability of physically and chemically fractionated soil organic matter. Biogeosciences 20 (15), pp. 3151 - 3163 (2023)
Thanks to FLUXCOM-X, the next generation of data driven, AI-based earth system models, scientists can now see the Earth’s metabolism at unprecedented detail – assessed everywhere on land and every hour of the day.
A study by Leipzig University, the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle-Jena-Leipzig (iDiv) and the MPI for Biogeochemistry shows that gaps in the canopy of a mixed floodplain forest have a direct influence on the temperature and moisture in the forest soil, but only a minor effect on soil activity.
EU funds the international research project AI4PEX to further improve Earth system models and thus scientific predictions of climate change. Participating scientists from 9 countries met at the end of May 2024 to launch the project at the MPI for Biogeochemistry in Jena, which is leading the project.
From the Greek philosopher Aristotle to Charles Darwin to the present day, scientists have dealt with this fundamental question of biology. Contrary to public perception, however, it is still largely unresolved. Scientists have now presented a new approach for the identification and delimitation of species using artificial intelligence (AI).
A research team led by the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and Leipzig University has developed an algorithm that analyses observational data from the Flora Incognita app. The novel can be used to derive ecological patterns that could provide valuable information about the effects of climate change on plants.
The new research project "PollenNet" aims to use artificial intelligence to accurately predict the spread of pollen. In order to improve allergy prevention, experts are bringing together the latest interdisciplinary findings from a wide range of fields.
If rivers overflow their banks, the consequences can be devastating. Using methods of explainable machine learning, researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) have shown that floods are more extreme when several factors are involved in their development.
Plant observations collected with plant identification apps such as Flora Incognita allow statements about the developmental stages of plants - both on a small scale and across Europe.
We have gained a new external member: Prof. Dr. Christian Wirth has been appointed by the Senate of the Max Planck Society as External Scientific Member. As a former group leader and later fellow at the institute, Prof. Wirth initiated and supported the development of the TRY database, the world's largest collection on plant traits.
A new study shows a natural solution to mitigate the effects of climate change such as extreme weather events. Researchers found that a diverse plant community acts as a buffer against fluctuations in soil temperature. This buffer, in turn, can have a decisive influence on important ecosystem processes.
The plant identification app Flora Incognita receives this year's Sonja Bernadotte Award for its importance in nature education for all age groups and its high scientific standards and usefulness.