Matthias C. Rillig
@mrillig.bsky.social
Professor, ecology, FU Berlin, own views, book author
Global change, soil, fungi, environment, microplastic, biodiversity 🧪
https://www.youtube.com/@mrillig
https://www.youtube.com/@lifeinthesoil
rilliglab.org
https://matthiasrillig.substack.com
Global change, soil, fungi, environment, microplastic, biodiversity 🧪
https://www.youtube.com/@mrillig
https://www.youtube.com/@lifeinthesoil
rilliglab.org
https://matthiasrillig.substack.com
Looking forward to this meeting and the presentation!
Our 3rd keynote at #NSO2026 #gfoe2026 is Matthias Rillig, Professor of Plant Ecology at @freieuniversitaet.bsky.social. He is a leading soil ecologist working at the interface of belowground biodiversity and global change.
vist.ly/4p26h @gfoesoc.bsky.social @mrillig.bsky.social
vist.ly/4p26h @gfoesoc.bsky.social @mrillig.bsky.social
February 2, 2026 at 3:26 PM
Looking forward to this meeting and the presentation!
Reading in journal club
Shelton et al.
Fungal ecology in the age of 'omics
@newphyt.bsky.social
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Shelton et al.
Fungal ecology in the age of 'omics
@newphyt.bsky.social
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Fungal ecology in the age of 'omics
The advancement of technology in recent decades has given us an unprecedented ability to observe the natural world. With modern sequencing and bioinformatics technologies, we can obtain more informat...
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
February 2, 2026 at 8:17 AM
Reading in journal club
Shelton et al.
Fungal ecology in the age of 'omics
@newphyt.bsky.social
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Shelton et al.
Fungal ecology in the age of 'omics
@newphyt.bsky.social
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
I just call it a friend. Despite of distance and frequency of contact. Based on how it works when we actually are at the same place, which may only be once a year, and based on how I feel when they leave (sad).
January 30, 2026 at 6:07 AM
I just call it a friend. Despite of distance and frequency of contact. Based on how it works when we actually are at the same place, which may only be once a year, and based on how I feel when they leave (sad).
Academic friendships are super important for creativity in science.
What's been your experience?
open.substack.com/pub/matthias...
What's been your experience?
open.substack.com/pub/matthias...
Academic friendships and creativity
Friends are important for creative ideas in science
open.substack.com
January 29, 2026 at 12:26 PM
Academic friendships are super important for creativity in science.
What's been your experience?
open.substack.com/pub/matthias...
What's been your experience?
open.substack.com/pub/matthias...
New paper out:
Li, Rongstock et al.
Number and dissimilarity of soil amendments influence soil properties and plant communities in a greenhouse experiment
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Li, Rongstock et al.
Number and dissimilarity of soil amendments influence soil properties and plant communities in a greenhouse experiment
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Number and dissimilarity of soil amendments influence soil properties and plant communities in a greenhouse experiment
Soil health is fundamental in supporting plant diversity and productivity. In turn, a species-rich plant community enhances soil functions and is cruc…
www.sciencedirect.com
January 24, 2026 at 9:02 AM
New paper out:
Li, Rongstock et al.
Number and dissimilarity of soil amendments influence soil properties and plant communities in a greenhouse experiment
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Li, Rongstock et al.
Number and dissimilarity of soil amendments influence soil properties and plant communities in a greenhouse experiment
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Evangelou et al. in Nature
Atmospheric microplastic emissions from land and ocean
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Atmospheric microplastic emissions from land and ocean
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Atmospheric microplastic emissions from land and ocean - Nature
A global atmospheric microplastics dataset is compiled, and comparison with size-aligned microplastic models in the literature indicate that fewer microplastic particles are emitted into the atmospher...
www.nature.com
January 22, 2026 at 12:32 PM
Evangelou et al. in Nature
Atmospheric microplastic emissions from land and ocean
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Atmospheric microplastic emissions from land and ocean
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Environmental drivers can shift in effect direction when acting in concert with other factors
open.substack.com/pub/matthias...
open.substack.com/pub/matthias...
Environmental drivers can shift in effect direction when acting in concert with other factors
Results from a recent paper from our group in Nature Communications
open.substack.com
January 22, 2026 at 10:22 AM
Environmental drivers can shift in effect direction when acting in concert with other factors
open.substack.com/pub/matthias...
open.substack.com/pub/matthias...
Oh no!
I've always liked the idea that Prototaxites was a fungus.... 😅
But it looks like it wasn't.
I've always liked the idea that Prototaxites was a fungus.... 😅
But it looks like it wasn't.
1 / 23 Prototaxites is known from some very large fossils, including columns over 8m tall. These fossils date from the end of the Silurian to the Late Devonian (425–365 million years ago). This makes Prototaxites the largest organism on the Earth’s surface before the appearance of tall trees.
January 22, 2026 at 6:31 AM
Oh no!
I've always liked the idea that Prototaxites was a fungus.... 😅
But it looks like it wasn't.
I've always liked the idea that Prototaxites was a fungus.... 😅
But it looks like it wasn't.
Wer weiß was Archivböden sind....?
Gestern mit rbb radio 3 über das Buch "Mutter Erde" gesprochen, sowie über den Boden des Jahres - den Archivboden.
@fubcp.bsky.social @bodendesjahres.bsky.social @bvboden.bsky.social
www.radiodrei.de/programm/sch...
@fubcp.bsky.social @bodendesjahres.bsky.social @bvboden.bsky.social
www.radiodrei.de/programm/sch...
Jörg Blech & Matthias Rillig: "Mutter Erde"
Ein Gespräch mit dem Bodenökologen Matthias Rillig von der Freien Universität Berlin
www.radiodrei.de
January 21, 2026 at 4:59 PM
Wer weiß was Archivböden sind....?
Gestern mit rbb radio 3 über das Buch "Mutter Erde" gesprochen, sowie über den Boden des Jahres - den Archivboden.
@fubcp.bsky.social @bodendesjahres.bsky.social @bvboden.bsky.social
www.radiodrei.de/programm/sch...
@fubcp.bsky.social @bodendesjahres.bsky.social @bvboden.bsky.social
www.radiodrei.de/programm/sch...
Jörg Blech & Matthias Rillig: "Mutter Erde"
Ein Gespräch mit dem Bodenökologen Matthias Rillig von der Freien Universität Berlin
www.radiodrei.de
January 21, 2026 at 7:20 AM
Gestern mit rbb radio 3 über das Buch "Mutter Erde" gesprochen, sowie über den Boden des Jahres - den Archivboden.
@fubcp.bsky.social @bodendesjahres.bsky.social @bvboden.bsky.social
www.radiodrei.de/programm/sch...
@fubcp.bsky.social @bodendesjahres.bsky.social @bvboden.bsky.social
www.radiodrei.de/programm/sch...
New paper out in Global Change Biology
Cheng et al.
Stressor Combinations Shift Soil Microbial Communities From Rare to Unknown Taxa and Alter Genomic Strategies
w/ @manudelbaq.bsky.social & others
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Cheng et al.
Stressor Combinations Shift Soil Microbial Communities From Rare to Unknown Taxa and Alter Genomic Strategies
w/ @manudelbaq.bsky.social & others
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Stressor Combinations Shift Soil Microbial Communities From Rare to Unknown Taxa and Alter Genomic Strategies
Effects of environmental stressor factor number on soil common, rare, and unknown taxa. High-stressor numbers reduce the abundance and diversity of rare taxa but increase unknown taxa and had no effe...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
January 20, 2026 at 4:19 PM
New paper out in Global Change Biology
Cheng et al.
Stressor Combinations Shift Soil Microbial Communities From Rare to Unknown Taxa and Alter Genomic Strategies
w/ @manudelbaq.bsky.social & others
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Cheng et al.
Stressor Combinations Shift Soil Microbial Communities From Rare to Unknown Taxa and Alter Genomic Strategies
w/ @manudelbaq.bsky.social & others
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
We also found exponential dynamics in a re-analysis of long-term soils data from the UK.
January 20, 2026 at 3:33 PM
We also found exponential dynamics in a re-analysis of long-term soils data from the UK.
Eine sehr interessante Diskussion in der SKAE zur Diversifizierung von Anbausystemen von Nutzpflanzen; das Positionspaper ist gerade erschienen.
#GrüneWoche: Die DFG-Senatskommission zur Transformation von Agrar-/Ernährungssystemen SKAE fordert in einem Positionspapier langfristige Forschung und neue politische Rahmenbedingungen für diversifizierte Anbausysteme von #Nutzpflanzen – und benennt 6 konkrete Handlungsfelder: sohub.io/ijh9
Für eine krisenfeste Landwirtschaft: DFG-Senatskommission fordert stärkere Unterstützung für vielfältige Anbausysteme von Nutzpflanzen
sohub.io
January 20, 2026 at 12:41 PM
Eine sehr interessante Diskussion in der SKAE zur Diversifizierung von Anbausystemen von Nutzpflanzen; das Positionspaper ist gerade erschienen.
Or, asked another way: what can we do to increase the likelihood that researchers in 50 or 100 years will still be interested in reading our work?
Newsletter for this week is out:
How many years into the future will people read our scientific output?
Is it 5 years, 10 years, or a hundred years? Should we care?
matthiasrillig.substack.com/p/how-many-y...
How many years into the future will people read our scientific output?
Is it 5 years, 10 years, or a hundred years? Should we care?
matthiasrillig.substack.com/p/how-many-y...
How many years into the future will people read our scientific output?
Is it 5 years, 10 years, or a hundred years? Should we care?
matthiasrillig.substack.com
January 19, 2026 at 2:13 PM
Or, asked another way: what can we do to increase the likelihood that researchers in 50 or 100 years will still be interested in reading our work?
Reading in journal club
Eisenhauer et al.
Soil biodiversity effects on ecosystems
@eisenhauerlab.bsky.social @natrevbiodiv.nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Eisenhauer et al.
Soil biodiversity effects on ecosystems
@eisenhauerlab.bsky.social @natrevbiodiv.nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Soil biodiversity effects on ecosystems - Nature Reviews Biodiversity
Soil biodiversity is poorly studied compared to aboveground biodiversity, but is an important driver of ecosystem functioning. This Review discusses advances in research into the relationships between...
www.nature.com
January 19, 2026 at 8:15 AM
Reading in journal club
Eisenhauer et al.
Soil biodiversity effects on ecosystems
@eisenhauerlab.bsky.social @natrevbiodiv.nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Eisenhauer et al.
Soil biodiversity effects on ecosystems
@eisenhauerlab.bsky.social @natrevbiodiv.nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Newsletter for this week is out:
How many years into the future will people read our scientific output?
Is it 5 years, 10 years, or a hundred years? Should we care?
matthiasrillig.substack.com/p/how-many-y...
How many years into the future will people read our scientific output?
Is it 5 years, 10 years, or a hundred years? Should we care?
matthiasrillig.substack.com/p/how-many-y...
How many years into the future will people read our scientific output?
Is it 5 years, 10 years, or a hundred years? Should we care?
matthiasrillig.substack.com
January 15, 2026 at 6:36 PM
Newsletter for this week is out:
How many years into the future will people read our scientific output?
Is it 5 years, 10 years, or a hundred years? Should we care?
matthiasrillig.substack.com/p/how-many-y...
How many years into the future will people read our scientific output?
Is it 5 years, 10 years, or a hundred years? Should we care?
matthiasrillig.substack.com/p/how-many-y...
It intends to describe that this is a global-scale study on soils (without necessarily implying that this was covering the full globe, since there aren't the data to do that).
January 15, 2026 at 5:46 PM
It intends to describe that this is a global-scale study on soils (without necessarily implying that this was covering the full globe, since there aren't the data to do that).
New paper just out in Science Advances, led by Humboldt fellow Yongxing Cui in the lab:
Productivity-driven decoupling of microbial carbon use efficiency and respiration across global soils
@fubcp.bsky.social @freieuniversitaet.bsky.social @humboldt-foundation.de
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Productivity-driven decoupling of microbial carbon use efficiency and respiration across global soils
@fubcp.bsky.social @freieuniversitaet.bsky.social @humboldt-foundation.de
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Productivity-driven decoupling of microbial carbon use efficiency and respiration across global soils
Resource-dependent microbial adaptability decouples microbial growth from respiration and limits soil carbon storage.
www.science.org
January 15, 2026 at 5:39 PM
New paper just out in Science Advances, led by Humboldt fellow Yongxing Cui in the lab:
Productivity-driven decoupling of microbial carbon use efficiency and respiration across global soils
@fubcp.bsky.social @freieuniversitaet.bsky.social @humboldt-foundation.de
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Productivity-driven decoupling of microbial carbon use efficiency and respiration across global soils
@fubcp.bsky.social @freieuniversitaet.bsky.social @humboldt-foundation.de
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Ich kenne die Regeln nicht wie das entschieden wird, denke aber für so etwas müsste sich das Buch vielleicht besser verkaufen?
January 15, 2026 at 5:05 PM
Ich kenne die Regeln nicht wie das entschieden wird, denke aber für so etwas müsste sich das Buch vielleicht besser verkaufen?
Press release of @freieuniversitaet.bsky.social for our recent paper in Nature Communications.
The Hidden Risk of Combined Stressors for Soils
@fubcp.bsky.social
www.fu-berlin.de/en/presse/in...
The Hidden Risk of Combined Stressors for Soils
@fubcp.bsky.social
www.fu-berlin.de/en/presse/in...
The Hidden Risk of Combined Stressors for Soils
New study by researchers at Freie Universität published in “Nature Communications” shows that independent environmental stressors such as heat, drought, and microplastics affect soils differently when...
www.fu-berlin.de
January 15, 2026 at 4:56 PM
Press release of @freieuniversitaet.bsky.social for our recent paper in Nature Communications.
The Hidden Risk of Combined Stressors for Soils
@fubcp.bsky.social
www.fu-berlin.de/en/presse/in...
The Hidden Risk of Combined Stressors for Soils
@fubcp.bsky.social
www.fu-berlin.de/en/presse/in...
Nicht dass ich wüsste...
January 15, 2026 at 4:53 PM
Nicht dass ich wüsste...
I am not sure yet what language it will be and for what age group. There are a lot of different ideas....
January 15, 2026 at 4:52 PM
I am not sure yet what language it will be and for what age group. There are a lot of different ideas....
My hometown newspaper (Die Rheinpfalz) has a story about my new book "Mutter Erde". (D, €)
www.rheinpfalz.de/lokal/speyer...
www.rheinpfalz.de/lokal/speyer...
Neues Buch über Erdboden: Wie ein Sohn Speyers gegen dessen „Imageproblem“ kämpft - Speyer
Biologie-Professor Matthias Rillig aus Speyer veröffentlicht gemeinsam mit Co-Autor Jörg Blech sein erstes Buch: „Mutter Erde“, eine Liebeserklärung ...
www.rheinpfalz.de
January 15, 2026 at 3:49 PM
My hometown newspaper (Die Rheinpfalz) has a story about my new book "Mutter Erde". (D, €)
www.rheinpfalz.de/lokal/speyer...
www.rheinpfalz.de/lokal/speyer...