Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

The Jena Experiment @jena-experiment.bsky.social · 2d

A new paper co-led by @henneckejustus.bsky.social
in @newphyt.bsky.social shows that

Grassland & forest community-level root traits along the fast-slow & the collaboraton gradient relate to many ecosystem functions.
➡️ future changes in plant composition may strongly alter ecosystem functioning
🌱🌲

Justus Hennecke @henneckejustus.bsky.social · 2d

Super excited to see that the last chapter of my PhD on root trait - ecosystem functioning relationships is now published in @newphyt.bsky.social!
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Rooting for function: community‐level fine‐root traits relate to many ecosystem functions

Humans are driving biodiversity change, which also alters community functional traits. However, how changes in the functional traits of the community alter ecosystem functions—especially belowground...

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Reposted by The Jena Experiment

Karin Mora @karinmora.bsky.social · 8d

#iDivConference2025 today I present our study co-lead w C Guimaraes-Steinicke. Great work by our student K Wende.
& great collaborators
@agwirthweigelt.bsky.social A Weigelt, S Saxena & A Anwar.

Floral vs veg structure fingerprints from #TLS intensity

#JenaExperiment #Phenology #biodiversity

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Reassembly Research Unit @reassemblynet.bsky.social · 18d

Three exciting #PostDoc 🧑‍🔬👩‍🔬🧕 positions on #Ecological #Synthesis at TU Darmstadt @tuda.bsky.social for Reassembly #rainforest 🇪🇨 🌱🌴🦜 & #Biodiversity Exploratories 🌲🐄🚜🪲🐝🥀@bexplo.bsky.social
Please spread widely ✉️♥️▶️ & apply quickly 🙃
www.reassembly.de/the-team/job...

Ecological synthesis including forest ecosystems, grassland, land use, climate change, time series, stability, ecosystem functioning, biodiversity, species interaction networks

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The Jena Experiment @jena-experiment.bsky.social · 26d

1. @neobiota.pensoft.net
2. @ecol-evol.bsky.social

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The Jena Experiment @jena-experiment.bsky.social · 27d

@nbuchmann.bsky.social
@ebelingae.bsky.social

The Jena Experiment @jena-experiment.bsky.social · 27d

Two new studies from our site show that

1. Plant diversity decreases the competitive superiority of non-native invaders (Roscher 2025)
doi.org/10.3897/neob...

2. Traits of the leaf economics spectrum do not always relate to species biomass (Bachmann et al. 2025)
doi.org/10.1002/ece3...

🌱🍃

Traits of the Leaf Economics Spectrum Do Not Always Relate to Species Biomass Proportions in Grassland Communities of Varying Diversity

We studied traits of the “leaf economics spectrum” (LES) in 138 experimental grassland communities composed of 20 grassland species, which represented different strategies in spatial resource acquisi...

doi.org

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Reposted by The Jena Experiment

Benjamin Wildermuth @bmwildermuth.bsky.social · Aug 30

Why are we losing arthropod biomass? Because we're losing species? Because of which species we lose? Or because of declining abundances?

Synthesizing time series from @jena-experiment.bsky.social & @bexplo.bsky.social I will present some answers @gfoesoc.bsky.social
#gfoe2025

Tue 2 Sept, 11 am 🕷️🪲

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Reposted by The Jena Experiment

Gesellschaft für Ökologie e.V. @gfoesoc.bsky.social · Aug 29

Stay tuned for more updates and make sure to tag us with #gfoe2025 so we can feature your insights of the conference. We are looking forward to see you next week!

@cofeuniwue.bsky.social
@globalchangeeco.bsky.social
@ecoresearchzoo3.bsky.social
@uni-wuerzburg.de

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Reposted by The Jena Experiment

Andrew Barnes @barnesecodiv.bsky.social · Aug 14

It was a short visit, but wonderful to catch up with @eisenhauerlab.bsky.social again and to see some inspirational experimental sites at Bad Lauchstädt!

Leonore Hafermann getting inspiration for her PhD experiments from the DroughtNet site at Bad Lauchstädt

Nico Eisenhauer talking us on a tour I'd the EcoTron facility at Bad Lauchstädt

Standing under the canopy of the MyDiv experimental forest

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Reposted by The Jena Experiment

The Wirth-Weigelt Working Group @agwirthweigelt.bsky.social · Aug 8

🌱 #Fieldwork days at The Jena Experiment - @jena-experiment.bsky.social!
Scanning roots with a minirhizotron, tracking seasonal changes & traits, plus plant surveys & soil checks. Led by PhD candidate Srijna Saxena with support from Tom Künne. Can’t wait to see what the data reveal!
#RootTraits

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The Jena Experiment @jena-experiment.bsky.social · Jul 17

That's us in the picture! 🖼️
Read about diversity-stability relationships in biodiversity experiments such as ours in @natecoevo.nature.com

Nature Ecology & Evolution @natecoevo.nature.com · Jul 17

In this News & Views commentary, Frank Pennekamp discusses a new study that sheds light on the mechanisms that underlie biodiversity–ecosystem stability relationships, www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧪

Free to read: rdcu.be/ewDdf

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Nature Ecology & Evolution @natecoevo.nature.com · Jul 16

Meng et al. develop a theoretical approach and show that empirical diversity–stability relationships in grasslands are best explained by species-specific dynamics rather than by interspecific interactions www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧪

Stabilizing effects of biodiversity arise from species-specific dynamics rather than interspecific interactions in grasslands - Nature Ecology & Evolution

The role of interspecific interactions in biodiversity–ecosystem stability relationships is unclear. Here the authors develop a theoretical approach and show that empirical diversity–stability relatio...

www.nature.com

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The Jena Experiment @jena-experiment.bsky.social · Jul 16

👇Out in @oikosjournal.bsky.social

New research from our Ecotron facility by @elisabethboenisch.bsky.social, @eisenhauerlab.bsky.social et al 🌱

Oikos @oikosjournal.bsky.social · Jul 16

⚖️↔️Resource inequality limits transfer of nutrients from soils to plants in experimental grassland

vist.ly/3y5kj

#EcosystemFunctioning #Ecotron #GiniCoefficient #Grassland #NutrientDynamics #ResourceInequality

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German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG) @plantsciencedbg.bsky.social · Jul 10

Wie Artenvielfalt der Landwirtschaft nützt und wie der Rückgang der #Biodiversität unsere Lebensgrundlagen bedroht, schildert Roland Schulz in seinem Artikel über das seit 18 Jahren laufende @jena-experiment.bsky.social im Tagesspiegel (€) www.tagesspiegel.de/wissen/das-j...

Das Jena-Experiment läuft seit 18 Jahren: Wie der Rückgang von Biodiversität unsere Lebensgrundlage bedroht

Im Jena-Experiment untersuchen Forschende, welche Folgen der Verlust biologischer Vielfalt für Ökosysteme hat. Dabei beobachten sie auch ein Phänomen, das sie „Social Distancing auf der Wiese“ nennen.

www.tagesspiegel.de

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Reposted by The Jena Experiment

Gerrit Angst @gangst.bsky.social · Jul 1

‼️Fresh out @natcomms.nature.com

Un(der)explored links between #plant #diversity and #POM and #MAOM in soil

nature.com/articles/s41...

@idiv-research.bsky.social
@eisenhauerlab.bsky.social
@akademievedcr.bsky.social
@charlesuni.cuni.cz
@kevin-e-mueller.bsky.social

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Reposted by The Jena Experiment

iDiv Biodiversity Research @idiv-research.bsky.social · Jul 2

🌿 ☘️ 🌱 A new study shows plant diversity boosts soil carbon — especially in under-saturated ecosystems.

Learn more about this study in a report by #iDiv's Dr. @gangst.bsky.social: www.idiv.de/plant-divers...

@natcomms.nature.com
@eisenhauerlab.bsky.social

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Reposted by The Jena Experiment

Robin Heinen @robinheinennl.bsky.social · Jun 11

My colleague Tanja and I had a flash visit to Jena today, where we sampled our chemodiversity field experiment. Tomorrow, we will start a new greenhouse experiment based on these samples. Hopefully more insights from this field very soon!

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The Jena Experiment @jena-experiment.bsky.social · Jun 6

Public broadcasting visited our experiment today to shoot a science education clip on #biodiversity

Happy to contribute to "Planet Schule" #SWR & looking forward to seeing the finished clip soon 🌱🪲🪱

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Experimental Interaction Ecology @eisenhauerlab.bsky.social · May 19

Excited to share our new study published in JoVE! We explore how plant history and soil history influence the functioning of grassland ecosystems. Have a look!
app.jove.com/v/67496/jena...

JenaTron - An Experimental Approach to Study the Effects of Plant History and Soil History on Grassland Ecosystem Functioning

The global loss of biodiversity has motivated many studies that experimentally vary plant species richness and examine the consequences for ecosystem ...

app.jove.com

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The Jena Experiment @jena-experiment.bsky.social · May 15

What a great week for Max, he also defended his PhD with great success - congratulations!

Stay tuned for more of his research on plant-consumer interactions 🌱🪲

With proud supervisors @ebelingae.bsky.social, Sebastian Meyer @terrecolgroup.bsky.social & Holger Schielzeth

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Reposted by The Jena Experiment

Christian Hof @christianhof.bsky.social · May 11

One more day to submit abstracts for this year's international conference of the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland #gfoe2025: Join us in beautiful Würzburg for great ecological science, amazing keynotes and great wine! @gfoesoc.bsky.social www.gfoe-conference.de/index.php?ca...

GfÖ Annual Meeting 2025 September 01 to 05, 2025 in Würzburg, Germany

www.gfoe-conference.de

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The Jena Experiment @jena-experiment.bsky.social · May 7

We made the cover!
Congrats Maximilian Bröcher, @ebelingae.bsky.social et al.
🪲🐝🕷️

ESA Journals @esajournals.bsky.social · May 7

The handsome click beetle on the cover of Ecology's May issue is one of nearly 1,400 arthropods (insects, spiders & the like) from Germany's Jena Experiment whose traits are compiled in a new Data Paper by Bröcher et al.

Find the full issue: esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/19399170...

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Reposted by The Jena Experiment

Nina Buchmann @nbuchmann.bsky.social · May 6

What an honor! Thanks to the many group members and project collaborators!!! 🧪 @icos-ri.eu @fluxnet.bsky.social @jena-experiment.bsky.social

Departement Umweltsystemwissenschaften (D-USYS), ETH Zürich @usyseth.bsky.social · May 5

🌟Thrilled to share that @nbuchmann.bsky.social and @nicolaspaldin.bsky.social have been elected international members of the @NationalAcademies! 🇺🇸 Their groundbreaking research has earned them this incredible honour, a testament to scientific excellence. Huge congrats!

ethz.ch/staffnet/en/...

Two ETH Zurich professors elected to the National Academy of Sciences

The U.S. National Academy of Sciences inducts Nina Buchmann and Nicola Spaldin.

ethz.ch

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The Jena Experiment @jena-experiment.bsky.social · Apr 23

Led by Maximilian Bröcher & @ebelingae.bsky.social

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The Jena Experiment @jena-experiment.bsky.social · Apr 23

New data paper @esajournals.bsky.social Ecology:

9 ecological traits for 1374 grassland arthropod species, collected over 10 years 🪲🐝🕷️

The traits cover feeding ecology, habitat requirements, flight capability and size.📏

doi.org/10.1002/ecy....

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