Selected publications

Climate change causes a decrease in the ice cover on lakes throughout the world. Yet, there has been insufficient research into how this decline of the winter period affects the interplay of phytoplankton and zooplankton. This study shows that even a gradual decline in the average duration of ice cover can result in abrupt changes in plankton dynamics.

67 scientists reviewed 1700 peer-reviewed articles on soil-erosion modelling. The study addresses the relevance of regions, models, and model validation and includes the open-source database. 

Wastewater still contains high amounts of trace organic compounds and organic matter after the wastewater treatment plant. These compounds are usually discharged to rivers with the treated water. The study shows that in the hyporheic zone of the river, i.e. the river sediment, degradation of trace organic compounds takes place simultaneously with a change in the composition of organic matter.

When a species colonizes an urban habitat, differences in the environment can create novel selection pressures. The authors tested for consistent urban selection signals in multiple populations (213 complete genomes) of the burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia), a species that colonized South American cities just a few decades ago.

Female moles not only have ovarian, but also testicular tissue that produces male sex hormones – which lets them diverge from the categorization into two sexes. A team led by Berlin researchers Stefan Mundlos and Darío Lupiáñez describes which genetic modifications contribute to this singular development.

The authors have investigated the relationship of bird families. For the first time, they have been able to clarify the relationship of all families of non-passerine birds and almost all families of passerine birds by transcriptomic data. The new family tree is based on gene sections (3‘‑UTRs) that do not code for proteins, but contain sequences that are specific to the families and their genera.

Fishing primarily removes larger and more active fish from populations. It thus acts as a selection factor that favours shy fish, as this study led by IGB shows. 

The authors compared stable isotopes of water in the plant stem (xylem) and in the soil over a complete growing season at five northern experimental sites to understand where plants get their water from and what the temporal dynamics are of such root water uptake. This paper was a main finding of an ERC Grant.