About Us

The Division of Terrestrial Ecosystem Research aims to advance the fundamental understanding of how soil microorganisms and plants respond to and in turn shape their abiotic and biotic environment, and what consequences these interactions have for the functioning of the Earth’s ecosystems.

Researchers at TER address pressing environmental issues, such as the impact of climate change on ecosystem functioning and the role of soils in the global carbon cycle and in food security.

 News

23.12.2024
 

Congratulations to Dr. Stefan Gorka, who successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled

"From phospholipids to neutral lipids: Characterising soil...

30.11.2024
 

A new study published in Nature Communications demonstrates that responses of plants and soil organisms to global change factors are largely decoupled...

29.11.2024
 

A pioneering study published in Nature Communications reveals how fungi and bacteria grow under severe drought conditions.

Led by Alberto Canarini,...

 Events

11.07.2024 15:00
 

Josh Schimel

Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA

UBB HS 2

27.06.2019
 

Yong-Guan Zhu

Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences & Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Lecture Hall HS5, UZA2...

15.11.2018
 

Ivan Janssens

Centre of Excellence of Global Change Ecology, University of Antwerp, Belgium

Lecture Hall HS2, UZA 1

 Latest Publications

Sun L, Qiao Y, Wanek W, Moorhead DL, Cui Y, Peng Y et al. Nitrogen input decreases microbial nitrogen use efficiency in surface soils of a temperate forest in northeast China. Geoderma. 2025 Jan;453:117159. Epub 2024 Dec 25. doi: 10.1016/j.geoderma.2024.117159

Spohn M, Wanek W. Quantifying element fluxes using radioisotopes. New Phytologist. 2025 Jan;245(2):443-445. doi: 10.1111/nph.20203

Knight CG, Nicolitch O, Griffiths RI, Goodall T, Jones B, Weser C et al. Soil microbiomes show consistent and predictable responses to extreme events. Nature. 2024 Dec 19;636:690-696. Epub 2024 Nov 27. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-08185-3

Zhu Z, Wanek W, Gao K, Fang Y, Li D. Increasing plant species diversity benefits soil protein accumulation in a subtropical forest. Journal of Applied Ecology. 2024 Dec 3;61(12):3007-3016. doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.14793