Congratulations – MSc Julia Horak
TER
Congratulations to Julia, who successfully defended her MSc thesis on Monday, September 28th 2020. Her thesis on “Life in a Jar – How to Build…
Division of Terrestrial Ecosystem Research
Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science
About TER
The Division of Terrestrial Ecosystem Research | TER at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science | CeMESS 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.
CeMESS/Maximilian Prag
News
15 FULLY FUNDED PHD POSITIONS IN THE DOCTORAL SCHOOL IN MICROBIOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
TER
The Doctoral School in Microbiology and Environmental Sciences offers 15 fully funded PhD positions in diverse research areas ranging from molecular…
Congratulations – MSc Carolina Urbina / MSc Chupei Shi
TER
Congratulations to Carolina and Chupei, who successfully defended their MSc thesis on Thursday August 20th.
Hannes Schmidt appointed Senior Scientist
TER
We are very happy that Hannes will join the staff of TER as a Senior Scientist on a permanent contract. He will strengthen our expertise in isotope…
Persistence of soil organic carbon caused by functional complexity: New Nature Geoscience ‘Perspectives’ Paper
TER
A new concept, put forward by an interdisciplinary group of soil scientists and mathematical modellers looks at soil carbon persistence through the…
Carbon loss from northern circumpolar permafrost soils amplified by rhizosphere priming. New paper in Nature Geoscience published
TER
As global temperatures continue to rise, a key uncertainty of climate projection is the microbial decomposition of vast organic carbon stocks in…
Latest Publications at TER
Krasenbrink, J., Hanson, B. T., Weiss, A. S., Borusak, S., Tanabe, T. S., Lang, M., Aichinger, G., Hausmann, B., Berry, D., Richter, A., Marko, D., Mussmann, M., Schleheck, D., Stecher, B., & Loy, A. (2025). Sulfoquinovose is exclusively metabolized by the gut microbiota and degraded differently in mice and humans. Microbiome, 13(1), Article 184. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-025-02175-x
Yu, Q., Anthony, M. A., Gessler, A., Tan, X., Zhu, J., Ji, C., Tang, Z., & Fang, J. (2025). Decadal nutrient addition reveals phosphorus limitation and its adaptive mechanisms in tropical rainforests. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 211(109976). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109976
Chen, S.-C., Li, X.-M., Battisti, N., Guan, G., Montoya, M. A., Osvatic, J., Pjevac, P., Pollak, S., Richter, A., Schintlmeister, A., Wanek, W., Mussmann, M., & Loy, A. (2025). Microbial iron oxide respiration coupled to sulfide oxidation. Nature, 646(8086). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09467-0
Keller, N., Anthony, M. A., van der Voort, T. S., Binte Mohamed Ramdzan, K. N., Mills, M. B., Raczka, N. C., & Koh, L. P. (2025). Soil carbon as a blind spot in tropical rainforest restoration. Current Biology, 35(15), R765-R781. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.05.060
Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science
University of Vienna
CeMESS/Maximilian Prag