Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science
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.
Elevated CO2 (eCO2) experiments provide critical information to quantify the effects of rising CO2 on vegetation. Many eCO2 experiments suggest that…
Eva successfully defended her Master's thesis "Seasonal responses of microbial growth and respiration to multiple climate change drivers” on Wednesday…
Christina was promoted to the position of an Assistant Professor (tenure track) as of July 15th, 2019. Congratulations, Christina!
Together with a group of 7-10 year old kids, members of TER explored SOIL. From soil sampling and sieving, to measuring soil pH and respiration, and…
The Division of Terrestrial Ecosystem Research met at Schloss Drosendorf, an idyllic castle North of Austria at the Czech border, for a two-day…
Christina Kaiser talks about her research on self organisation of soil organic matter decomposition. Soil is home to the greatest biodiversity of all…
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
University of Vienna
