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.
Hannes Schmidt, Senior Scientist at TER, received funding from the Austrian Science Fund’s 1000 Ideas program (“Tausend Ideen”). Congratulations,…
Congratulations to Paul Prinz, who successfully defended his MSc thesis on Wednesday April 9th, 2025.
His thesis on “Modelling the effect of…
Congratulations to Thayer Taft, who successfully defended his MSc thesis on Wednesday April 2nd, 2025.
His thesis on “Microbial activity responses…
Congratulations to Dr. Eva Simon, who successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled
"The fine-scale spatial organisation of the soil microbiome" on…
Iris Karbon successfully defended her Master’s thesis “Off-target Effects of Biological Nitrification Inhibitors in an Agricultural Soil” on March…
Congratulations to Dr. Julia Wiesenbauer, who successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled
"The spatiotemporal dynamics of microbial activity at a…
Zhou, J., Liu, S., van Groenigen, K. J., Mueller, C., Ochoa-Hueso, R., Fanin, N., Ren, Z., Zhang, Y., Ma, Y., Sun, S., Hu, J., Zhang, Y., Yahdjian, L., Wanek, W., Olesen, J., Kuzyakov, Y., Liu, J., & Chen, J. (2026). Contrasting responses of particulate and mineral-associated organic carbon stocks to grazing exclusion in an alpine meadow. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 400. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2026.110227
Hansen, P. M., Zhang, Y., Guseva, K., Kaiser, C., & Francesca Cotrufo, M. (2026). Microbial community regulation of extracellular enzyme production can mediate patterns of particulate and mineral-associated organic matter accumulation in undersaturated soils. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 214, Article 110056. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.110056
Liu, M., Xu, X., Jin, P., Bruelheide, H., Kuzyakov, Y., Bardgett, R. D., & Wanek, W. (2026). Advancing predictive understanding of tree organic and inorganic nitrogen uptake across forest biomes. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 213, Article 110027. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.110027
Nottingham, A. T., Karhu, K., Salinas, N., Schnecker, J., Sietiö, O. M., Martin-Vivanco, A. K., Wanek, W., & Meir, P. (2026). Microbial death in the Andes: necromass declines despite growth and carbon-use-efficiency increases with decadal soil warming. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 213, Article 110002. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.110002
Yao, R., Fu, H., Liu, X., Liu, F., Wanek, W., Liang, G., Chadwick, D. R., Jones, D. L., Wu, L., & Ma, Q. (2026). Meta-analysis of the accumulation and stabilisation of particulate and mineral-associated organic carbon by fertilization. Soil and Tillage Research, 255, Article 106770. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2025.106770
University of Vienna
