TER

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.

More about CeMESS

News

Andreas Richter recognized as Highly Cited Reseracher 2019

20.11.2019 TER

Congratualtions to Andreas, who was listed among the top-cited scientists internationally. In total 45 scientists from Austria are on this list,…

EGU Outstanding Student Poster Award 2019 for Bruna Imai

25.10.2019 TER

Bruna received the Outstanding Student Poster award in the category "Soil System Sciences" for her Poster "The role of common mycorrhizal networks for…

Andreas Richter talking about Arctic Ecosystems and Climate Change in the Natural History Museum Vienna

22.10.2019 TER

On 23rd Oct, 18:30, Andreas will give a public lecture (in German) in the NHM Vienna on "Was die Veränderung arktischer Ökosysteme für den globalen…

Congratulations – MSc Johann Püspök

12.10.2019 TER

Johann successfully defended his Master's thesis " Microbial phosphorus immobilization slows down soil phosphorus cycling in tropical secondary…

New Paper in Nature Climate Change: Nitrogen and phosphorus constrain the CO2 fertilization of global plant biomass

31.08.2019 TER

Elevated CO2 (eCO2) experiments provide critical information to quantify the effects of rising CO2 on vegetation. Many eCO2 experiments suggest that…

Congratulations – MSc Eva Simon

16.08.2019 TER

Eva successfully defended her Master's thesis "Seasonal responses of microbial growth and respiration to multiple climate change drivers” on Wednesday…

Latest Publications at TER

Luo, Y., Cardoso, MF. S., Halfwerk, R., Sechi, V., Wanek, W., & Buisman, C. J. N. (2026). Distinct and synergistic roles of bacteria, fungi, and extracellular polymeric substances in soil aggregation. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 222, 1-4. Article 110274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2026.110274

Glasl, B., Kitzinger, K., Luter, H. M., Legin, A., Schuster, S., Salas, E., Heldwein, N., Damjanovic, K., Rutsch, M., Vekeman, B., Geerlings, N. M. J., Pjevac, P., Séneca, J., Watzka, M., Wanek, W., Speth, D. R., & Wagner, M. (2026). Branched-chain amino acid assimilation enables mixotrophy of ammonia-oxidizing archaeal sponge symbionts. Science Advances, 12(36), 1-15. Article eaef9450. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aef9450

Lintner, M., Polovodova Asteman, I., Bernhard, J. M., Legin, A., Schintlmeister, A., Cyran, N., Schmidt, K., Wanek, W., Golen, J., & Tyszka, J. (2026). Water soluble fuel compounds impair metabolism in benthic foraminifera: Ecotoxicological observations at cellular level. Science of the Total Environment, 1045, 1-10. Article 181976. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2026.181976

Yao, R., Zhang, Y., Wanek, W., Luo, Z., Fu, H., Chang, S. X., Terrer, C., Jiang, M., Ge, T., Liang, G., Yang, Y., Luo, Y., Chen, J., Delgado-Baquerizo, M., Chadwick, D. R., Jones, D. L., Wu, L., Liang, Y., & Ma, Q. (2026). Synergistic Interactions Between Warming and Elevated Atmospheric CO₂ Increase Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration. Global Change Biology, 32(8), 1-14. Article e71072. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.71072

Sun, L., Chen, J., Qiao, Y., Moorhead, D. L., Wanek, W., Ochoa-Hueso, R., & Lin, Y. (2026). Revisiting ecoenzymatic stoichiometry models for improved understanding of microbial resource limitations. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 222, 1-10. Article 110280. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2026.110280