The Wirth-Weigelt Working Group
The Leipzig University - Systematic Botany and Functional Biodiversity Working Group. Asking questions about the causes and consequences of biodiversity!
- Meet Snowy, our newest team-member ⛄ Specialized in frozen systems, cold conditions, and standing very still. Performance strongly temperature-dependent. Will unfortunately leave the team as soon as spring arrives ❄️
- 🌱 Before the winter break, our research group had a tree-planting activity at the #ARBOfun research arboretum Großpösna, kindly supported by the Botanical Garden Oberholz and pupils from the Wilhelm-Wander School. A cold but great day for everyone! 🌳
- Reposted by The Wirth-Weigelt Working GroupJust before the Xmas break🎉 In @journalofecology.bsky.social and led by Anvar Sanaei, we provide insight into #trait coordination across 90 common and future European #tree species👇 doi.org/10.1111/1365... @agwirthweigelt.bsky.social @unileipzig.bsky.social @uni-freiburg.de
- Congrats to David Schellenberger Costa, Martin Freiberg and Christian Wirth! The study shows how body size, habitat, range and even author numbers shape taxonomic description curves — and why estimating true diversity needs more than classic curve fitting! #Biodiversity #Taxonomy
- A peek behind the scenes 🔬💧 PhD candidate Michele ter Huurne is extracting water from soil and twig samples to trace where trees get their water using δ18O isotopes. Huge thanks to Dr. Matthias Saurer @wslresearch.bsky.social for the guidance and lab support! #droughtresearch #biodiversity #forest
- Congratulations also to Dr. Ingmar Staude on this important contribution! The study highlights that ecological networks can adapt to shifting floras - a key insight for managing biodiversity change in a warming world. #biodiversity #research
- Big congrats on the publication, @lsachsenmaier.bsky.social 🌳🎉👏
- Science meets finance 🌱 At the event “Biodiversität – die unterschätzte Abhängigkeit” in Potsdam, organised by the Nord-Ostdeutsche Sparkassenakademie, Dr. Jori Marx presented insights from the #Faktencheck #Artenvielfalt and joined the panel discussion on how the financial sector depends on nature.
- Scenes from the @treedi.bsky.social conference 🌳 Participants joined Prof. Christian Wirth for a guided tour through the ARBOFun arboretum - exploring how long-term measurements help us understand forest dynamics and tree functioning #treeDi #ForestEcology #PlantScience
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- Autumn is coming to the Arboretum #ArboFun! The field season is drawing to a close, but the colours are still a work of art at this time of year 🥰 Goodbye summertime! #fieldwork #season #autumn #Biodiversity #Research
- A few throwback impressions from this year’s #iDivConference 🌱 Great to see so many contributions from our group - here featuring @lsachsenmaier.bsky.social, Annalena Lenk, and @karlandraczek.bsky.social. Thanks to everyone who made it such a nice meeting! @idiv-research.bsky.social #Science
- Start of our new root shrinkage campaign on 40 herbaceous species, led by Dr. Anvar Sanaei. Excited to see what we’ll uncover! 🌿 #PlantEcology #Research #BelowgroundEcology #LeipzigUniversity
- Congrats on the publication! 👏
- Reposted by The Wirth-Weigelt Working GroupSuper excited to see that the last chapter of my PhD on root trait - ecosystem functioning relationships is now published in @newphyt.bsky.social! nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
- Mid-September a new #BioSmoke campaign in Spain kicked off 🇪🇸. Julia Olbrich collected pyrophyte leaf samples, while Kai Weber (@kai-jwd.bsky.social) ran vegetation surveys and drone-based LiDAR & hyperspectral imaging in a region with high wildfire risk near Albacete (Castilla-La Mancha).
- Reposted by The Wirth-Weigelt Working Group#iDivConference2025 today I present our study co-lead w C Guimaraes-Steinicke. Great work by our student K Wende. & great collaborators @agwirthweigelt.bsky.social A Weigelt, S Saxena & A Anwar. Floral vs veg structure fingerprints from #TLS intensity #JenaExperiment #Phenology #biodiversity
- 🌱 iDiv @idiv-research.bsky.social begins a new chapter: core funding is now jointly supported by #Saxony, #SaxonyAnhalt & #Thuringia. Grateful for this strong commitment to #biodiversity #research – proud to be part of this inspiring community shaping the future of #science
- 💧 Last week, we measured the leaf water potential at the #Auwald #crane - key data for understanding the water status of trees and their responses to drought. #WaterPotential #Drought #ClimateResponse #Trait #Leipzig #CanopyCrane #Fieldwork
- Big thanks to @idiv-research.bsky.social & the Early-Career Women in Science fund for a powerful afternoon: short talks and hands-on learning 🔍💡 Shout-out to our Prof. Dr. Alexandra Weigelt, who was among the contributing speakers!
- Writing retreat recap: focused days drafting and revising, laptops, printed pages, evenings of hikes, games, and a campfire/BBQ. What a nice and productive week! 📝 🌲 🔥
- Scenes from China, where PhD student Michèle ter Huurne is doing fieldwork with the @treedi.bsky.social project: forests, measurements, and big smiles between long days. Keep it up, Michèle!🌱📷 Photos: Michele ter Huurne #TreeDi #Fieldwork
- 🌱 #Fieldwork days at The Jena Experiment - @jena-experiment.bsky.social! Scanning roots with a minirhizotron, tracking seasonal changes & traits, plus plant surveys & soil checks. Led by PhD candidate Srijna Saxena with support from Tom Künne. Can’t wait to see what the data reveal! #RootTraits
- Back in the floodplain forest 🌳 We’re monitoring oak regeneration under different conditions. These seedlings are part of an experiment to better understand forest dynamics in changing environments. #Quercus #Leipzig #Floodplainforest #Oak #Regeneration 📍 Leipzig Auwald
- 📊 „Faktencheck Artenvielfalt“ is the first comprehensive report to show the actual state of biodiversity in Germany🌿. The full report has now been published in English! 📥Download for free here: www.feda.bio/faktencheck-en. Watch the full video: tinyurl.com/mps5vfhf #Biodiversity #research #factcheck
- Very cool to see this coming together! 🌲🔬 Sampling from 12 conifer species at #ARBOfun – part of our trait campaign @idiv-research.bsky.social We are curious to see what stomata can tell us about drought responses! #conifers #stomataltraits #fieldtolab
- Root shrinkage measurements of 40 #tree species at #ARBOfun completed! We've measured root #shrinkage, to understand #root-soil contact under #drought. The campaign was led by Dr. Anvar Sanaei with great support of our technician Nicole Nabel. Excited to see the results! #RootTraits #PlantScience
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- Last week we had our campaign for measuring leaf water potential - at 38°C outside – thank you, #Leipzig #Floodplainforest, for the shade! 🌳💧 #fieldwork #plantphysiology #heatwave #Auwald #Science #leafwaterpotential #AuwaldKran
- 🌙 We had a great #LongNightOfScience in Leipzig! Thanks to Annalena Lenk, Mathias Scholz (UFZ) & Stefan Alsheimer (City of Leipzig) for the inspiring Auwald walk & crane tour. And thanks to everyone who joined us! #Auwald #ScienceForAll #Leipzig
- Come visit us and have a look on our project in the botanical garden for the #longnightofscience in #Leipzig! 🌿🍁🍃 #science #biodiversity #research #fun
- 🎉 Proud to share that our lab has achieved LEAF Gold Certification for sustainable lab practices! As part of the NachLabs project, we're committed to reducing environmental impacts in research. Learn more: www.ucl.ac.uk/sustainable/... #SustainableScience #LEAF #GreenLab
- 🌿 Fieldwork – Leipzig, Spring 2025 🌿 Pollen traps in the canopy, soil sensors in the arboretum – and a top team in action! Huge thanks to Ron, Tom, Lena, Daniel, Melanoie & Anneke – and everyone behind the scenes. #Fieldwork #Ecology #CanopyCrane #ARBOfun
- Proud to share our new study on how functional traits shape 🌳 tree growth responses to consecutive hotter #droughts — led by Dr. Lena Kretz & Dr. Florian Schnabel (@mixedforests.bsky.social). Read more: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #Ecology #TreeGrowth #PlantBiology
- New study led by Dr. Ingmar R. Staude: 🌿 Over 25% of #plant species with non-native populations are threatened in their native range — a #conservation paradox calling for smarter, balanced strategies. 🔗 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
- 🔬 Exciting times in the lab! We’ve just installed our brand-new Unicube - an elemental analyzer – now being set up and tested. With it, we’ll be analyzing the carbon-to-nitrogen (C:N) ratio in roots and leaves to better understand plant nutrient dynamics. Stay tuned for first results! 🌱💡
- 🌿Grüner wird's nicht!🌿 Der Leipziger Pflanzenmarkt steht vor der Tür: Frühjahr: 03. & 04. Mai Herbst: 20. & 21. September Im Botanischen Garten der Universität Leipzig. Kommt vorbei und entdeckt Pflanzen & mehr! www.lw.uni-leipzig.de/botanischer-... #Leipzig #Pflanzenmarkt #Pflanzen🌿🪴🌸☀️
- 🎉Happy 5th Birthday to the Root Economics Space!🌱 This fun blog from our colleagues @joanabergmann.bsky.social and Elsa Matthus at the @zalf.bsky.social celebrates 5 years of the Root Economics Space-a framework that describes the diverse root strategies to grow and survive belowgrond. #Ecology
- We are proud to share that the work of Christian Wirth on #global checklists of #Vascular #plant names published in @newphyt.bsky.social, has ranked in the top 10% of most-viewed papers published by the journal in 2023! 👏 Congratulations on this achievement! #TopViewedArticle #plantscience
- Field season at the Arboretum Großpösna is in full swing! 🌿 Last week, our PhD candidate Michèle ter Huurne and colleagues collected soil samples. Big thanks to the Faculty of Physics & Earth System Sciences and the Institute of Geography for doing the soil core extractions! #Fieldwork #Ecology
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- 🌳 For Leipzig Floodplain Forest Day: PhD candidate Annalena Lenk’s study on oak regeneration is now featured on @unileipzig.bsky.social & @idiv-research.bsky.social! 📄 doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122678 🔗 uni-leipzig.de | idiv.de #ForestEcology #Leipzig
- 🎉 Congrats to our PhD student @lsachsenmaier.bsky.social, whose paper on #forest #growth #resistance & #resilience to drought was shortlisted for the 2024 Harper Prize! 🌳 Read more on the Journal of Ecology blog: jecologyblog.com/2025/04/04/l...
- 👏 And also congrats to @karlandraczek.bsky.social! His paper on #biodiversity – #productivity relationships in managed #grasslands was as well shortlisted for the 2024 Harper Prize! 🌱 Read more on the Journal of Ecology blog: jecologyblog.com/2025/04/02/k...
- New paper by our PhD student Annalena Lenk in #Forest #Ecology and Management: #Climate change-induced tree mortality can promote #oak regeneration in #floodplain forests – if flood-intolerant maple species are selectively removed. #Biodiversity #Research sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
- Christian Wirth and @jorimmarx.bsky.social presented the #FaktencheckArtenvielfalt at the #leipzigerbuchmesse last Friday together with Helge Bruelheide, Robert Paxton & Romy Zeiss. Thank you @unileipzig.bsky.social, @unihalle.bsky.social, @uni-jena.de ! #Buchmesse #Biodiversity #Leipzig
- 🌿 "Biodiversity can help protect the climate," says Christian Wirth at #DKK2025. Reaching the 30% GBF conservation target is key – but the remaining 70% of land also needs more biodiversity to fight climate change. 🔗 www.deutsches-klima-konsortium.de/news/pressem...
- Great work! Read the full article here: www.nature.com/articles/s41... #floodplainforest #conservation #tree #forest #biodiversity
- We just wrapped up the spring retreat of The Jena Experiment. Our professors—Alexandra Weigelt, Liesje Mommer, and Bernhard Schmid—enjoyed a field trip during the retreat ☘️ 🪴🏵️ @jena-experiment.bsky.social #thejenaexperiment #fieldwork #nature #Ecology #Biodiversity
