Insect diversity is declining in Bavaria. Land use is a major driver, but the impact of climate change is still unknown. A study by the University of Würzburg has now investigated how both factors interact.
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When male bees don’t get lucky
04/25/2022Do pesticides have anything to do with the decline in bee populations? A research team led by the University of Würzburg has investigated - and found a connection between fenbuconazole and the insects' mating behavior.
moreThe Cacao Tree Enigma
04/06/2022The tropical tree, from whose seeds chocolate and other sweets are produced, has its secrets. Unravelling them is not so easy.
moreWhere Wild Honeybees Survive
02/16/2022In northern Spain, wild honeybees use hollow electricity poles as nesting cavities. Natural areas in the surroundings promote the colonies’ chances to survive the winter.
moreLogistical Herculean Tasks
11/25/2021The question of the causes of species extinction confronts science with complex tasks. Dr Sarah Redlich from the Biocentre on the challenge of creating a study design.
moreInsects in the Light of Land Use and Climate
10/12/2021Urbanisation appears to be another key factor for insect decline. This is shown by a study in which the impact of climate and land use on insects was disentangled for the first time.
moreDiversity matters
09/23/2021The higher the biological diversity in an ecosystem, the better the important processes there function. A heterogeneous environment promotes this effect, while intensive land use weakens it, as a new study shows.
moreSafeguarding European Wild Pollinators
09/06/2021The newly funded EU Horizon 2020 project Safeguard will address the decline of wild pollinators, its effects on biodiversity and ecosystem services, and options to restore pollinator diversity.
moreDeadwood in the Global Carbon Cycle
09/01/2021The time deadwood in forests needs to decompose depends on climate as well as on fungi and insects. Researchers have now quantified the contribution of deadwood to the global carbon cycle.
moreIn an exceptionally broad and elaborate study, biologists from the University of Würzburg investigated the biodiversity of flowering fields planted as part of agri-environmental schemes.
moreHalt post-disturbance Logging in Forests
09/23/2020Please do not disturb: After forest fires, bark beetle infestations and other damage, the affected forests should not be cleared. Researchers report this in the journal Nature Communications.
moreRare Moth Discovered
08/10/2020An oak forest in Lower Franconia has caused a small sensation in zoology: A moth was discovered there that was considered extinct.
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Honeybee Dance Dialects
03/04/2020Honeybees use their waggle dance to tell their conspecifics where to find food. Depending on the honeybee species, there are different dance dialects, as a German-Indian research team has shown.
moreLife in Dead Wood
02/10/2020Dead wood plays an important role for biodiversity in forests. The Ecological Station of the University of Würzburg and the Forest Enterprise Ebrach conduct a joint research project on this topic that has been recently granted with 500,000 euros.
moreTree Cavities for Wild Honeybees
12/10/2019The forests in Europe provide habitat for around 80,000 colonies of wild honeybees. That is why more attention should be paid to preserving the nesting sites for these threatened insects, according to researchers.
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