Ecology

22. February 2024

Water management

AI detects river pollution

Various human activities affect the quality of our lakes, rivers, groundwater, and oceans. When harmful chemicals enter our waters, it is crucial that these are identified as soon as possible. This is at the core of the "SWAIN" project, which is taking a totally new approach using artificial intelligence.

25. September 2023

Guest article by

Thilo Hofmann

Rudolphina Experts: Sustainable Agriculture

Can we feed the world population of 2050 without plastic in agriculture?

In this article, environmental geoscientist Thilo Hofmann from the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science explores the role of plastic in modern agriculture and its potential ramifications on our planet.

14. September 2023

Guest article by

Bernd Lenzner

Rudolphina Experts: Insights from the World Biodiversity Report

Battling biological invasion

Invasive alien species are one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. In this article, ecologist Bernd Lenzner explains the whys and hows, and shares his insights into the making of a milestone global report on invasive alien species.

12. May 2023

Citizen Science

Nature watchers bring Viennese graveyards to life

Come for Beethoven's grave, stay for the colourful hamsters. Iconic tombstones are not the only sights to see at the Central Cemetery of Vienna. University of Vienna researchers, citizen scientists and wildlife watchers are unearthing a wealth of biodiversity in the capital's network of graveyards.

21. March 2023

Presenting … Ecologist Constanze Englisch

Looking into the "invisible"

In cities like Vienna, various stress factors, such as rising temperatures affect the groundwater. Constanze Englisch is investigating the effects of these increased temperatures on microorganisms and animals. Together with her team, she develops ideas for using the heat of groundwater sustainably and economically, as she explains in the video.

28. February 2023

Marine ecosystems

The urgent need to protect marine ecosystems

Climate change, pollution, overfishing: they are all changing the world, having a huge impact on the seas. The global network Q-MARE, under the co-leadership of Konstantina Agiadi from the University of Vienna, studies past changes in order to provide guidelines for a more effective protection of our oceans.

17. February 2023

Climate science and permafrost soils

When thawing permafrost releases greenhouse gas

There is hardly any other region where climate change is as noticeable as in the Arctic. At the Arctic Science Summit Week 2023, which is currently taking place at the University of Vienna, 700 international Arctic researchers are putting their heads together. One of them is Andreas Richter from the University of Vienna: he and his team experienced the explosive nature of the topic at first hand a few months ago during field research in the Canadian Arctic. Read more in the guest article.

6. October 2022

Climate science and permafrost soils

When thawing permafrost releases greenhouse gas

Three weeks in the Canadian Arctic: Ecosystem researchers from the University of Vienna collected soil samples in northwestern Canada. They are investigating how the nitrogen bound in permafrost is processed by microorganisms when these permafrost soils thaw. What happens in the process could exacerbate climate change.

11. May 2021

Permafrost

"What we are doing right now is completely irresponsible"

Andreas Richter conducts research at a place where it is (still) cold: In the Arctic and the Alps, global warming is progressing at the fastest rate – here, researchers can examine essential mechanisms and collect data required to determine the speed at which the Earth is heading towards irreversible change.