Research
A major research priority of the working group are ecological relations and functions. The focus in terrestrial habitats are biological soil crust communities of different vegetation and climatic zones concerning their composition, biotic interactions and influence on soil nutrient cycles.
CLIMARCTIC - Climate change impacts on Arctic soil and lake microbiomes
CRUSTFUNCTION - Biodiversität und funktionelle Rolle von biologischen Bodenkrusten
Crustfunction II - Function of biological soil crusts (BSCs) in temperate zones
CRUSTWEATHERING - Structure and function of biocrusts in weathering, soil formation and erosion processes
Phosphatases – Development of new quantitative assays along terrestrial-aquatic gradients
Biologische Bodenkrustenalgen in den Polarregionen
Baltic TRANSCOAST - Microphytobenthic primary production
The research priority in aquatic habitats is on nutrient cycles and food-web interactions as well as on the modelling of ocean acidification. At the Darß-Zingst lagoon the focus is especially long term observation data of phytoplankton microscopy and nutrient analytics.
BACOSA - Baltic Coastal System Analysis and Status Evaluation
BIOACID III - Impact of ocean acidification on a macrophyte community
The greening of potash mining heaps with biological soil crusts and the research on the groyne destroying common shipworm Teredo navalis are current projects, which combine fundamental research with applied aspects. Furthermore, the group momentarily works for an Icelandic company on UV protection substances in microalgae.
