Biodiversity and Ecosystems

The oceans are under pressure from all sides. In a conversation with ECHO, political scientist Alice Vadrot and marine biologist Frank Melzner, ECH members at the University of Vienna, discuss how climate change is spoiling our vacations, why marine protected areas do not necessarily protect against deep-sea mining, and why every effort counts toward making marine ecosystems more resilient - and institutions for marine conservation stronger.

Franz Essl, ECH member, ecologist and biodiversity researcher at the University of Vienna, discusses the EAT-Lancet Report with the ECH Editorial Team, focusing on how food systems contribute to biodiversity loss and climate change. He argues that protecting intact ecosystems is fundamental to long-term food security - and that only interdisciplinary research can address the complexity of global food system transformation.

Peatlands are powerful carbon sinks - if we let them stay intact. New research from ECH members shows how wetland farming - magic word: paludiculture - and microbial life can work together to reduce emissions without sacrificing land use. A story of science, sustainability, and the surprising appetite of microorganisms.

Beneath the surface of Croatia’s largest natural lake, a silent transformation is underway. In a new study, researchers from the University of Vienna and the Ruđer Bošković Institute reveal that climate change is salinising Lake Vrana - threatening freshwater ecosystems and amplifying global climate risks. What looks like a holiday paradise may be a warning sign.

The ocean stores many times more carbon than the atmosphere, yet many of the mechanisms behind its carbon cycles are not yet fully understood. For over three decades, Gerhard Herndl from the University of Vienna has been studying the microbial life in the deep sea and how it can help to explain where the carbon goes and how this influences the climate.