Special episode: Ask your colleague!

A live talk about earthworms, raccoons, cattle and octopods

19.06.2023

15 institutes with almost 1,200 employees - the Thünen Institute has numerous experts on extensive, but also very specialised topics. One of them researches octopods, for example, even though they don't even exist in the Baltic Sea. Another knows when cows feel really good. During the Thünen Day in June 2023, four researchers put themselves to the questions of their colleagues. The result is the first special episode of "45 minutes future".

Berit Michler, Axel Don, Solveig March, Daniel Oesterwind (f.l.t.r.)

Good animals, bad animals? Why are there never the right number of (wild) animals in Germany? And why do we want to get rid of the raccoon again, which we once naturalised because of its beautiful fur? Dr Berit Michler from the Thünen Institute for Forest Ecosystems in Eberswalde provides answers to these and other questions about biodiversity in the forest.

Her colleague Dr Daniel Oesterwind from the Thünen Institute for Baltic Sea Fisheries in Rostock is glad that Paul the octopus no longer has to predict football results. As an expert on molluscs with more than seven arms, Oesterwind explains why squid, octopus and co. are nevertheless a kind of oracle - for climate change-related changes in the marine environment, for example.

For Dr Axel Don from the Thünen Institute for Agricultural Climate Protection in Braunschweig, earthworms are above all allies when it comes to the long-term build-up of humus - the soil component that is traded as a kind of climate saviour. Axel Don explains why this hope is exaggerated, but humus build-up is nevertheless an important component in the fight against drought.

Cows don't like to communicate that much. Nevertheless, Dr Solveig March from the Thünen Institute of Organic Agriculture in Trenthorst knows pretty well how the animals are doing, why they are doing that way and what they need to do better. As a specialist in animal welfare, she most recently contributed to the recommendations for a National Animal Welfare Monitoring.

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