en: Current Press Releases

Invitation to the III REGULUS Status Conference in Munich on 17 and 18 March

How can forests withstand climate change while meeting growing societal demands? Learn about practical research for a sustainable forestry and timber industry and take a look inside a real-world forestry laboratory.

Society and science are debating whether the weathering of rock powder can sequester atmospheric carbon in the long term. However, a team of researchers led by the Thünen Institute of Climate-Smart Agriculture and ETH Zurich has now shown that there are still too many unknowns involved. A…

Schematic representation of accelerated rock weathering with transport of CO₂ and dissolved ions from land via rivers to the ocean.

An analysis of current economic data by the Thünen Institute shows that rural areas are particularly affected by job losses in the manufacturing sector. These regions are at risk of losing their economic base.

The graph shows that the number of companies established in the manufacturing sector has declined most sharply in rural areas.

The Information and Coordination Centre for Fisheries Transformation (IKTF) is a new institution for fisheries in the North Sea and Baltic Sea. On behalf of the German government, the IKTF supports fishermen and fisherwomen in the transition to a sustainable sector. It will celebrate its opening in…

Several brown shrimp boats are lined up next to each other in a harbour.

The Thünen Centre of Competence on the Origin of Timber has published a new reference work for determining the origin of charcoal and barbecue briquettes. With detailed descriptions and microscopic photographs, the researchers support companies and authorities in verifying compliance with the EU…

Mikroskopaufnahme zur Bestimmung der Holzart in Holzkohle unter einem Mikroskop. Die Probe ist grün eingefärbt.

During the dry years, Germany's forests largely lost their function as carbon sinks. Now it has become apparent that the forest soil compensated for almost all of the negative effects during this period, thus taking over the sink function of the trees. Scientific models must therefore be adapted for…

A graph showing carbon storage in forests. While the curve remained well into negative territory until 2018, it has since risen back towards zero.

Extreme events change the ecology of oceans abruptly: For example, a marine heat wave in 2003 had such strong effects on species composition and trophic interactions of the subpolar North Atlantic that these impacts last until today. Researchers led by the Thünen Institute of Sea Fisheries in…

Scientists working in departmental research within the Federal Ministry of Agriculture have developed innovative projects in 27 research projects. These projects are designed to support the agricultural and food industries in achieving the sector's climate protection goals.

Combined facility for feeding cattle and measuring methane emissions.

A recent study by the Thünen Institute of Climate-Smart Agriculture assessed data on soil carbon content and stocks in arable soils under organic and conventional farming in Germany. The surprising finding: the soil carbon in organically farmed fields hardly differs from that in conventionally…

A pit in a field with tools on the ground and a person in the pit taking notes.

A recent study by the Thünen Institute of Baltic Sea Fisheries provides the first evidence that Atlantic herring also exhibit a so-called spawning site fidelity. This means that most herring in the western Baltic Sea return to their birthplaces, such as the Greifswald Bay, to spawn. This finding is…

A functional monitoring network for Germany's moorland areas is now in place. The 155 measuring points in open land and forests were set up over the past five years by scientists from the Thünen Institute. Today, Thursday, they are submitting their report on the development phase to the Federal…

With more than 70 options for action, the IPBES presents its most comprehensive report to date on the links between biodiversity, water, food and health to advise political decision-makers. Expertise also comes from the Thünen Institute of Biodiversity.

A diagram with grey, white and coloured boxes, with arrows between them. In the background is a meadow with poppies, and hedges and trees can also be seen.

The Thünen Institute now has its own landscape laboratory, starting out with nine experimental fields. At the Trenthorst site (Schleswig-Holstein), models for future land use are being developed, researched, and tested on an area of 600 hectares. The researchers aim to overcome traditional forms of…

A person stands next to a young tree in front of a cow pasture, watching curiously.

At the foot of the offshore wind farms in the German Bight, newly composed fish communities are forming. These differ depending on the location and wind farm. This is shown by current studies by the Thünen Institute of Sea Fisheries in a wind farm in the southern German Bight.

An underwater picture with a striped fish and an overgrown tube.

New Forest Living Labs in the Harz Mountains and in Lower Bavaria: German forest and wood research is reorganising itself for the forests of the future. The SURVEY joint research project, coordinated by the Thünen Institute and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), brings together…