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This study demonstrates that enzymatic degradation of polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) can be achieved by tuning PBT's semicrystalline properties and incubation conditions. Polymers with a high conte....

Rapid population growth is driving sweeping land use changes that have become the chief cause of species decline on Mount Kilimanjaro. These are the findings of an international research team led by the University of Bayreuth, published in the scientific journal PLOS One.

Microplastics (MPs) are recognized as emerging pollutants in aquatic environments, where they are rapidly colonized by microbial communities that form biofilms. These biofilms can alter the environmen...

Plants adapt the growth of their roots and shoots differently in response to environmental changes. This is the outcome of a study involving the Ecological-Botanical Garden (ÖBG) at the University of Bayreuth. The researchers challenge previous assessments of climate change impacts on plants, which often extrapolate from aboveground to belowground plant structures. Their findings have been published in the journal Plant & Soil.

Die Universität Bayreuth feierte mit 500 Gästen im Markgräflichen Opernhaus ihren 50. Geburtstag. 

Universität Bayreuth

Prof. Dr. Heike Feldhaar hat die Bayerische Staatsmedaille für herausragende Verdienste um die Umwelt erhalten.

Die Konzentration von klimaschädlichem CO2 in der Atmosphäre ist laut WMO auf einem neuen Höchststand. Der Anstieg war 2024 so stark wie noch nie - verursacht etwa durch zahlreiche Waldbrände. Das Sys...

The cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum) offers an ecologically advantageous alternative to silage maize for bioenergy production. This is the conclusion of a multi-year comparative study conducted by res...

Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous in the environment, but their vertical movement in undisturbed soils is poorly understood. This study investigates MP distribution and transport in one 110 cm soil profile from a Rhine River floodplain, Germany. Nine soil samples were analyzed for MP content, grain size distribution, bulk density, porosity, and organic carbon content. MPs (10 $$\upmu$$ μ m to 5 mm) were characterized by size, shape, and polymer type using ATR-FTIR and $$\upmu$$ μ FTIR. Biological activity was assessed through earthworm species identification and abundance, and sediment deposition was dated using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL). To our knowledge, this is one of the first studies to integrate detailed field observations with dating results to draw conclusions about the vertical displacement of microplastics. MPs were detected at all depths, with 81.3%–96.6% being 10–150 $$\upmu$$ μ m in size, predominantly fragments and spheres. Concentrations peaked at 790,497 particles $$kg^{-1}$$ k g - 1 dry soil between 38 and 45 cm, where root- and earthworm-formed macropores facilitated transport. Below this depth, reduced porosity limited movement, favoring smaller MPs. OSL dating indicated sedimentation before the 1950s/60s below 20 cm, suggesting vertical transport of MPs. Therefore, we would advise to be careful using small MPs as stratigraphic markers for the Anthropocene. Although analysing just one soil profile, this study highlights the role of biological activity and soil structure in MP translocation and emphasizes the need to account for small MPs in floodplain studies to avoid underestimating their environmental presence. Graphical Abstract