Human-driven landscape changes in the Amazon and Atlantic Forests of Brazil lead to the dominance of tree species with low-density wood and small seeds while causing the loss of species with dense wood and large seeds. Analyzing 1,207 tree species across 271 forest plots, we found that forest loss had a stronger effect on species traits than landscape configuration, though local degradation also played a significant role. These findings suggest that deforestation and habitat degradation drive consistent functional shifts in tree communities, favoring certain traits across different regions.

Since 1809, the Haller Medal has been awarded to personalities who have most distinguished themselves through performance, diligence and talent in the Bernese schools and academies and who have completed their studies here. This year, our alumna Dr. Sandra Camara-Brügger was awarded a Haller Medal for her outstanding scientific achievements in the field of palaeoecology and climate science. She received her gold medal from our Rector on 7 December at the Dies Academicus.

Maria Leunda Esnaola has been awarded a highly competitive SNSF Starting Grant for her GENICA project and will start at the IPS in 2025. This project will explore how past environmental disturbances have shaped European mountain vegetation by combining paleoecology and paleogenomics. By analyzing ancient DNA from plant remains preserved in ice cave deposits, this research will reveal genetic and demographic changes in key species over the past 5700 years. This innovative study aims to provide new insights into the resilience and vulnerability of mountain species in the context of ongoing climate change.

Grasses form unique four-cell "breathing pores" or stomatal with two dumbbell-shaped guard cells (GCs) and two subsidiary cells (SCs). A new study in the model grass Brachypodium distachyon, demonstrates that the key protein MUTE not only controls the formation of subsidiary cells but also the orientation of guard cell divisions. These findings reveal MUTE's complex, dual role in forming the "speedy" stomata that grasses rely on for effective gas exchange.

The five-year research project titled "Assessing Past and Future Forest Responses to Climate Change Impacts Using Ancient DNA (ARIaDNA)" addresses the urgent ecological challenges posed by climate change and the biodiversity crisis. The ARIaDNA project seeks to uncover how plants have historically adapted to rapid climate warming, with the aim of deepening our understanding of ecosystem responses to climate change and support the development of innovative management strategies.

Root exudates contain specialised metabolites that influence the root microbiome of the plant. This study systematically investigated how maize root bacteria metabolize benzoxazinoids, the main bioactive compounds of maize. The authors found that some maize root bacteria can metabolise the benzoxazinoid MBOA to the red degradation product AMPO, whereas root bacteria from other plant species cannot. These maize bacteria carry a unique gene, bxdA, a lactonase, which allows them to metabolise benzoxazinoids and thus specifically adapt to the roots of maize plants.

Experts at the University of Bern who specialize in the vegetation of the past are contributing their knowledge to an innovation project that is developing devices for pollen monitoring. The development is based on AI and is intended to help people who suffer from allergies.

Researchers at the Institute of Plant Sciences are among the best in the ranking based on a scholar’s D-index (Discipline H-index), which only considers papers and citation metrics for an examined discipline. The 3rd annual list includes researchers whose work ranks in the top 100 in their respective fields in Switzerland. In 2024, Markus Fischer, Willy Tinner, Daniel Prati, Eric Allan (Ecology and Evolution) as well as Matthias Erb and Urs Feller (Plant Sciences and Agronomy) have been recognised on the list.

A publication analysis published in the Laborjournal, which covers the years 2013-2022, shows a highly pleasing result for the Institute of Plant Sciences. Markus Fischer is in the top quarter of the ranking of the most cited minds in the field of plant research.

Quantifying all pairwise interactions in highly diverse ecosystems across contrasting environmental conditions is extremely challenging. However, our results show that this effort is worthwhile to better mechanistically understand how nitrogen addition and pathogen removal, two of the most common drivers of global change, affect the population dynamics of complex communities.

When crops grow in arsenic-contaminated soil, this toxic element accumulates in the food chain. A study by the University of Bern and the University of Basel has now discovered a mechanism used by corn plants to reduce arsenic uptake: the key factor is a special substance released into the soil by the roots.

Organisms exhibit a spectrum of functional strategies based on their growth rates, influenced by factors like resource availability and disturbance. This study analyzes trait data from over 2800 taxa across 14 trophic guilds in German grasslands, revealing a community-level 'slow-fast' axis shaped by both direct and trophically mediated responses to environmental drivers. The research further demonstrates that communities with 'fast' traits are linked to accelerated rates of ecosystem functioning, introducing a novel perspective for ecosystem-level functional classification.