Seasonal Greetings!

🚨REGISTRATION & ABSTRACT SUBMISSION OPEN 🚨 for the 9th International 🧪 Symposium on Woody Root Research! 🌳Please register/submit at wrix.favmeeting.it. Early bird registration ends on 1. February 2026. Abstract deadlines: 31. March for potential oral presentations (selected), 30. April for posters.

🚨New paper in Geoderma🚨 Across 9 #TreeDivNet 🧪experiments in Europe, we show that mixed-species 🍁 #forests 🌳🌲store ~9% more #soilcarbon than monocultures. Gains are strongest on cool, <fertile, #climate stable sites, and linked to >fungal richness. #soilcarbon 👉 doi.org/10.1016/j.ge...

Excited to be participating in the conference 'Soil Cities' on #soil-sensitive architecture and #urban planning. #greeninfrastructure #urbandevelopment, 20–21 November 2025, Altes Fundamt, Bremen. We'll explore how #healthy #soils can shape #climate-resilient #cities. See you at: www.soilcities.org

A look back at the very engaging and productive💧🏙️SPONGE-City BiH conference bit.ly/47apbZx where we brought together experts from MendelU CZ and UNSA BiH on #Water Manag. & #Urban #Blue-Green 🌳 Infrastr. for #Sponge Cities. Thank you to all who participated & special thanks to Prof. Emira Hukic🧪

🚨Join us on Wednesday, 5 November 2025, 16:00 CEST (Prague) for🧪 #forest🍁#ecology #seminar. Welcome Francis M. Martin @fmartin54.bsky.social (INRAE Nancy) 'Into the Heart of Darkness - #Genomics🧬 #Saptrotrophy-to-Symbiosis 🌳Forest #Soil #Fungioom' 🍄 ZOOM: excellentia.ldf.mendelu.cz/SEMINAR-SERIES

Big 🧪milestone for #EuAsiaN-ROOT 🌍🌳 We built a #Eurasia wide #forest-soil research #network—28 core sites (18 running) + satellite plots across CZ, DE, IT, KZ, MN, TH, with shared protocols & FAIR data to unlock #belowground insights at AM/EM #mycorrhiza #root contrast. euasianroot.ldf.mendelu.cz

🚨Publication ALERT🚨 #Root #phenology in mixed 🍁 #forests 🧪2-yr study (oak, hornbeam, lime, maple): roots start > leaves; maple, hornbeam peak < oak, lime; #mixing mirrors dominant sp; leaf–root lag; winter growth at 4.2 °C; temp link flips; Qiwen Guo et al. 2025, Funct Ecol 👉 doi.org/10.1111/1365...

🚨Publication alert🚨Across 21 #forest 🧪🍁 experiments (84k #trees, 89 spp.), productivity ⬆️ with🌳 #richness (saturating) and variability ⬇️. #Functionaldiversity mediated gains; #structuraldiversity trended ⬇️. Selection effects dominate. Acquisitive, low-WD species benefited. doi.org/10.1111/gcb....

🚨Publication alert🚨 #Forest 🌳 #diversity ≠ automatic #drought resilience. Across #treedivnet 🧪🍁experiments, single-year drought growth reflected #trees’ #hydraulic safety margins & drought intensity, not richness. In consecutive droughts, div effects grew—direction varied by site. #Traits matter.

Holocaust-Überlebende weltweit gedenken den Opfern des 7. Oktober 2023. Sie trauern um zerstörte Familien, warnen vor wachsendem #Antisemitismus und hoffen trotz allem auf #Frieden – für #Israel, für die Menschen in Gaza, für die Menschlichkeit. #Erinnerung #NieWieder auschwitz.info/de/presse/pr...

📢 Hot off the press in New Phytologist! A fresh study explores the link between root traits and ecosystem functions 🌱🌍, with our very own Thom Kuyper among the co-authors! 👏 🔗 Check it out : nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

🚨Join us on Wednesday, 8 October 2025, 16:00 CEST (Prague) for our 🧪 #forest🍁#ecology seminar, MENDELU, CZ "Landsharing: can #agroforestry enhance #biodiversity?" by Martin Lukac @mtnlkc.bsky.social, University of Reading, UK. Zoom: excellentia.ldf.mendelu.cz/seminar-series. Free. Q&A via chat

🗞️New study in @globalchangebio.bsky.social 🗞️ 🌳Diversity in resource use strategies promotes productivity across a global network of tree #diversity experiments?🌲 Read our new study led by Joel Jensen together with #TreeDivNet here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Makes me as PhD supervisor even more proud of Ilija!

As climate adaptation needs increase, is this the solution to closing the finance gap?

Absorptive fine #roots drive substantial #forest #soil carbon accumulation over the long term: Substantial forest soil carbon accrual from absorptive fine roots over decadal timescales - Nature Geoscience

🚨Article collection OPEN🚨 🧪🍁 #Forest #Soils: How Harvesting Methods and Management Shape Soil Properties, Functions, and Resilience. Edited by Marian Schönauer and me at 🌲"Discover Forests". 🌳 APC currently waived, open till mid 2026 (tbd). link.springer.com/collections/... ... OA, reviews, welcome!

🚨SAVE the DATE🚨 "9th International 🧪 Symposium on 🍁Woody Root research" 3-5 June 2026, Como, Italy. www.uninsubria.eu/about-us/our.... Sessions will cover #root #ecology, #mycorrhizal dynamics, #belowground #technologies, #agroforestry applications, & #globalchange. Reserve your accomodation soon!

🧪CONFERENCE "Sustainable #Water Management and 🏙️ #Urban Blue-Green 🌳 #Infrastructure for Advancing 💧 #Sponge City Perspectives in #BiH" October 20-22, 2025, University of #Sarajevo, BiH. Free admission. Register until October 15, link at www.sfsa.unsa.ba/web/invitati...

🚨PUBLICATION ALERT🧪Soil carbon to go: #Agroforestry🌳practices including 🍁 #coffee sequester the highest amounts of #soil #C in mountainous Southern #Ethiopia. Agroforestry Systems. doi:10.1007/s10457-025-01298-2; Access: rdcu.be/eFJ90 AF systems based on coffee are key to enhancing soil C storage.

Thank you for the great atmosphere, the care you show for trees, and for providing a platform for #roots, #mycorrhiza and #soilhealth in #urban areas. Stressed city trees need us to look beneath our feet – 'Rooted Realities'. CZ National Arborist Conference: 'Tree for Life – Life for a Tree 2025'.

🚨Publication Alert🚨Root mixture analysis: methods and vision. Marco Lombardi et al. doi.org/10.1016/j.tp... - A 🧪 rational why we need (better) tools to study (crop) #root mixtures to move toward #sustainable #production of #food #feed #energy. Download 50 days: authors.elsevier.com/a/1lZUN4rGdj...

🚨Publication Alert🚨Patterns in #Root Phenology of Woody Plants Across Climate Regions: Drivers, Constraints, and Ecosystem Implications - Qiwen Guo et al. doi.org/10.3390/f160... - the 🍁study synthesizes data from ~60 🧪 studies to identify #phenological patterns of woody plants / #trees #belowground

It was a fantastic start to establishing the 1. core plot at Kasetsart University's plot near the #Sakaerat Biosphere Res. It will help us understand the effects of EM-tree admixture #Dipterocarpaceae on soil functioning in AM-dominated dry evergreen tropical #forests. #roots #mycorrhiza #soilhealth

Back from fieldwork in Thailand - studying the effects of #Dipterocarps on #forest #soil processes incl. #weathering, #decomposition and ecosystem properties (C allocation, #root traits). Big thanks to the @euasian-root.bsky.social team from #Kasetsart University and Sakaerat Research Station!

In beautiful #Thailand, eager to dig for @euasian-root.bsky.social into #roots #mycorrhiza but before a weekend treat with some big beauties 🐘 (hope they don't 💩 poop, sit, take interest on our new 🌳 dipterocarp plots though)

🎉 Congratulations to 🎓Dr. Pavel Baykalov on successfully defending his 🧪PhD thesis on "advanced #root imaging" @BOKU AND @vienna-scientific.bsky.social, 🙏funded by @horizoneu.bsky.social #MSCA Future Arctic #ATTRACT. 👏, Pavel! 🔗 www.researchgate.net/profile/Pave...

The long-term 🌳#windthrow plots are fully set up one year after the 🌀 storm. It's always surprising how much 💪 physical work #forest #ecology 🍁 fieldwork involves, but the data on soil C dynamics, microfauna and flora expected in the years to come is much needed for sound 🌲🌳 management decisions...

🌿Join us to learn about the newly published paper ‘Early overyielding in a mixed deciduous forest is driven by both above- and below ground species-specific acclimation’ in @annbot.bsky.social by Ramona Werner and co-authors. 🧵 (1/8) 👉 botany.fyi/o8pzk9 #AoBpapers #ForestDynamics

🧪 Counting #roots, #mycorrhizae and #pathogens in the #Eurasian soil transect to synthesise in-situ knowledge of "soil biology" for 🍁 #forests belowground. Great progress thanks to a highly engaged consortium! Example for Thailand: some soil data but little information on roots / mycorrhizae... dig!

🚨The new 🧪publication by Marian Schönauer, @borisrewald.bsky.social et al. demonstrates that #ERA5-Land data is equally well suited to modelling 🍁 #tree growth as weather station data. ERA5-Land opens up possibilities for modelling and overcomes issues of data accessibility. doi.org/10.1016/j.ag...

🚨🧪SUMMER SCHOOL: THE HIDDEN HALF OF 🍁🌳ECOSYSTEMS (22 - 26 September 2025) at the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Czechia. Programm and registration: excellentia.ldf.mendelu.cz/summer-school. Deadline for registration: 30th June 2025 (15 participants). See u soon!

Yes, we "hate" #roots and #mycorrhiza so much, we trench them as deep as possible... Just to show how soil Carbon will thrive (read: being lost) when they are not around! All 🧪power to the saprotrophs!... Two more trenches to do in CZ then it's summer secondment in 🍁Thailand! Yeah!

🧪Root sorting at full swing for @euasian-root.bsky.social project. Amazing how intermixed 🌳root systems are ... this sample was collected at a pure 🍁Acer spot (UFE, MENDLEU, CZ) but contained many Quercus roots from many meters away ... thus its not easy to discern AM vs EM effects on soil props

🚨Publication🚨🍁🧪Ecological assessment of #forest #management approaches to develop resilient forests in the face of #global_change in Central #Europe. uge collaborative effort by Huth et al. 2025 dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ba... (124 pages :))

🧪🍁 As well as being a #roots and #soils enthusiast, Pauline @pfgblue.bsky.social is Deputy Head of the School of Biological Sci, Director of the WA Biogeochemistry Centre & she leads the Ecosystems Res. Group at UWA .. highly recommended! excellentia.ldf.mendelu.cz/seminar-series, May 14, 1 pm CEST

EGU25 🧪 talk by Marian Schönauer et al. on "Spatial variations in soil moisture in temperate 🍁 forest independent of topographic moisture indices, yet ERA5-Land retrievals accurately reflect their temporal variations". Impressive accuracy of EOS-based over fllow-accumulation-based indices.

🧪Join us on Wednesday, 2 April 2 2025, 16:00 CET (Prague) for our #forest🍁#ecology seminar, MENDELU, CZ "Spatial and temporal variation in Amazon deforestation and forest recovery" by John Healey, @bangoruniversity.bsky.social Zoom link: excellentia.ldf.mendelu.cz/seminar-series. Q&A via chat.

**CLOSING SOON** Special issue on "Multi-Organismal Approaches to Understanding Mycorrhizal Functioning Editors: David Johnson, Alan Wanke & Joanna Weremijewicz Deadline: 31st March 2025 Manuscripts welcomed, please contact us (bit.ly/JXBissues) #JXBspecialissues 🌱 🌿 🧪 #plantscience (1/2)

🧪 CONFERENCE @egu.eu 2025, Vienna (oral, on site): Join us for "Beyond Mean Reaction Norms: Trait Plasticity and Growth of 🍁 Trees under Interspecific Competition Above and Below Ground" by B Rewald, H Sandén, DL Godbold, R Werner. 🌳Thu, 01 May, 17:05–17:15, Room 2.23 🌳 doi.org/10.5194/egus...

🍁🧪PUBLICATION 🚨To log or not to log: Salvage logging of [...] spruce [...] results in direct losses of leaf litter C, stable topsoil C stocks, and shifts in enzyme stoichiometry ... unexpectedly low benefits of standing deadwood for topsoil C. Access till 7.May authors.elsevier.com/c/1knfq1L~Gw...

Dan Binkley! Mark your calenders... Nothing less than @Excellentia_HE 🧪🍁 #forest #science to be expected :) Wednesday 05.03. 4pm CET. Online (zoom). Everyone welcome, Q&A via chat.

ANOTHER PUBLICATION 🚨 (busy winter) - Difficult field work in the #DRC but Daniel Muhindo and the local team gare working hard to 🧪ly advance #rice field #phenotyping in the #Ruzizi plain with #UAV #multispectral data. dx.doi.org/10.1002/agg2... (p.s. the picture is NOT related ;) - ?? @wiley.com )

PUBLICATION 🚨 for the 🧪 #root lovers @bsky.app 😀 Read in PLSO dx.doi.org/10.1007/s111... how #SWIR imaging can help to distinguish roots by #species and #vitality ... highlighting the potential of #spectral analysis for root #phenotyping. P.S. @bsky.app -still waiting for any icon resembling a root

PUBLICATION 🚨 #forests 🍁 foster buffered microclimates, but mechanisms have rarely been 🧪 studied. Read our article to explore #temperature #regulation by (young) monoc., 2- and 4-species mixed plantations ... dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fo... ... #tree species selection can optimize thermal regulation!

🧪Growing #rice in Central #Africa? Check out our new paper on how #climatesmart #biochar x NPK application significantly improves yield and profitability - and save water! dx.doi.org/10.1002/agj2...

Great news! Two of my research projects got the funding. Two new openings (1 PhD and 1 Post doc) will be advertised in early 2025 and if you are interested in soil biogeochemistry and nutrient cycling in arid ecosystems, reach out. Please share! :)

🧪Call for Abstracts #EGU25 "Critical Zones in #urban Areas"- #Geophysical processes rocks, #soil, parks - urban #forests, grey or blue infrastructure ... (interdisciplinary) processes, fluxes. Deadline for abstracts 15.01.25! meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU25/sessio...

I've had a few questions about the Dec 6 @plantphys.bsky.social webinar on Root Development blog.aspb.org/december-6-p... It's being held at a time to accomodate the speakers, so not always convenient for participants. However, we always record webinars & post them to YouTube and blog ASAP!