News

Microbiome Enables New Strategies for Healthy and Climate-Resilient Crops 2022-02-01 A new study shows that apple trees inherit their microbiome to the same extent as their genes. The results lay the foundation for new breeding strategies for healthy and climate-robust fruit and vegetables. DEEP researcher Ayco Tack and former DEEP researcher Ahmed Abdelfattah now at TU Graz, were co-authors of the study.
Intensive and successful Research week on SLU's ship R/V Svea 2021-11-10 How does the stratification of water masses look like, how does ship traffic affect natural hydrography and how does trawling affect benthic organisms and the turnover of nutrients? October 24-30 was the Research week on R/V Svea. Three teams from six universities have come together on board during a content-rich expedition that has been going on around the clock, and where the ship's state-of-the-art equipment has been used to the maximum.
Two researchers at DEEP receive grants from the Swedish Research Council 2021-11-05 The Swedish Research Council has decided on approved applications for research. Monika Winder and Ayco Tack at the Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences (DEEP) receive in total seven million SEK.
We have a new doctor at DEEP, congratulations Dr. Per Hedberg! 2021-10-29 Per Hedberg defended his thesis titled "Responses of benthic-pelagic coupling to environmental change" the 29th of October. Discover more about his findings here.
Rescue operation: Endangered eelgrass 2021-09-29 Listen to this radio segment in Swedish about carbon storage in seagrass beds featuring DEEP researcher Mats Björk.
P1 Naturmorgon visited Askö 2021-09-28 DEEP researchers Lena Kautsky, Agnes Karlsson, Nils Kautsky hosted the Askö visit of the popular P1 radio show Naturmorgon.
We have a new doctor at DEEP, congratulations Dr. Séréna Albert! 2021-09-17 Séréna Albert defended her thesis titled "Benthic-pelagic coupling in a changing world - Structural and functional responses of microbenthic communities to organic matter settling" on Zoom 17th of September. Discover more about her findings here.
We have a new doctor at DEEP, congratulations Dr. Peter Bruce! 2021-09-17 Peter Bruce defended his thesis titled "A Deep Dive into Sediments - Exploring approaches to assess environmental risks and achieving environmental goals in management of contaminated sediments in Sweden" on Zoom the 16th of September. Discover more about his findings here.
Losses of eelgrass beds give rise to large emissions of carbon and nutrients 2022-02-01 Losses of important eelgrass meadows in western Sweden since the 1980s have led to considerable bottom erosion and the release of carbon and nitrogen; substances that contribute to increasing climate change and eutrophication.
Zooplankton can feed on cyanobacterial blooms 2021-06-16 Cyanobacterial blooms were until now assumed to be unpalatable for zooplankton and to sink to the sea floor. However, a new study unravels that small, rarely studied zooplankton, rotifers and ciliates, fill an important role in the Baltic Sea by grazing cyanobacteria blooms, moving carbon from phytoplankton to fish.
More diverse green sulfur bacteria in the world than previously thought 2021-05-20 A new study based on DNA sequences shows the diversity and abundance of Chlorobia, a type of green sulfur bacteria, in several lakes and ponds around the world in Europe and North America.
Forests protect animals and plants against warming 2021-04-13 The impacts of climate warming are buffered inside forests due to the thermal insulation of forest canopies.
Extreme drought threatens forest biodiversity 2021-02-15 How does extreme drought affect our forests? What can we change in today's forestry to protect the important key biotopes? Follow plant ecologist Kristoffer Hylander in a research experiment to understand how extreme weather affects the forest's biological diversity.
Innovation scholarship for DEEP researcher Eva Björkman 2020-12-14 The Stockholm Innovation Scholarship is awarded to five promising innovations. One of these is made by Eva Björkman at the Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences at Stockholm University.
Small mussels in the Baltic are getting even smaller 2020-10-27 Blue mussels in the Baltic Sea are getting smaller with time but bigger in numbers, according to a new study analyzing data since the 90's.
Almost 600 plants have already gone extinct 2020-09-23 Almost 600 plants have been wiped out from the planet in the last 250 year shows a new study. This is twice the number of birds, mammals and amphibians combined.
A spatial regime shift to stickleback dominance 2020-09-04 Large numbers of three-spined stickleback have gradually taken over larger parts of the Baltic Sea’s coastal ecosystem, shows a new scientific study. Stickleback is a small prey fish common in aquatic food webs across temperate Europe. The stickleback contributes to local ecosystem ‘regime shifts’, where young-of-the-year pike and perch decline in individual bays, and these shifts gradually spread like a wave from the outer archipelago into the mainland coast.
Information for students and staff about the coronavirus 2020-08-03 Information on the coronavirus in relation to Stockholm University's activities, questions and answers, and news related to the coronavirus.
Unrecorded plant extinction in poor countries is driven by inequality 2020-08-26 Here we summarized five key points of the paper 'Inequality in plant diversity knowledge and unrecorded plant extinctions: An example from the grasses of Madagascar'.
New study could help predict plant species responses to climate change 2020-06-02 A new global study which could help to predict plant species losses and responses to climate change and warming has been published.
A south Atlantic secret - expedition to Ilha da Trindade 2020-05-28 Linda Eggertsen is probably the first swede on the Brazilian island Ilha da Trindade, where she examines the fish and the benthic community.
World’s biggest fisheries supported by seagrass meadows 2020-05-28 Scientific research, led by Dr Richard Unsworth at Swansea University has provided the first quantitative global evidence of the significant role that seagrass meadows play in supporting world fisheries productivity.
Who eats who: Looking into the stomach of zooplankton 2020-05-28 PhD candidate Andreas Novotny at DEEP studies zooplankton, a small species of animals found in fresh and marine waters throughout the world. He is interested in the food chain; in who eats who. Watch the video here to find out more about his research!
The gene helping submerged plants 2020-05-28 Climate change threatens plants as the risks of flooding increase. A new study from Stockholm University shows that special genes are key to keeping plants from withering, remaining healthy and resistant to a lack of oxygen when they are underwater for a period of long time.
Mosquito nets: Are they catching more fishes than insects? 2020-05-28 Mosquito nets designed to prevent malaria transmission are used for fishing which may devastate tropical coastal ecosystems, according to a new scientific study. The researchers found that most of the fish caught using mosquito nets were smaller than a finger and potentially collect hundreds of individuals.
Skinny cod and grey seal reveals troubling changes to food web in the Baltic Sea 2020-05-28 A new study links the deteriorating health of gray seals and cod with changes in their food, bottom-living animals.
Use your power to treat your colleagues well! 2020-04-27 Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences (DEEP) organized a workshop aiming to prevent the misuse of power. Now they hope that other departments at SU will follow in their footsteps.
10 tips for writing a succesful research application 2020-03-09 The research support office has listed ten tips to follow for junior scientists and scholars.
Migratory birds, insects and plants adapt differently to climate change 2020-02-24 A warmer climate has caused plants flowering and migratory birds arriving earlier in the year than before. Now a global study also shows that changes in the life cycles between plants and animals that depend on each other is also moving faster.
Better pollination produces firmer apples that better withstand storage 2020-01-06 Good pollination of apple flowers can extend the time apples can be stored without rotting. Apple harvests are also bigger, producing firmer and tastier apples.
#BalanceforBetter: Valuing the contributions to Women in our department 2019-03-08 The theme for this year’s International Women's Day is #BalanceforBetter. As a department we're immensely proud of how we have strived to build a more gender-balanced and diverse environment.
Climate change mitigation project threatens local ecosystem resilience in Ethiopia 2018-10-29 To increase forest cover in the Global South in order to mitigate climate change does not always have positive effects. It can also threaten biodiversity and the survival of unique alpine plants.
Symposium on N2 fixation 2018-03-07 All colleagues and students interested in the topic of aquatic biological nitrogen fixation are cordially invited to take part in the Symposium of Aquatic N2 Fixation on 19th August 2018.
All insects in Sweden will be mapped with the latest DNA technique 2017-11-06 The Swedish Museum of Natural History starts a new research project to map Sweden's insects and the microscopic animals that live on them. Ayco Tack, researcher at DEEP, will participate in the study, together with researchers from SLU and KTH.
Vetenskap & Trädgård – the first episode 2016-04-20 In the new film series Vetenskap & Trädgård, you can learn more about horticulture and plant biology. In these short films, you can follow the scientists at the Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences talking about current research, helping you understand how plants work.
Detection of the neurotoxin BMAA in Swedish individuals 2016-04-05 BMAA can be produced by cyanobacteria and was earlier detected in fish and several other organisms in the Baltic Sea. The toxin is now also found in the central nervous system in three out of 25 examined individuals in Sweden.
Fucus radicans – the Baltic Sea's newest species 2015-09-28 The brown macroalga Fucus radicans probably only exists in the Baltic Sea. This species, previously believed to be a dwarf form of the bladderwrack Fucus vesiculosus, was described only ten years ago but is nevertheless extremely important to the Baltic Sea ecosystem. A new PhD thesis from Stockholm University presents new knowledge about this macroalga which also has the capacity to reproduce clonally, which is very unusual among species in the wrack family.
EMB/DEEP moves to new premises 2015-06-12 The Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences (EMB/DEEP) was formed after merger of the Department of Botany and Department of Systems Ecology. Now the department’s new premises are completed and moving in starts June 15 and will continue through the summmer 2015. The premises are adjacent to the Arrhenius laboratory and are called NPQ.
Global experiment shows that high biodiversity gives healthy seagrass beds 2015-05-21 Loss of algal-feeding invertebrates have surprisingly large effects on health of valuable seagrass meadows. These are the new results from a set of coordinated experiments that have taken place over the Northern hemisphere, in which the researchers Johan Eklöf and Serena Donadi, both at the Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, have participated.
PhD students awarded at international seagrass conference 2014-12-18 Two PhD students from the Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, received student oral presentation awards at the 11th International Seagrass Biology Workshop, which was held in Sanya, China, in November.
Cyanobacterial summer blooms progressively earlier in the Baltic Sea 2014-07-08 The cyanobacterial summer bloom in the Baltic is now almost three weeks earlier than 35 years ago, according to a study published in Biogeosciences. The blooms had been predicted to become earlier in the future, as a result of climate change, but now it appears that the future is already here.
Many connections are not always bad for health 2014-06-24 Ayco Tack is one of the authors of a paper recently published in the Science journal. The paper describes an extensive study of over 4000 plant populations infected by a pathogenic fungus. The unexpected result contradicts what is predicted from classical ecological theory.
Interactions with mutualists and antagonists drive adaptive differentiation in a perennial herb 2013-11-08 New publication in PNAS.
We have become a new department: The Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences 2017-03-27 Since January 1, 2013, we are a new department after merger of the Department of Botany and Department of Systems Ecology. Our new name is the Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences (Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och botanik).
Baltic Sea Weed Blog 2013-02-25 Are you interested in reading about exciting sea weed research at the Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences? Now the English version of the sea weed blog (Tångbloggen) is available.