Niels Bohr, the Nobel laureate in Physics and father of the atomic model, is famously supposed to have said, “It is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.” Our uncertainty about whether he actually said this or not, some attribute the quote of the legendary baseball player (and philosopher) Yogi Berra, highlights that making predictions about the past can be equally challenging. However, reconstructing the distant past and tracing how and when life adapted to new conditions, such as the rise of oxygen on Earth, requires making exactly such predictions.
“In a recent study published in Science, a multinational collaboration led by Gergely Szöllősi, senior research associate at HUN REN’s Institute of Evolution and the head of the Model-based Evolutionary Genomics Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), Tom Williams’ lab at the University of Bristol and Adrian Davin from Phil Hugenholtz’s group at the University of Queensland constructed a detailed timeline for bacterial evolution and oxygen adaptation, with a specific focus on how microorganisms responded to the Great Oxygenation Event (GOE) some 2.33 billion years ago. This event, triggered in large part by the innovation of oxygenic photosynthesis in cyanobacteria, fundamentally changed Earth’s atmosphere from mostly devoid of oxygen to one where oxygen became relatively abundant. Until now, establishing accurate timescales for how bacteria evolved before, during, and after this pivotal transition has been hampered by incomplete fossil evidence and the challenge of determining the maximum possible ages for microbial groups—given that the only credible maximum for the vast majority of lineages is the Moon-forming impact 4.52 billion years ago, which likely sterilised the planet.
The researchers addressed these gaps by turning to the geological and genomic records in tandem. Their key innovation was to use the GOE itself as a temporal constraint, assuming that most aerobic (oxygen-using) bacterial lineages are unlikely to be older than this event—unless fossil or genetic signals strongly suggest an earlier origin. They introduced a Bayesian approach that uses this assumption as a “soft” maximum, allowing for exceptions where the data warrant it. This approach, however, requires making predictions about which lineages were aerobic in the deep past. To do so, the team deployed machine-learning algorithms that aggregate signals across the entire genome, thereby robustly inferring oxygen tolerance from incomplete ancestral gene repertoires. To best leverage the fossil record, they incorporated genes from mitochondria (branching with Alphaproteobacteria) and chloroplasts (branching with Cyanobacteria), enabling additional fossil-based calibrations from the eukaryotic record and thereby improving dating accuracy.
Their results indicate that at least three aerobic lineages appeared prior to the GOE—by nearly 900 million years—suggesting that a capacity for using oxygen evolved well before its widespread accumulation in the atmosphere. Intriguingly, these findings also point to the possibility that aerobic metabolism may have predated the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis. For instance, the earliest inferred aerobic transition occurred around 3.2 billion years ago in the common ancestor of two cyanobacterial groups, indicating that the ability to utilise trace oxygen may have facilitated the later emergence of genes central to oxygenic photosynthesis. Moreover, the study estimates the last common ancestor of all modern bacteria lived sometime between 4.4 and 3.9 billion years ago, in the Hadean or earliest Archaean era. Major bacterial phyla are placed in the Archaean and Proterozoic eras (2.5–1.8 billion years ago), while many families date back to 0.6–0.75 billion years ago, overlapping with the era when land plants and animal phyla originated.
Notably, once atmospheric oxygen levels rose during the GOE, aerobic lineages diversified more rapidly than their anaerobic counterparts, indicating that oxygen availability played a substantial role in shaping bacterial evolution. The researchers argue that this combined approach of using genomic data, fossils, and Earth’s geochemical history brings new clarity to evolutionary timelines, particularly for microbial groups that lack a straightforward fossil record. It also offers a powerful framework for exploring how other microbial traits arose and interacted with the planet’s shifting environment across geological time.
Photo: Banded Iron Formation (BIF): sedimentary rocks that record the rise of atmospheric oxygen during the Great Oxidation Event (GOE)
A new research project started in the HUN-REN Centre for Ecological research titled „Increasing the ecological sustainability of oak forests by close-to-nature forestry based on experimental research (#oakadapt)”. The project is founded by the Interreg Slovakia-Hungary Programme. It is based on a collaboration between Slovakian and Hungarian research and forest management organizations, the leader of the consortium is the Technical University in Zvolen. The scientific leader of the project in the HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research is Dr. Péter Ódor.
Central European oak dominated forests have been used for centuries and currently exhibit serious biodiversity decline associated with global environmental changes. Nonetheless, they preserve considerable natural capital. They have a key role in the timber provisioning for the society, protection of forest biodiversity and recreational purposes. They have a large potential in mitigation of climate change, protection of soil and water. Forest management has high responsibility in the sustainable use of forests, integration of protection elements and resilience against climate change. Developing sustainable management approaches that increase the resilience of forests and support biodiversity are central in current applied ecological research. Scientists from the Technical University in Zvolen (SK) and the HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research (HU) experimentally investigate the effects of different forestry interventions and gap-cutting characteristics on forest microclimate, biodiversity, tree growth, and regeneration. Within the project, they will continue their experiments, make comparisons between forest stands managed by continuous cover forestry and rotations forestry, produce scientific research papers and transform the results into the forestry practice for local management partners: Forests of Krupina City (SK) and the Pilis Park Forestry Company (HU). This research can contribute to the scientific basis of continuous cover and close-to-nature management systems, that are used by the manager partners on large forest area. In addition, new management guidelines for ecologically sustainable forestry will be prepared in cooperation with National Forest Centre (SK) and Real Forest (SK) organizations. Pilis Park Forestry Company will develop and introduce the administration system of gaps and gap management, as well as introduce a monitoring of game browsing for successful forest regeneration. National Forest Centre will provide service for data sharing and information reflecting favourable status of forest biodiversity before global environmental changes. Such information and databases will support knowledge-based decision-making and partner’s cooperation. Results of the project will be widely disseminated among stakeholders, including education, nature conservations and forestry sector and provide important example and reference for future climate smart forestry.
Project information:
ID: HUSK/2302/1.2/168
Lead researcher: Ódor, Péter
Planned duration: 2024-2027
Amount of support: 336.000 EUR
EU contribution: 268.800 EUR
National contribution: 67.200 EUR
Founding organization: Interreg Slovakia-Hungary
Predicting and mitigating the effects of climate change while preserving biodiversity is a top priority for both scientists and policymakers. As climate change intensifies, leading to more frequent and severe droughts, understanding the impact on natural ecosystems has become increasingly important. One of the main challenges is forecasting changes in species richness due to shifts in precipitation patterns. While it’s established that, on a broad geographic scale, regions with more water generally support greater plant diversity, results vary at smaller plot levels concerning how rainfall affects species richness. To improve predictions, it’s essential to explore the underlying mechanisms – particularly how intense droughts and long-term rainfall changes impact biodiversity. A new study shows that increased aridity at the plot level is indeed linked to a decrease in plant species richness, and this connection is even more pronounced following extreme droughts. However, this phenomenon is not easy to detect because in the absence of drought, dominant plant species can obscure this effect.
The study, carried out by the HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research in Hungary, examines the intricate connections between long-term changes in rainfall, extreme drought conditions, the biomass of dominant plant species, and plant species diversity in a dryland ecosystem. Published in the Journal of Ecology, the research reveals that increased dryness leads to a reduction in plant species diversity in drylands and uncovers the mechanisms through which rising aridity contributes to biodiversity loss in these fragile ecosystems.
The experimental area in Fülöpháza, Central Hungary. Chronic precipitation treatments (along with decreasing aridity: severe drought, moderate drought, control and water addition) simulates changes in precipitation that have occurred several times historically. The image shows severe drought management, which excludes all rainfall from late June to late August. Prior to chronic treatments, half of the plots were exposed to an extreme treatment which simulated a drought unprecedented since the beginning of regional measurements.
Using data from a seven-year climate change field experiment, researchers conducted a path analysis to examine how precipitation influences species diversity, both directly and indirectly. The experiment simulated an extreme drought event followed by long-term variations in summer rainfall with the use of rainout shelters. Initial analysis showed a strong positive relationship between rainfall and species diversity after extreme drought treatment, but this effect was absent without drought. Interestingly, the path analysis uncovered another layer: in the absence of drought, increased rainfall boosted the biomass of dominant grass species, leading to a decrease in overall plant diversity. Nevertheless, the direct effect of rainfall remained positive, enhancing species richness even when dominant species exerted a suppressive impact. Additionally, the study revealed that past extreme droughts strengthened the link between rainfall and species diversity. Lead author Dr. Gábor Ónodi explains, “Extreme droughts decrease plant species richness and weaken dominant species. The reduction in the biomass of dominant species allows other plants to colonise, potentially altering the plant community.”
These findings have significant implications for predicting how natural ecosystems will respond to future climate change. Dr. György Kröel-Dulay, the lead researcher of the field experiment, notes “As global temperatures rise and precipitation patterns become more extreme, ecosystems may become increasingly sensitive to changes in water availability.” The study underscores the importance of considering both direct and indirect effects when evaluating the impact of climate change on biodiversity. Senior author Dr. Zoltán Botta-Dukát adds, “By deepening our understanding of these dynamics, we can better anticipate upcoming challenges and develop more effective strategies for conserving biodiversity in a world facing growing environmental uncertainties.”
Urbanisation is rapidly transforming landscapes worldwide, becoming a key driver of global biodiversity loss. It often impacts biodiversity negatively by creating selective environments that limit species diversity in urban compared to natural habitats. Amidst this challenge, understanding and enhancing urban blue-green infrastructure is critical. Garden ponds are small yet significant water features that are increasingly common in urban areas. They offer numerous ecosystem services, like aesthetic purposes, microclimate regulation, and habitats for ornamental species. However, their role in supporting biodiversity is still largely unknown.
A recent countrywide citizen science project called MyPond launched by researchers from the HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research in Hungary highlights the potential of garden ponds as crucial contributors to urban biodiversity. The online survey gathered data from over 800 garden pond owners, uncovering insights into how these small water bodies support various animals, including amphibians and their tadpoles, odonates, and birds. The study also examined the impact of pond features, pond management practices, and urbanisation on the occurrence of these animals, shedding light on the role of pond management for wildlife.
“Our findings revealed that key pond features such as pond age, area, aquatic, and shoreline vegetation all have a strong influence on the occurrence of the studied animals. Amphibians and their tadpoles, odonates, and birds were less likely to be present in or at newly installed ponds (0-1 year), which can be due to the lack of vegetation and sediment that could offer hiding and breeding places. Aquatic vegetation was positively associated with the presence of tadpoles, odonates, and birds which indicates the habitat structuring role of aquatic vegetation that benefits biodiversity. Conversely, algaecide addition negatively affected the presence of amphibians and their tadpoles. Ponds in strongly urbanised areas had less sightings of adult amphibians and their tadpoles, while these types of ponds were visited by more odonates and birds. Despite these challenges, garden ponds emerged as vital refuges for wildlife, hosting a total of 13 amphibian species across the country, and providing critical secondary habitats within urban landscapes.” – explains Dr Zsuzsanna Márton, first author of the study.
Beyond biodiversity, the study also highlighted the ecological importance of garden ponds and provided actionable insights for urban biodiversity conservation, encouraging thoughtful pond management and design to maximize their benefits.
“Our study demonstrates that citizen science is a powerful tool for urban planning, as it can contribute to gathering valuable data on urban biodiversity and utilise it for more efficient conservation strategies. It could help urban planning by identifying hotspots of aquatic biodiversity or critical areas for the conservation of key groups like amphibians in urban environments. Garden ponds might provide important stepping stones, connecting other aquatic habitats in the landscape. Also, participants may become more conscious of environmental issues and their role in it which might lead to more active engagement in supporting blue-green infrastructure development.” – summarises Dr Zsófia Horváth, the senior author of the study and head of the Biodiversity and Metacommunity Ecology Research Group at Institute of Aquatic Ecology, HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research.
Viktor Szigeti, a research fellow at the Institute of Ecology and Botany of HUN-REN CER, has been awarded a grant from the STARTING sub-programme of the National Research Excellence Programme, for the research project “Flowers and pollinators for buzzing cities”. The main objective of the STARTING sub-programme is to provide funding for postdoctoral researchers to start their independent research careers and to strengthen research creativity and excellence. (The National Research Excellence Programme replaced the previous OTKA calls in 2024.)
The 4-year research grants will be used for research on pollinating insects, as outlined below.
Pollinators play a fundamental role in nature and human life. Nowadays, the pressure to protect pollinating insects is shifting from farmlands to cities. They can be supported by maintaining semi-natural habitats and introducing novel techniques, such as less frequent mowing, flower sowing, and bee hotels. Through these interventions, cities could offer diverse environments, benefiting both pollinators’ and human well-being. However, the lack of evidence for novel solutions may trigger counterproductive ‘bee washing’ processes. Ecological research on urban pollination is in the spotlight with outstanding public interest. Therefore, researchers, local and (inter)national authorities are under pressure to develop and monitor pollinator-promoting interventions.
Our project aims to study urban pollinators by five priorities:
1) Explore the effectiveness of pollinator-promoting interventions;
2) Disentangle local and landscape-scale factors;
3) Develop simple sampling methods;
4) Investigate microclimate dependencies; and
5) Work on European and global-level syntheses.
To achieve these, we are monitoring flowers and pollinators in parks, road verges, and ‘bee pastures’ (in Budapest from 2021); developing novel interventions and a citizen-science mobile application; collaborating in EU-level research. These studies also embrace the ambitious vision of creating multi-functional, resilient, and green infrastructures. Overall, we are a small but emerging team, looking forward, challenging boundaries, and exploring innovative solutions for urban pollinators. This grant offers the opportunity to share captivating stories of cities buzzing with people, flowers, bees and butterflies.
Tropical forests, often referred to as the “lungs of the Earth,” are essential for sustaining life on our planet. They provide clean air, water, and unparalleled biodiversity. While deforestation due to slash-and-burn agriculture, mining, and logging remains the most recognized threat, less visible but equally dangerous forces are at work. A new study reveals that nutrient enrichment – driven by human activities such as agriculture and fossil fuel combustion – poses a significant risk to the delicate dynamics of tropical forests.
The research, conducted by an international team of scientists from the University of Kaiserlautern-Landau (RPTU), the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Goettingen, and the HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research in Hungary, focuses on how nutrient deposition affects tropical tree seedlings’ growth and biomass accumulation. Their findings, published in Current Forestry Reports, show that this phenomenon can potentially disrupt forest composition and resilience, particularly in the face of global climate change.
By synthesizing data from 59 studies conducted across tropical regions worldwide, the researchers employed meta-analysis to uncover broad patterns of nutrient effects. Their analysis revealed that nutrient addition significantly boosted tree seedling growth, with shoot biomass increasing by an average of 26% and growth rates by 14%. Notably, the combination of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) produced the most pronounced effects, driving growth rate increases of up to 27%. These impacts were particularly pronounced in seasonally dry sites, where growth rates surged by 38% and shoot biomass by an impressive 70%. Lead author Dr. Daisy Cárate Tandalla explains, “NPK are fundamental nutrients for plant growth. However, many tropical soils are nutrient-limited. Adding these nutrients disproportionately benefits fast-growing, competitive species, potentially shifting forest composition.”
The team, led by Daisy Cárate Tandalla (centre), working with tree seedlings for a transplantation experiment in the San Francisco Reserve, Ecuador, 2013.
Human activities are dramatically altering natural nutrient cycles. While volcanic activity and wildfires have historically contributed to nutrient deposition, agriculture and fossil fuel burning have intensified and expanded this process to even the most remote tropical regions. These nutrient inputs can give a competitive edge to certain tree species, leading to homogenized forests with fewer species – a trend that threatens biodiversity and ecosystem stability. Senior author Dr. Péter Batáry warns, “These changes may reduce species diversity across entire food chains and weaken forest resilience in the face of climate change. The loss of diversity also diminishes the forests’ ability to adapt to environmental stressors.”
The study also highlights the complexity of tropical forest research. Co-author Dr. Jürgen Homeier from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Goettingen notes, “The studies we reviewed used a mix of methods – greenhouse pot experiments, transplantation trials, and in-situ fertilizer applications. Identifying seedlings to the species level remains a significant challenge due to the extraordinary diversity and similarity of young tropical trees.”
The dedicated effort of transplanting tree seedlings in the tropical montane forest.
The findings underscore the need for urgent attention to nutrient management in tropical regions. While nutrient deposition may seem like a localized issue, its impacts ripple through global ecosystems, affecting biodiversity, carbon storage, and the planet’s overall health. Tropical forests are a cornerstone of life on Earth, and preserving their complexity and resilience is crucial. This study is a timely reminder that even remote human activities can have far-reaching consequences for the natural world.
Researchers at the HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research in Hungary applied an outdoor experimental setup of artificial ponds (mesocosms) to simulate habitat fragmentation and found that it significantly reduces microbial biodiversity, particularly among unicellular microeukaryotes. The study also highlights that fragmentation not only affects biodiversity but also disrupts essential food web interactions, underscoring the importance of maintaining connectivity among habitats to preserve biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
In the midst of the ongoing global biodiversity crisis, even the smallest habitats like ponds demand our attention. Fragmentation of these habitats—driven by human activities like urbanization, agriculture, and land-use changes—poses a significant threat to biodiversity. Often overlooked in conservation efforts, ponds serve as vital ecological hotspots, supporting diverse species and sustaining essential ecosystem processes. These waterbodies are home to various microbial communities that, despite their tiny size play an indispensable role in ecosystem functioning, acting as primary producers, decomposers, and links in food webs. While the impacts of habitat fragmentation on large organisms like mammals and birds are well-documented, the effects on microscopic organisms, including bacteria, algae, and other unicellular eukaryotes remain poorly understood.
A recent study carried out by researchers from HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research in Hungary explored the effects of connectivity loss within pond networks. Using an outdoor experimental setup of artificial ponds (mesocosms), the researchers simulated fragmentation by terminating the movement of water and organisms between habitats in half of the pond networks while maintaining dispersal in the other half. By controlling for factors like habitat size and environmental conditions, and focusing solely on connectivity loss, the study provided an insight into the direct impacts of fragmentation on biodiversity.
“Our findings were particularly striking for unicellular microeukaryotes. Connectivity loss led to significant declines in their diversity at both local and regional levels, highlighting that fragmentation can directly drive biodiversity loss, even under controlled circumstances. Both rare and abundant species were impacted, suggesting that fragmentation represents a widespread and severe threat to microbial biodiversity. In contrast, prokaryotes appeared more resilient, though we observed signs of a potential “extinction debt,” where biodiversity loss may emerge over longer timescales.” – explains Dr. Beáta Szabó, the first author of the study.
Beyond biodiversity, the study also highlighted how connectivity loss disrupts trophic interactions. Zooplankton grazers, which interact closely with microbial communities, experienced reduced biomass in fragmented habitats, further exacerbating the decline in diversity and community evenness of microeukaryotes. These findings highlight the interdependence of organism groups within ecosystems and the cascading impacts that habitat fragmentation can have on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
“Our study clearly demonstrates that habitat fragmentation—specifically the loss of connectivity—can have serious and far-reaching consequences for biodiversity. Even when habitat size or environmental conditions remain constant, simply disrupting the dispersal of individuals between habitats can trigger significant declines in microbial diversity. Conservation efforts must not only focus on preventing habitat destruction, particularly in vulnerable ecosystems like pond networks, but also prioritize maintaining and restoring connectivity between habitats to protect the ecosystems and species that rely on them. This is especially crucial for microbes, which, despite their small size, have enormous ecological significance.” – summarizes Dr Zsófia Horváth, the senior author of the study and head of the Biodiversity and Metacommunity Ecology Research Group at Institute of Aquatic Ecology, HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research.
The invasive mosquito species, the tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus), poses significant threats to human and animal health due to its ability to spread over large geographic areas and act as a vector for numerous pathogens. Understanding the ecological relationships this species establishes in different locations is crucial for assessing its worldwide dispersion success and its role in disease transmission. To uncover how invasiveness couples with the ability to adapt to various food sources László Zsolt Garamszegi from the Institute of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological Research, Hungary performed a meta-analysis of published blood-meal surveys.
The analysis included data from 48 independent studies, providing a comprehensive overview of the mosquito’s feeding behavior across different regions and stages of invasion. The results indicate that the tiger mosquito exhibits significant variability in host selection depending on the geographic location and stage of invasion. Importantly, host diversity was greater in the invasive range than in the native range, but in newly invaded areas, the mosquito tends to have a narrower host range than in the long-established populations.
Literature survey and meta analysis of blood-feeding patterns in Aedes albopictus. Invasive Ae. albopictus has considerable ecological flexibility. The species’ ability to adapt to various food sources goes hand in hand with its successful worldwide dispersion, which has strong implications for its role in pathogen transmission.The results have strong implications for how the tiger mosquito mediates host-parasite dynamics in natural systems. Wider host diversity in the invasive range indicates that the chances for the species to act as a bridge vector between distantly related hosts such as humans and birds is higher than in the native distribution range, and this risk enhancing the spread of diseases further increases if the species has more time to adapt to the ecological conditions experienced in a given invaded region. Therefore, the obtained results can align with the ecological foundations that make this species a widespread disease vector worldwide.
The HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research organised a workshop on ‘The role of ecological monitoring in understanding Hungary’s key environmental problems and developing evidence-based solutions’ on 2 September 2024. The meeting was attended by 75 participants, including researchers from HUN-REN CER and several research institutions and universities, representatives from the Hungarian Research Network (HUN-REN) Headquarters, and partners from the fields of public nature conservation, public health, water, forestry, NGOs and private companies.
During the morning programme, Director General László Zsolt Garamszegi first presented the mission and the strategic concept of the public monitoring programme of the Research Centre. Ecological monitoring is a scientific activity for public purposes, in which socially, economically and environmentally important phenomena are monitored regularly. The aim is to identify and prevent harmful effects on society, the economy, and the environment as soon as possible, and to support positive processes by analysing and interpreting the data collected. The ecological monitoring activities of the HUN-REN CER mostly cover key gaps that cannot be filled by the programmes of public bodies and cannot be adequately covered by data. We have country-wide monitoring programmes and monitoring systems that operate on a regional basis, but there is also the potential to extend the know-how to a national level. Some of these programmes monitor the status of entire ecosystems, while others focus on specific groups of organisms or species that are key for environmental, social, and economic reasons. The programmes address key areas of relevance to the public sector, specific sectors and society and provide science-based answers to important practical questions.
You can read more about our monitoring programmes here: https://ecolres.hun-ren.hu/tarsadalom/#kozcelu.
During the morning Tamara Szentiványi presented the Mosquito Monitor programme, Péter Ódor and Ferenc Horváth the Forest Reserve Monitoring programme. The three sub-programmes of the River Water Monitoring Programme were then presented by the researchers: Pál Boda presented on the monitoring of drying small rivers, András Abonyi on the monitoring of large rivers, and Erika Juhász on the monitoring of beavers. During the afternoon workshops, the professional discussion continued along these main themes. The topics of the three workshops were: River water monitoring programme – water scarcity, biodiversity crisis, human-wildlife conflicts; Strategic issues in forest reserve monitoring; Mosquito monitoring programme – epidemiological aspects and mosquito control practices. One of the main lessons of the workshop was that cooperation between the public and private sector, and the research community is essential to tackle the environmental problems of our time.
The first pan-European study of its kind (Keith, H., Z. Kun, S. Hugh et al. 2024 – nature, communications earth & environment) calculated that Europe’s existing forests could sequester up to 309 megatons of carbon dioxide per year for 150 years if the use of these forests were abandoned and we let them continue to grow and re-grow.. This is equivalent to the CO2 reduction rate targeted in the European Green Deal for the LULUCF sector by 2030 (310 Mt/ha) and is greater than the current level of sequestration of managed forests in Europe (289 Mt/ha).
The authors calculated the amount of carbon stored in above-ground, below-ground and dead biomass from survey data on 288,262 trees in the remaining European primeval and old-growth forests in 27 countries, on 7,982 plots.
Surveyed primary and old-growth forest stands on Europe’s forest cover map
The carbon stocks and carbon sequestration capacities of naturally functioning primary and old-growth forest ecosystems composed of native trees are essential benchmarks. The authors calculated this benchmark forecological zones and forest types, ranging from low-productivity alpine birch forest in Sweden to the highest productivity mixed spruce-fir-beech forests in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Based on this, the predicted carbon carrying capacity of primary and old-growth forests is 22,449 MtC compared to 9,790 MtC in managed forests.
Aboveground carbon stock per hectare – Hungarian data are in the group of “Temperate continental forest – broadleaf” (case numbers are given in the columns)
The GlobBiomass and GeoCarbon projects have so far significantly underestimated forest carbon stocks in all forest types compared to data from primeval and old-growth forest.Therefore global models and parameters need to be developed and revised. Analysis of the tree density, diameter distribution and biomass of standing trees has shown that the thickest trees play the largest role in carbon storage, as half of all biomass is stored in trees thicker than 60 cm.
Tree density (light green) and carbon stock (dark green) of primary and old-growth forests by diameter class with the profile of cumulative biomass (red curve)
The protection and restoration of primary and old-growth forests are therefore not only of paramount importance for the conservation and maintenance of biodiversity, but also have an increasing role in mitigating climate change through their huge carbon sequestration and storage potential.
Researchers of the HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research also contributed to the pan-European study with recent survey data of forest reserves representing the natural conditions of the Carpathian Basin.
The survey of forest reserves is supported by the public monitoring programme of HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research and the Ministry of Agriculture.
Slide photo: Beech forest remnant in the Kékes Forest Reserve (Photo: Attila Bíró)
There is a lot of debate about how and why simple multicellularity emerged many times independently and what factors contributed to its prevalence. There are many theories why it was advantageous to be multicellular. Factors with direct advantage for aggregation (like avoiding predation) are evident but there are factors with indirect advantages, like spatiality and a changing environment. The latter can ensure the survival of the cooperative trait through group selection, without kin recognition or selection towards larger size (predation). Researchers of HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, Institute of Evolution and ELTE University investigated this hypothesis. They have modelled two types of cells in a temporally heterogenous, spatial environment. Cooperators can associate to form aggregates while cheaters cannot by themselves stick to others but can enjoy the benefits of the aggregate. In resource-rich environments, cooperators have a disadvantage due to slower growth, but only they can create propagules in resource-poor environments. Cheaters therefore need to piggyback propagule-forming cooperators to make it to the next rich habitat. The researchers have successfully demonstrated in their publication published in PLOS Computational Biology that cooperators can survive due to aggregation and group selection, enabled by spatiality in an alternating environment, without any further mechanism needed, like predation.
The evolution of multicellularity is one of the major transitions in evolution. It has occurred independently more than 25 times across different branches of life. Complex multicellular organisms, such as humans, achieve high complexity through related cells that remain together during division. In contrast, most single-celled organisms lack the regulatory mechanisms needed for this. For them, a simpler path is typically viable: forming multicellular structures temporarily, often under stressful conditions, like starvation. These aggregative multicellular species, such as the slime mold Dictyostelium, usually live as single-celled organisms. However, as their name suggests, the multicellular, slime-like form can move to a suitable habitat and grow a stalked fruiting body, which allows their spores to spread to nutrient-rich new locations.
The issue with this kind of multicellularity is that non-related individuals, or even those that don’t actively participate in cooperation (cheaters), can end up among the surviving cells. Since they don’t help, they can invest all their energy into feeding and reproduction—at the expense of the cooperative cells. This not only endangers the survival of the cooperative cells but ultimately the species itself, as too many cheaters would prevent the formation of the multicellular structure needed for reproduction. So, how can an aggregative multicellular species survive if cheaters always reproduce faster than cooperators? This is a particularly important question in the context of evolutionary transitions, where maintaining cooperation against cheaters is crucial.
Several hypotheses exist to explain why we see successful aggregative multicellular species nevertheless. One theory suggests that aggregation offers protection against predators: the more single cells stick together, the harder it is for a microbial predator to prey on them. Another hypothesis is that periodic starvation necessitates colonizing new habitats, which requires cooperative cells, thus even cheaters depend on them.
Researchers from the Institute of Evolution and ELTE University investigated these two hypotheses, examining the effects of aggregation and colonization under individual selection and group selection. They developed an individual-based, spatial computer model simulating the life cycle of a slime mold-like single-celled organism. In the model, cooperative cells produce the “glue” necessary for aggregation, while cheaters do not. The computer simulations clearly demonstrated that defense against predators is essential for the survival of cooperators in a continuously resource-rich environment. However, if resources periodically become scarce, predator-driven selection is not only insufficient but is also unnecessary for maintaining cooperation and multicellularity—it is a must to colonize new habitats.
Lifecycle of the slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum. (Source of insets: Wikimedia.) Single-celled slime molds usually start to aggregate when resources become scarce, and cells begin to starve. A secreted molecule (cAMP) coordinates movement to a tight aggregate that ultimately forms a slug. This motile form moves around to find a suitable spot for sporulation where it grows to a fruiting body with a stalk and spores in the head. Only the spores will survive to see the next habitat. The researchers have simplified this complex life cycle in their computer simulations, retaining only the crucial steps. Drawn by: István Zachar Photos: By Bruno in Columbus; by Usman Bashir (Copyright: CC BY-SA 4.0 Deed) and by Tyler Larsen (Copyright: CC BY-SA 4.0 Deed )
The researchers examined various colonization mechanisms (dispersal, fragmentation, aggregative spore formation, etc.) and found that only aggregative reproductive mechanisms can sustain cooperation long-term and robustly in such fluctuating environments. Thus, in a changing environment, group selection is more crucial than individual selection, in maintaining cooperation. The results suggest that these mechanisms played a key role in the evolutionary development of aggregative multicellularity.
In a nonchanging environment, predation, or any size-dependent selection, is enough to give a chance for cooperators to survive (top right). Without predation, however, cheaters will always win (top left). In a changing environment, when there is need to colonize new habitats, random dispersion decreases the chance of cooperators due to disrupting aggregations (middle). However, aggregation and aggregation-based colonization can effectively maintain cooperators against cheaters with or without predation (bottom left). Figure: István Zachar and István Oszoli
Dispersal is a crucial process in community ecology, through which individuals of a species can move into new and often different habitats. Species spread can happen actively, with individuals moving on their own, or passively, aided by dispersal agents. Understanding the dynamics and constraints of dispersal is a key to predict how species will adapt to changing environments, and can indirectly support biodiversity conservation and ecosystem stability.
The study of alien species dispersion is an important though relatively under-studied aspect of biological invasions. The colonisation of isolated wetlands and the introduction of pioneer and alien species are observable phenomena, but the underlying mechanisms are largely speculative. Researchers from the Institute of Aquatic Ecology at the HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research have undertaken experiments on fish and plants to test hypotheses related to alien species dispersion. Previously, it was widely believed that waterbirds played an important role in the dispersal of fish in isolated water bodies, with fish eggs surviving passage through birds’ digestive tracts (i.e. endozoochory). Researchers at HUN-REN CER recently confirmed this hypothesis—the first such confirmation globally. However, questions persist regarding its prevalence among bony fishes and the variability in dispersal capacities across species.
In a series of feeding experiments with mallards, the researchers investigated the passive dispersal abilities of several common native (Wels Catfish, Common carp, Pike perch, Tench) and alien (Hybrid African catfish, Grass carp, Pumpkinseed, Amur sleeper, Stone moroko) fish species. In their paper, published in the journal Ecography, they reported the recovery of viable embryos of five fish taxa in the faeces of mallard, with successful hatching into larvae in one native (Tench) and one alien (Stone moroko) species. This result provide evidence that endozoochorous dispersal might be a widespread but likely rare phenomenon among bony fishes, with significant variability between species likely due to unique egg characteristics.
Herbivorous birds are known to play a significant role in seed dispersal, dietary studies from Europe showed that waterbirds can disperse hundreds of plant species, including many aliens. Moreover, passage through their digestive system can affect seeds’ germination rates. In a similar feeding experiment, researchers from HUN-REN CER compared the endozoochorous dispersal ability of six pairs of closely related (i.e. congeneric) alien and native wetland plant species. In their study, published in Freshwater Biology, they found that alien plant species can disperse more efficiently, with significantly higher seed passage rates.
However, these seeds germinated more slowly after gut passage compared to native species. Higher seed passage contributes to higher “propagule pressure” in new habitats, increasing the likelihood of establishing new populations of alien species. The delayed germination of aliens’ seeds also can offer a competitive edge to non-native species, particularly if they exhibit a fast growth rate and higher trait plasticity. Considering that mallards typically move several kilometres per day and even longer during migrations long-distance dispersal might be common and important for all studied plant species. Mallards also make shorter daily movements between wetlands, which might assist alien species to become fully established after their introduction to an area.
Pollinators are declining rapidly, largely due to land conversion and intensification of agriculture. To mitigate their crisis, low-disturbance habitats, such as sown wildflower plantings (commonly known forms are wildflower strips at the edges of arable fields), could promote pollinators by restoration of their resources (food, sheltering and nesting habitats). However, comprehensive knowledge is lacking on how landscape context, spatial configuration and age of wildflower plantings, seasonality and flower composition affect pollinator communities, especially from East-Central Europe.
To understand these effects, researchers from the HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research established diverse native wildflower plantings within heterogeneous and homogeneous agricultural landscapes, by two spatial configurations: one large field or three smaller strips. Floral resources and wild pollinator insects (wild bees, hoverflies, butterflies) were sampled, in early and mid-summer, for two years after establishment (2020-21).
Flower resources of the sown plant species increased continuously, and were complemented at high rate by flowering plant species from the soil seed bank, especially in the first year. Both flower abundance and diversity increased the abundance of pollinators, highlighting the important role of using diverse seed mixtures. Wild bee abundance and species richness increased year by year and season by season, while butterfly abundance also demonstrated a yearly increase after establishment. Hoverfly abundance and species richness, however, showed an opposite trend, possibly due to the inter-annual variation. Wild bee and butterfly abundance was higher in the heterogeneous than in the homogeneous landscapes. Researchers did not observe any significant local effects of spatial configuration itself on pollinator populations.
Field-work photos from the transect walk method and the flower resources assessment from the four years of the study Photos: Borbála Bihaly (top left, buttom right) and Áron Bihaly (buttom left, middle and top right)
Our results emphasize that to support pollinators effectively, future wildflower plantings should be maintained for multiple years, in order to maximize floral diversity and ensure continuously available flower resources throughout the entire season.
Further results from the upcoming years and similar long-term and landscape-scale experimental studies are needed to understand all the benefits and ecological processes of diverse native wildflower plantings especially in understudied European regions.
The diverse floral resource of wildflower plantings in the second and third years and the pollinator insects visiting the flowers Photos: Viktor Szigeti (top left and middle left) and Borbála Bihaly (bottom row, top right and middle right)
Researchers at the HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research (HUN-REN CER) are continuously studying the effects of changing environment on ecosystems, caused by human activity and climate change, and how animals respond to it. They recently showed that the increase of salinity of ponds can drive the evolution of planktonic organisms, and this process can be observed in the Daphnia (water flea) populations in the sodic water of World War II bomb craters in Hungary. The paper presenting their latest discoveries has been published in the flagship biological journal of the Royal Society, Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Natural ecosystems are exposed to a multitude of stressors including climate change, urbanisation, or the rising salinity of aquatic habitats. These stressors change the environmental conditions, which determine the success of organisms. The emerging spatial variation in environmental factors is called a gradient. The Plankton Ecology Research Group at HUN-REN CER, led by research fellow Csaba Vad, studies the effects of environmental change on the functioning, species composition, and evolution of planktonic communities.
“Organisms have to adapt to environmental stress, otherwise they go extinct,” the researcher says. “Sensitive species can be replaced by other more stress-tolerant species, or the resident populations can also adapt to the changing environment. In other words, an evolutionary adaptation occurs in the population, and this provides an opportunity to survive in the habitat.”
Salinisation, the increasing salinity levels of aquatic ecosystems, is a global threat. The salinity of large lakes is rising as well, but the change can be much more dramatic in shallow temporary ponds. Salinisation is caused by many factors, but one of the most important drivers is increasing evaporation (as a result of warming). Meanwhile, pollution from mining or other industrial activities, or the environmental effects of urbanisation can also lead to salinisation.
Soda pan in the Seewinkel area, Austria (Oberer Stinkersee, photo: Horváth Zsófia)
Soda pans are naturally saline habitats in the lowlands of Carpathian Basin. The researchers studied the plankton communities and salinity of these soda pans and compared them to the communities of ~80-year-old sodic bomb crater ponds in the Great Plains of Hungary. Their exact origin is somewhat uncertain, but some sources suggest that during World War II, American bombers bombed the plains instead of the nearby airport, creating more than 100 explosion craters in an 800 m diameter circle. These craters were filled with sodic water and have since become very useful model systems for ecological research.
The salinity of the bomb crater ponds varies widely, so ecologists were able to compare their Daphnia populations and find out whether they are adapted to this environmental factor. Water fleas, such as the object of this study, Daphnia magna, are large-bodied zooplankton species, which are common model organisms in ecological and evolutionary research, because they play important roles in aquatic communities and can be kept easily in laboratories. “We wanted to find out whether the salinity tolerance of Daphnia originating from ponds with low and high salinity levels is different”, tells Csaba Vad. “We also studied soda pans, which are also sodic and hold similar zooplankton communities to the bomb craters. Both types of these habitats are naturally saline, and can be used as model systems, because their clusters consist of several ponds with different salinity levels in close proximity to each other.”
If local adaptation occurs, the salinity tolerance of the populations is matching with the salinity levels of their home ponds. This means that water fleas from more saline ponds will have a higher salinity tolerance compared to the Daphnia from less saline waters. In theory, local adaptation could be more prominent in more isolated habitats (in ponds more distant in space), because the mixing of their populations with others is less likely in the case of more distant habitats. The soda pans are kilometres apart, while bomb crater ponds are only a few metres away from each other. So, based on merely the position of ponds, more intense evolutionary patterns could be expected to be found in soda pans. But this was not the case.
Local adaptation (adaptation to the local salinity concentrations) was only found in the bomb crater ponds, which are very close to each other in space. There are some possible reasons underlying this observation. For example, salinity levels in soda pans are usually higher and more variable within and across years than in the bomb crater ponds. Soda pans are also shallower and larger, while bomb craters are deeper and smaller in diameter. When soda pans dry up, the resting eggs of water fleas can be easily blown to another pond by the wind. In contrast, bomb craters dry up more rarely (only in years with extreme weather conditions), their salinity level fluctuates less, and during the explosion, a prominent rim was created along their edges. Thus, Daphnia eggs cannot be as easily transported among the neighbouring ponds, and the more stable salinity levels allow for local adaptation to this stressor.
The researchers found adaptation to salinity in the soda pans as well, but this occurred on a regional level. Soda pans have a higher average salinity level than bomb craters, therefore the water flea populations from soda pans have higher overall salinity tolerance than those from the bomb crater ponds.
“Despite soda pans being more distant from each other, because of their more frequent drying-up, the gene flow among their Daphnia populations is more intense,” argues Csaba Vad. “Furthermore, many waterbirds visit soda pans, which transport several aquatic organisms from one pond to another. These circumstances overall reduce the possibility for local adaptation in this habitat type. In contrast, we found strong local adaptation in bomb crater ponds, which are sometimes only a few metres apart. Our results show that the response of aquatic communities to salinity may be influenced by several factors.”
Opening image: The model organism of the study, the water flea Daphnia magna Photo: Zsófia Horváth
Nowadays we hear a lot about climate change impacts in general, however, we still lack in-depth knowledge about how climate change might modify the processes determining the ecological status of lakes and the structure and functioning of aquatic communities. This is largely because these processes are intertwined in a complex manner, making any estimation regarding these changes challenging. In their latest study, researchers of the HUN-REN CER Institute of Aquatic Ecology used model simulations to analyse warming effects on phytoplankton dynamics based on field and experimental observations.
Although numerous lakes around the world have been showing an increase in annual mean temperature over the last few decades, it still remains difficult to assess long-term warming-related impacts in water bodies with various physical and chemical properties and diverse communities. Exploring these impacts is crucial not only for fishes, macroinvertebrates or aquatic macrophytes, but also for planktonic organisms, which form the basis of the aquatic food web and have a substantial influence on material cycles. Despite the broad range of sophisticated techniques developed to study this important group, elucidating how interrelated environmental factors drive plankton functioning is still a hard task due to the typically rapid dynamics of these communities. Monitoring based on regular field work is a crucial part of research on aquatic systems, but it is also time-consuming and lab-intensive, making any sampling effort limited in both space and time. In a sense, this is like following a streaming series with several seasons by only looking at a few snapshots from each episode, trying to guess what the actual story is.
We need complementary approaches to improve our ability to assess, estimate or forecast the ecological effects of climate change.Numerical models are promising candidates for this role, gradually gaining importance in ecological research. Generally speaking, such models describe fundamental relationships in the form of mathematical equations based on current data and scientific knowledge. Such relationships include e.g. species growth as a function of food item availability or the dependence of plant photosynthetic activity on light intensity. The strength of modelling lies in the possibility to create computer-generated simulations about changes in a population, community or ecosystem and their environment through space and/or time, helping to find causality behind natural phenomena. Thus, while field and experimental observations provide data about a series of temporary states and conditions, modelling aims at the processes that induce temporal change in those states and conditions.
In a Hungarian-Greek collaboration, Károly Pálffy, researcher of the institute’s Plankton Ecology Group, studied the dynamics of planktonic algae (phytoplankton, major primary producers of aquatic habitats) using an ecological modelling approach. While analysing a data series on Lake Balaton, Hungary in his previous study he found that the long-term rise in annual mean water temperature was accompanied by increasing seasonal fluctuations in phytoplankton composition (increasing seasonal variability), which might suggest a decline in ecosystem stability. He and his colleagues also managed to demonstrate something highly similar in a mesocosm experiment, raising the question of whether there is a more general connection between warming and the dynamics of planktonic algae.
A typical graphical output of a model simulation of one year run under different seasonal temperature scenarios (daily temperature values characteristic at present and increased with 1, 2 or 3˚C). Curves with different colours represent seasonal changes in the abundance of different species of algae. The modelling of temporal dynamics in multiple randomly assembled phytoplankton communities under different nutrient load and temperature combinations added up to more than 100,000 simulations. The study focussed on both short-term (one year) and long-term (30 years) changes and impacts.
The newly developed model made it possible to simulate changes in phytoplankton on the species level under various temperature scenarios. The output of the simulations was in agreement with the previous observations, elevated mean temperature caused more pronounced seasonal changes in phytoplankton composition, but the degree of this impact was also highly dependent on how the communities received inorganic nutrients essential for their growth. Accordingly, the ratio of the two most important ones, nitrogen and phosphorus as well as the temporal fluctuations in nutrient supply had significant influence on the effect of warming. This is in close agreement with recent studies that suggest the importance of considering nutrient load conditions (the so-called trophic state of a water body) when assessing the effect of climate change on aquatic ecosystems. Besides nutrients, initial species richness of the simulated communities also affected their response to warming. From a methodological point of view, this is an important finding, since it suggests that choosing an adequate number of species can be crucial in the planning of community-scale climate change experiments.
The recent paper published in Limnology and Oceanography also sheds light on what long-term consequences an increase in the seasonal variability of phytoplankton can have in terms of stability. At higher mean temperatures, seasonal extremes in community composition became more prominent, shifting the communities toward lower overall evenness. On a longer time scale, elevated temperatures also increased the probability of species loss, providing a mathematical explanation for the role of warming in reducing plankton community stability and thus modifying aquatic ecosystem functioning. The research group has plans for further extending the model, facilitating the simulation of climate change impacts in a spatial context as well as on the level of the planktonic food web.
Numerical models nowadays have an increasingly important role in the interpretation of field observations
Corrado Alessandrini is an Italian PhD student visiting HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, and lives inside the National Botanical Garden in Vácrátót. He studies the agro-ecology of apple orchards in Trentino, and Europe’s most alpine birds, the snowfinch. He discovered that the climate change is destroying the unique microhabitats which are essential for the survival of this unique species. Corrado feels great about being connected to the nature literally every minute in the Garden, with all the trees and flowers blooming, and the birds calling, greeting the spring.
– Why are you visiting the Centre for Ecological Research?
– My Phd is upon the EU-funded National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), which requires to have a period abroad during the PhD (to make science more interconnected at the European level). I already knew Péter Batáry, head of the Lendület Landscape and Conservation Ecology research group, for his several works on agro-ecology and – since my supervisor, Mattia Brambilla, personally knew him, we thought that he could be a good teacher for my period abroad. He kindly accepted me in Vácrátót for a 6-months stay. I have been now here for five months, sadly time is running out! During my stay here, I have been basically studying my own data, but by applying and learning the techniques that the research group uses here, basically within the fields of Landscape and Community Ecology.
– Please tell me about yourself and your studies first. What’s your background and what are you studying?
– I’m a naturalist from Rome, Italy. I started a bachelor in natural science, so I integrate animals, plants, rocks, and ecosystems in my studies. This gave me an holistic view that I really enjoy having in my background. After the BSc, I kept studying in Rome for a master’s degree in Ecology and Conservation. As a master thesis I contacted Mattia Brambilla from University of Milan and together we studied the foraging ecology of the white-winged snowfinch (Montifrigilla nivalis), an alpine bird species endangered by climate change, by using innovative methodes of remote sensing. Thanks to this, we’ve disclosed new aspects of the species’ ecology and reaffirmed its dependence on climate-sensitive habitats, which poses a threat on the species. After that, I went to Oviedo (Spain), to keep studying this bird with Maria del Mar Delgado, again integrating field studies with remote sensing, which is very helpful in such harsh environments like mountains.
– Your PhD topic is about the connections between agriculture and wildlife communities. Why is this topic interesting to you?
– Yes, I’m currently a PhD student at University of Milan, with a field project in the Non Valley (Trentino, north of Italy), one of the most productive areas for apples in all Europe. There, farmers are trying to make the production more sustainable, so they wanted us to study the biological communities that live inside the apple orchards to try to understand whether their activities are impacting these communities and how such communities can provide valuable ecosystem services for the apple production. So, last year we started this project by firstly focussing on three taxa: birds, pollinators (especially insect pollinators), and rodents. These taxa are involved in the supply of important ecosystem services, basically insect-pest control (insectivorous birds feeding on apple pests), pollination (by bees and other wild pollinators), and weed control (whose spread is controlled by granivorous birds and rodents). Richer biological communities (and especially the occurrence of rare bird or butterfly species) can also be very attractive for nature-based tourism, which is an important asset for the whole Trentino province.
– You are accommodated inside the National Botanical Garden in Vácrátót. How does it feel?
– Definitely great! I lived in Milan this past year. And Milan is a very crowded, “hyper-urban” city, I would say, with very few green areas. While here I’m all the time connected with nature. Literally every single minute I can hear some bird calling. For instance, now birds are “warming up” for the breeding season, and many have already started singing. Trees are sprouting after the winter, and the first flowers are shyly colouring the Garden. Few weeks ago, squirrels came out of dormancy, they really looked sleepy! Well, every day you can find something going on when you have so much life around. And for me, as a naturalist, this is precious.
– In Italy, you cooperate with the apple farmers. Is there any conflict between the ecologists and farmers because of their different interests?
– We work with a farmer’s association that started to push towards a more sustainable agriculture 20 years ago by adopting integrated management. Their practices are not pure conventional, indeed, and they do intend to be more sustainable in their production. This makes our cooperation much easier. Of course, we come from very different perspectives, but we need one another, because we do love apples, and they do want to hear blackbirds singing in their orchards. The main goal of agriculture is to produce food, not to save birds, and we do acknowledge that we all need this food. On the same time, we all know that conventional intensive agriculture is driving farmland birds to extinction and that it severely impacts wildlife (and human) health. Here we are trying a new way. Sometimes (and my supervisor Mattia Brambilla proved this in previous works in vinyards), very little things can make a huge difference for biodiversity. For example, by slightly shifting the timing of mowing the grasses inside the orchards we could sustain much richer pollinator communities (that forage on those herbs and flowers). You see, this alternative management doesn’t really affect farmer’s production, but it does help biodiversity. Solutions like this is what we are all looking for.
– You conducted a lot of studies on the snowfinch. Why is this bird so important to you?
– The white-winged snowfinch has quite a large distribution area. It is found originally in the highest mountains of the Himalaya, but, as the only species from its genus (Montifringilla), came to Europe as well, following all the mountains: Caucasus, Balkans, Alps, and Pyrenees. Nowadays it’s the most cold-adapted species in Europe. This is the most alpine bird we have: in fact, it’s the only one that can survive above the tree line (which means roughly above 2000 m), even during winter. They can live with all snow around in very harsh conditions. Because they are adapted to cold, they are one of the most endangered species in the age of climate change, and note that mountains are warming up twice faster than lowlands. This is why we are so concerned about studying its European population. We have already found evidence of population declines (e.g. in Switzerland), and we found that they depend on climate-sensitive habitats. We focussed on their breeding ecology: this is a critical period, when the adults forage for the newborn chicks. We saw that they forage in specific microhabitats (namely snow patches, snow margins, and low-sward grasslands) which are all predicted to disappear in a very near (warmer) future. We expect that, as in a few years they would have more problems in finding suitable microhabitats for feeding their chicks, this would hamper their survival and therefore the fitness of the whole population.
– How do you study the snowfinches and their habitat?
– I wanted to assist the current research with the potential of remote sensing, which is nowadays able to capture at high resolution what’s going on Earth’s surface. We use satellites to describe the environment where the birds live, so we don’t need to go up there to see whether vegetation is blooming or to estimate snow cover during the breeding season. By using satellites, we can record such changes remotely, every 3 to 5 days, in a very uniform way, and simultaneously over very large extents. We found that remote sensing can be a useful conservation tool. Once you know the area where they live, for instance, a national park, you can keep tracking the evolution of those critical habitats (snow patches and short grasslands) across the breeding season, and eventually act if conditions become critical.
– Is the climate change affecting the whole bird community or there are some species which are affected most?
– In general, it starts by affecting specialist species (which are less capable to face environmental changes due to their high degree of ecological specialization), but later its effects propagate to the whole community. Communities are constantly adapting to changes in the environment (this mechanism is called “homeostasis”). But climate change is now stressing them at an unprecedented level, by disrupting many ecological dynamics at the same time. This results in a general loss of the resilience of bird (or any other animal) populations, and their ability to cope with other environmental changes also declines. In high mountains, for instance, we now know that climate and ski tourism (another important – anthropogenic – source of environmental change), are synergically impacting on our bird communities.
– What are your plans after you go back to Italy?
– We will continue investigating the birds in the Non Valley. From the data we collected last year, we noted very low densities of great tits, an insectivore species that is very important for controlling the outbreaks of pest insects in orchards. Hence, we now want to test whether providing them with nest boxes (where they can breed) can help increasing their population inside the apple orchards, therefore maximising the supply of the pest-control ecosystem service. Besides this, on a longer term, I think I will keep doing the same: studying nature to provide solutions for better policies, which is what conservation biology does. No matter where, in the agro-ecosystems or up on the mountain tops, always trying to push us all to be a little bit “softer” with our Earth.
In the framework of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) Distinguished Guest Scientists Fellowship Programme, ten internationally renowned visiting professors will arrive at the research centres and supported research groups of the HUN-REN Hungarian Research Network in 2024. Applications for the calls for proposals were received from all three major disciplines: the humanities and social sciences, the life sciences and mathematics and natural sciences. Out of a total support budget of 100 million HUF, successful applicants were awarded grants ranging from 4.7 million to 9 million HUF.
Mauro Santos, a professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, will join the Institute of Evolution of the HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research. The joint research aims to explore the potential for evolving univariate and multivariate adaptive phenotypic plasticity to increase the probability of persistence in response to continuous, controlled environmental change (e.g. global warming) accompanied by random environmental fluctuations within generations. The results will inform the empirical evidence needed to draw robust conclusions about the role of phenotypic plasticity in evolution. The aim is also to explore the role of different types of epistasis – synergistic or antagonistic – in the evolution of early genetic systems, starting from first principles and using theoretical model systems.
Professor Mauro Santos has worked with evolutionary biologists at the Centre for Ecological Research before. Then they demonstrated that, under the right circumstandes, senescens can support the response to the directional selection, i.e. evolutionary adaptation to changing environmental conditions. In doing so, the researchers have added an important and new aspect to the question of ageing, which has been an elusive and poorly understood phenomenon in evolutionary biology for more than a century and a half.
The nature surrounding us, the living world, and the ecosystem provide us with the means to produce food. They play an essential role in regulating the climate by absorbing carbon dioxide, storing carbon, or protecting the soil from erosion. In recent decades, the concept of ecosystem services has gained ground. Its spread is due to the opportunity it offers to explore the complex interrelationships between the natural and socio-economic systems. It highlights how society and the economy are based on ecosystems and how human activities modify the natural environment. There is a clear link between the state of ecosystems and the well-being, health and happiness of people through ecosystem services.
Hungary’s current National Biodiversity Strategy to 2030 (3rd National Biodiversity Strategy) was adopted in August 2023. Its objectives are creating a coherent network of protected areas, improving the condition of different protected areas and restoring degraded ecosystems. The above objectives can only be achieved based on proper information and a thorough situation assessment. For this, we need a comprehensive understanding of the current state of our habitats.
Over the past five years, extensive cooperation has been established between sectoral experts and nearly 250 researchers and conservationists in a project coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture (KEHOP-4.3.0.-VEKOP-15-2016-00001). One project element is the National Ecosystem Services Mapping and Assessment (MAES-HU), which aims to assess and map the extent of ecosystems, ecosystem condition and ecosystem services nationwide. The extensive collaboration resulted in several studies, which amounted to about 2,400 pages overall. The most important results are highlighted in a book titled ‘The Assessment and Mapping of Ecosystem services in Hungary’.
“One of the tasks was to assess ecosystem condition. However, what someone means by the condition of an area or habitat can be very varied,” says Eszter Tanács, one of the project researchers and a research fellow at the HUN-REN Ecological Research Centre. “Each stakeholder defines ‘good condition’ from their own perspective. They usually focus on factors that directly affect the state of the habitat or group of organisms that are especially important to them. For example, the health of plants (whether trees or crops of some kind) is an important indicator. If this is not in order, everyone pays attention. However, there may also be indirect links between condition and services that are more difficult to identify. For example, the diversity of wildlife in an area may be closely linked to its condition and thus indirectly to what services may be provided by the particular ecosystem type and in what quality.”
“To inform nationwide decisions, we need to produce maps that try to reflect the state of the environment and habitats nationally. This scale represents a particular challenge because the ‘goodness’ of large-scale maps depends to a large extent on the data we can base them on. However, how much detailed data we have for a given area is often arbitrary in space and time. Information on different types of habitat is not uniformly available. In the case of forests, where management means that we have to think in terms of decades or centuries, a lot of data are available at the national level. This is also true for agricultural land, partly due to the different subsidy schemes. For grasslands and wetlands, however, there is little information at the national level based on accurate measurements, although many sectors could make good use of such. Generally, more related information is available on very valuable protected areas, but these cover only a small part of the country’s territory,” said Eszter Tanács, explaining the difficulties of the task.
“Where there are insufficient sources of information, i.e. little measured data, the researchers have tried to indirectly estimate the extent of environmental pressures and mapped them. They have built on previous research and knowledge of responses to such pressures. Maps based on such relationships can also be used to estimate current condition and suitability for wildlife. Still, they have a relatively high degree of uncertainty because they represent risk. There are cases where only rough estimates can be provided through multi-step analyses – for example, flower abundance is estimated based on the presence of pollinators, and flower abundance is estimated based on what habitat is being discussed. The usefulness of such maps is more limited than those based on measured data. Therefore, an important element of our research is to investigate how well such maps reflect the condition according to more detailed, fine-scale data where they are available. This is a prerequisite for producing better and more accurate maps over time,” said Eszter Tanács.
The Ecosystem Map of Hungary, completed in 2019 (with a baseline year of 2015), was a major milestone in the implementation of the project. Although there were significant data gaps in some of the maps used for compiling it, a detailed, wall-to-wall land cover database has been developed. It is currently the best available for Hungary in terms of spatial and thematic resolution.
Proportion (%) of seminatural habitat types (based on the Ecosystem Map of Hungary) within a 300 m radius of each point
Researchers from the HUN-REN ÖK Lendület Ecosystem Services Research Group have reviewed European ecosystem services mapping projects using national experience in a recent prestigious international publication. The paper, published in the journal Ecosystem Services and first authored by Ágnes Vári, reviews the ecosystem mapping process in 13 European countries, presenting the results of a survey of project participants. The publication reviews the types of methods used, the ecosystem services assessed, the problems identified, and possible ways forward at the European level.
Publication:
Ágnes Vári, Cristian Mihai Adamescu, Mario Balzan, Kremena Gocheva, Martin Götzl, Karsten Grunewald, Miguel Inácio, Madli Linder, Grégory Obiang-Ndong, Paulo Pereira, Fernando Santos-Martin, Ina Sieber, Małgorzata Stępniewska, Eszter Tanács, Mette Termansen, Eric Tromeur, Davina Vačkářová, Bálint Czúcz: National mapping and assessment of ecosystem services projects in Europe – Participants’ experiences, state of the art and lessons learned Ecosystem Services, Vol.65, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2023.101592
Gábor Boross, an evolutionary and systems biologist, returns to Hungary as part of the HUN-REN Welcome Home and Foreign Researcher Recruitment Programme, following his postdoctoral research on lung cancer evolution in mice at Stanford University in the United States. At the Institute of Evolution of the HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, he will establish a new research group to investigate how the ‘driver’ mutations responsible for cancer interact with each other, ultimately leading to the growth of cancerous tumours.
Gábor Boross used the Tuba-seq technology developed at Stanford University. This technology primarily involves the utilisation of CRISPR genome engineering techniques to induce specific mutations in mouse lung epithelial cells. Tumours originating from these mutations are marked with DNA barcodes. By sequencing these short DNA segments, the size of the tumours can be determined, thereby providing insights into how specific mutations impact tumour growth or even how they influence the response to various therapies.
While conducting research in the United States, the young researcher further developed the Tuba-seq technology, considering that human tumours typically result from multiple mutations occurring concurrently. The objective was to enhance the system making it suitable to handle combinations of mutations in a highly scalable manner, allowing for cost-effective measurements of a large number of mutations with minimal experiments. With the backing of the HUN-REN grant, he is now bringing this technology to Hungary and applying it to create high-coverage interaction maps and describe adaptive landscapes that determine the progression of cancer.
As part of the HUN-REN Welcome Home and Foreign Researcher Recruitment Programme, which was announced for the first time in 2023 by the HUN-REN HQ, six Hungarian researchers and one foreign researcher from the international elite are coming to Hungary to form research groups at HUN-REN research sites to undertake their outstanding scientific projects as part of the winning proposals.
The diversity of life on our planet is declining at an unprecedented rate, as confirmed by a series of international scientific studies, evaluations and assessments. Recognising this process and mitigating the damage is the subject of a series of international conventions, the most significant of which is the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The CBD is significant in that it takes a position at the highest international policy level on the relationship between human society and biodiversity. The Convention not only defines principles and tasks, but also contains measures on the functional, organisational and financial aspects of implementation.
As it is a global agreement, the implementation of the measures is extremely complex and demanding. The CO-OP4CBD – Cooperation for the Convention on Biological Diversity project’s objective is to improve coordination within the European Union (EU) in the implementation of the Convention, to identify the appropriate knowledge base for each issue addressed and to use it appropriately and effectively. The Centre for Ecological Research (CER) as project partner organised a two-day expert workshop with the collaboration of the Biodiversity and Gene Conservation Department of the Hungarian Ministry for Agriculture. The event took place on 15–16 January 2024 in Budapest, in the Ministry for Agriculture.
The meeting was attended by 56 participants from 7 countries, representing various government agencies, research institutes, universities, national parks and conservation NGOs. The first day focused on the technical processes of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), at international, European Union and national level. The objectives of the workshop were outlined by KingaÖllerer (CER), Pierre Spielewoy (National Museum of Natural History – MNHN, France) presented the draft of further training activities for Central and Eastern European professionals within the CO-OP4CBD project, and Ditta Greguss (Biodiversity and Gene Conservation Department, Ministry for Agriculture, Hungary) spoke about Hungary’s commitments, in particular with a view to the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD (COP 16) to be organised under the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2024. Didier Babin (French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development – CIRAD) and Hendrik Segers (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences – RBINS) presented the functioning, decision-making and professional processes of the CBD, while Eliška Rolfová (Ministry of the Environment, Czech Republic) presented the functioning of the CBD from the perspective of the European Union.
On the second day, two group leaders of CER, scientific advisor Zsolt Molnár and AndrásBáldi, corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, presented the functioning of the Intergovernmental Science–Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and that of the CBD from a researcher’s point of view. Joachim Töpper (Norwegian Institute for Nature Research – NINA) spoke about the indicators of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
