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Soil security provides a framework for appreciating the importance of soils for planetary health and in turn human wellbeing. Mark Brady from the CEC has given a plenary talk called What role might economics play with soil science for achieving soil security? at the Soil Security and Planetary Health Conference at The University of Sydney in Australia.Soil security refers to the maintenance and im
https://www.cec.lu.se/article/soil-security-and-economics - 2025-12-29
Simon Herzog has studied what factors determine the fate of iron from boreal rivers and is now defending his thesis "Fate of riverine iron over estuarine salinity gradients". Rivers have traditionally not been considered important sources of bioavailable iron (Fe) to the marine waters, since most iron is lost by salinity-induced aggregation and sedimentation during estuarine mixing. However, recen
https://www.cec.lu.se/article/iron-boreal-rivers - 2025-12-29
Global environmental problems can be addressed by means of policy instruments such as carbon dioxide taxes, building and technology standards and support for new technology, but the issues are complex and several environmental challenges must be addressed simultaneously in order to achieve optimal effect. This is evident from the article Policy design for the Anthropocene published in the journal
https://www.cec.lu.se/article/environmental-challenges-must-be-addressed-simultaneously - 2025-12-29
Growing forests can limit climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store the carbon in their biomass as they grow. How much carbon a forest stores varies between tree species, the forests age, weather conditions and how the forest is managed. Young growing forests store a lot of carbon, as the forest gets older the carbon sequestration capacity decreases. When trees are f
https://www.cec.lu.se/article/well-managed-forests-can-limit-climate-change - 2025-12-29
CEC is in an expansive phase and the number of doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows and administrative staff increased during 2018. 2018 was the year for celebrating 20 successful years, with more than 1,000 graduates from the study programme in Environmental Science. In October, CEC arranged a jubilee for current and former students and employees. CEC also started an Alumni Network, for anyone
https://www.cec.lu.se/article/cec-annual-report-2018 - 2025-12-29
CEC has been granted funding for a so-called collaborative initiative to find solutions for sustainable land use in Sweden, with emphasis on Skåne. The collaborative initiative called LU Land is to be a platform where different sectors, interests and research topics jointly address the challenges that an increasing need for products from the agricultural sector, ecosystem services and land for inf
https://www.cec.lu.se/article/land-use-sustainable-future - 2025-12-29
The national Swedish radio visited Lund to talk about pollinating insects and study their wintering sites. Pollinating insects are threatened by food shortages, by toxins, by climate change and because environments where insects can seek protection are disappearing. Sara Sällström from the Swedish radio met CEC's Lina Herbertsson and Johan Ekroos in Dalby Söderskog, an environment where pollinatin
https://www.cec.lu.se/article/lack-settlements-threatens-biodiversity - 2025-12-29
An exhibition, a seminar on urban nature and a climate crash course – that's how CEC contributed to the Sustainability week 2019. Markku Rummukainen and Maria von Post gave a crash course in climate change and biological diversity together with colleagues at Lund University. A summary is published (in Swedish) on Facebook and Lund University's website. Crash course on www.lu.seHelena Hanson, Anna
https://www.cec.lu.se/article/cec-during-sustainability-week - 2025-12-29
How do micro-plastics affect our soil? What's the impact of urbanization on biodiversity? And how can drones be used for measuring carbon fluxes from Swedish peatlands? These were a few of the questions raised at the initial PhD student spring meeting at the Centre for Environmental and Climate Research (CEC). The first ever intergovernmental, global report on biodiversity and ecosystem services,
https://www.cec.lu.se/article/new-knowledge-makers-focus-environmental-and-climate-effects - 2025-12-29
The greatest threat to biodiversity today is different species losing their habitats. To reverse this trend will require action on many societal levels, and there are simple things you can do in your own garden to help, according to Lund University researchers Anna Persson and Caroline Isaksson. In many countries, factors such as large-scale agriculture and forestry, pesticides and paved urban are
https://www.cec.lu.se/article/gardening-tips-five-easy-ways-contribute-biodiversity - 2025-12-29
Researchers at Lund University have contributed to creating a new, updated version of a global climate model that will increase understanding of global warming. Through the new model, one can now look at how land use and changes to vegetation can influence, and be influenced by, climate change. It is the first time that vegetation and land use, and in particular at this level of detail, has been i
https://www.cec.lu.se/article/unique-climate-modeling-vegetation-focus - 2025-12-29
Summer days bring relaxing breaks in parks for many city dwellers. But how often do you look up from your picnic blanket and reflect on the surrounding wildlife and on how it would affect you if the birds went silent for good? Johan K. Jensen’s doctoral studies compares the wellbeing of some of our most common small birds living in the city compared to the countryside. “Blue Tits are quite jumpy.
https://www.cec.lu.se/article/how-life-urban-birds - 2025-12-29
When it comes to meeting sustainability goals, the current reform proposal of the EU Commission on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) falls well short at the mark, accordning to a group of international researchers writing in the journal Science. The proposed amendments to the CAP will not improve the environmental protection – rather the opposite, says Dagmar Clough, ecologist at Lund Universit
https://www.cec.lu.se/article/researchers-reject-eu-reform-plans-cap-not-viable-future - 2025-12-29
How credible are research results? A new biology study shows that the same data can give different answers depending on the method of analysis used – raising questions about the stability of scientific conclusions. To strengthen credibility, researchers need to be better at accounting for their methods. Ever since the 17th century, when modern scientific research was born, methods have been refine
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/reliability-scientific-methods-under-scrutiny - 2025-12-29
Roach that migrate between different lakes and water courses have larger pupils and better eyesight than roach that stay in one place. The adaptation makes it easier for the red-eyed freshwater migrants to find food in murky waters. This is shown in a large study from Lund University in Sweden. Animals’ eyes, just like those of humans, are a kind of window to the world. Eyesight controls important
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/migrating-roach-have-sharper-eyesight - 2025-12-29
Humans and animals are not the only ones affected by viruses. Unicellular organisms can also be attacked. In a new study, scientists establish that green algae can carry latent giant virus DNA in their genome. Biology researchers at Lund University in Sweden have spent several years studying microorganisms isolated from Lake Krageholm in Skåne and Lake Örsjön in Småland. During the most recent ele
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/unicellular-green-algae-may-carry-giant-virus-dna-their-genome - 2025-12-29
Øystein Opedal, associate senior lecturer at the Department of Biology, has been awarded an ERC Starting Grant. Congratulations, Øystein! Can you tell us a little about your project?“The project aims to better understand how plants adapt to new pollination environments, such as declining pollinator populations or local changes in the diversity of pollinator species. We know quite a lot about how p
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/biologist-receives-erc-starting-grant - 2025-12-29
Dung beetles are among the strongest animals in the world. They also possess an exceptional ability to cooperate. Research shows that female and male spider dung beetles together are able to move large dung balls across difficult obstacles. However, same-sex attempts to do the same always ended in aggressive fights. Dung beetles live in and on animal droppings. By breaking down organic substances,
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/beetles-cooperate-tricky-dung-moves - 2025-12-29
Andreas Nord, a researcher at the Department of Biology, will receive EUR 2 million to study how warm-blooded animals are affected as the climate becomes warmer and more unpredictable. As part of the project, he will study different species of birds to determine how quickly heat tolerance could evolve and what will happen to our bird populations if tolerance fails to adapt. In the final part, Nord
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/researcher-receive-erc-consolidator-grant - 2025-12-29
Bumblebees have a great capacity to navigate despite their small brain size. This is borne out of new research conducted at Lund University in Sweden, among others. The research results can potentially benefit the development of navigation robots in crisis situations where GPS does not work, for example. According to the study, bumblebees appear capable of navigating as well as vertebrates can, an
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/bumblebees-sense-direction-rivals-humans - 2025-12-29
