Welcome at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry

Welcome at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry


Focus on the Earth

Our research is dedicated to the study of global biogeochemical cycles describing the interactions between the biosphere, the atmosphere, the geosphere and the entire climate system. We aim to better understand how living organisms - including humans - exchange basic resources such as water, carbon, nutrients, and energy with their environment and how this affects ecosystems and climate at regional to global scales. 

Lise Meitner Excellence Program

Lise Meitner Excellence Program

The Lise Meitner Excellence Program shall help to recruit and promote exceptionally qualified female scientists.
Every new researcher in the Lise Meitner Excellence Program receives the offer to take part in the tenure track process, which – following a positive decision by the tenure committee – will lead to a permanent W2 post with group equipment.
For this years call for application the deadline is April 8.

We support the initiative Weltoffenes Thüringen!

We support the initiative Weltoffenes Thüringen!

We are committed to ensuring that people from different backgrounds live and work together respectfully.

News

Aerial view showing significant land erosion with exposed soil and vegetation, with soil draining into the bordering ocean.
New study on the Arctic carbon cycle provides important insights and highlights research needs
Groundwater threatened by droughts and heavy rainfalls
Extreme climate events endanger groundwater quality and stability, when rain water evades natural purification processes in the soil. This was demonstrated in long-term groundwater analyses using new analytical methods.
Clouds hide how extreme rainfall intensifies with temperature
Extreme precipitation should increase with warmer temperatures.  Data from tropical regions show that this correlation is obscured by the cooling effect of clouds. When cloud effects are corrected, the increase in extreme precipitation with rising temperatures becomes apparent.

Events

Scientific events

IMPRS Selection Symposium

Mar 12, 2025 - Mar 13, 2025

EGU 2025: European Geosciences Union General Assembly

Apr 27, 2025 - May 2, 2025
Vienna, Austria

EEBIOMASS Summer School 2025

May 12, 2025 - May 16, 2025
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Room: Hörsaal

Public events

EEBIOMASS Summer School 2025

May 12, 2025 - May 16, 2025
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Room: Hörsaal

Seminars & colloquia

Seminar: Christoph Gerbig

The Integrated Greenhouse Gas Monitoring System for Germany (ITMS): Recent Progress and Outlook
Mar 6, 2025 02:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
Hörsaal (C0.001)

Seminar: Guang Zhao

Decoupling soil microbial-derived carbon production from stabilization
Mar 6, 2025 02:30 PM (Local Time Germany)
Hörsaal (C0.001)

Seminar: Chen Qi

(t.b.a.)
Mar 13, 2025 02:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
Hörsaal (C0.001)

Seminar: Nuno Carvalhais

(t.b.a.)
Mar 13, 2025 02:30 PM (Local Time Germany)
Hörsaal (C0.001)

Recent Publications

Sanaei, A.; van der Plas, F.; Chen, H.; Davids, S.; Eckhardt, S.; Hennecke, J.; Kahl, A.; Möller, Y.; Richter, R.; Schütze, J. et al.; Wirth, C.; Weigelt, A.: Tree growth is better explained by absorptive fine root traits than by transport fine root traits. Communications Biology 8, 313 (2025)
Pan, N.; Tian, H.; Shi, H.; Pan, S.; Canadell, J. G.; Chang, J.; Ciais, P.; Davidson, E. A.; Hugelius, G.; Ito, A. et al.; Jackson, R. B.; Joos, F.; Lienert, S.; Millet, D. B.; Olin, S.; Patra, P. K.; Thompson, R. L.; Vuichard, N.; Wells, K. C.; Wilson, C.; You, Y.; Zaehle, S.: Climate change rivals fertilizer use in driving soil nitrous oxide emissions in the northern high latitudes: Insights from terrestrial biosphere models. Environment International 196, 109297 (2025)
Cohrs, K.-H.; Varando, G.; Camps-Valls, G.; Carvalhais, N.; Reichstein, M.: Causal hybrid modeling with double machine learning—applications in carbon flux modeling. Machine Learning: Science and Technology 5 (3), 035021 (2024)
Hugelius, G.; Ramage, J. L.; Burke, E. J.; Chatterjee, A.; Smallman, T. L.; Aalto, T.; Bastos, A.; Biasi, C.; Canadell, J. G.; Chandra, N. et al.; Chevallier, F.; Ciais, P.; Chang, J.; Feng, L.; Jones, M. W.; Kleinen, T.; Kuhn, M.; Lauerwald, R.; Liu, J.; ́opez-Blanco, E. ́. L.; Luijkx, I. T.; Marushchak, M. E.; Natali, S. M.; Niwa, Y.; Olefeldt, D.; Palmer, P.; Patra, P. K.; Peters, W.; Potter, S.; Poulter, B.; Rogers, B.; Riley, W. J.; SAUNOIS, M.; Schuur, T. A.G.; Thompson, R. L.; Treat, C. C.; Tsuruta, A.; Turetsky, M. R.; Virkkala, A.-M.; Voigt, C.; Watts, J.; Zhu, Q.; Zheng, B.: Permafrost region greenhouse gas budgets suggest a weak CO2 sink and CH4 and N2O sources, but magnitudes differ between top-down and bottom-up methods. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 38 (10), e2023GB007969 (2024)
Chang, Y.; Winkler, A.; Noori, A.; Knyazikhin, Y.; Myneni, R.: Precipitation leads the long-term vegetation increase in the conterminous United States drylands. Environmental Research Letters (accepted)
Silva, J. S.; Pinel, S.; van Asperen, H.; Amaral, J. H. F.; Pimental, T. P.; da Cunha, H. B.; Krusche, A. V.; Forsberg, B. R.: Seasonal and extreme water level fluctuations impact methane concentrations and fluxes in two Amazon tributaries near Manaus. Fundamental and Applied Limnology (2025)
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