Research project AquaDiva

Microorganisms in aquifers deep below the earth’s surface produce similar amounts of biomass as those in some marine waters. This is the finding of researchers led by the Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv). The study has been published in Nature Geoscience. mehr

The Earth's Critical Zone is the thin, living, and permeable layer that connects the atmosphere with the geosphere. The Collaborative Research Centre 1076 aims at increasing our understanding of the links between surface and subsurface. mehr

In this country, we take clean drinking water for granted. More than two-thirds comes from groundwater. But how secure are these essential subsurface water reservoirs in view of intensive land use, environmental pollution and climate change? Researchers are looking into this issue in the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) ‘AquaDiva’. Started in 2013, the research partnership will continue to be supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) for the next four years, receiving over 9.5 million euros for the funding period to 2021. mehr

The CZO national workshop will take place in Jena with the objective to discuss the compartments of interest and the perspectives to establish a network of CZOs in Germany. mehr

How do surface conditions and local geology set the functional biodiversity of the subsurface? To answer this question, the Collaborative Research Center AquaDiva will investigate the important roles of water (Aqua) and biodiversity (Diva) for shaping the structure, properties and functions of the subsurface, the part of the Earth’s Critical Zone that begins below the highest density of plant roots and extends down into the first aquifers. mehr