Biome-level vegetation response to future global change: implications for future flood risk

This short video produced by Dr. Sven Batke, highlights some of the SBES's forefront research on climate change. It features the work of Prof. Jennifer McElwain and her team who have taken to the challenge to study climate-vegetation responses to future predicted changes in climate. This Science Foundation Ireland funded project is investigating whether future changes in plant physiology, driven by rising levels of carbon dioxide, will enhance global runoff and flooding risk.

Zombie Research at UCD

Dr. Rainer Melzer's paper, 'Convergent protein evolution enabled phytoplasmas to generate 'zombies?' was recently published by 'Trends in Plant Science'. The paper examines bacterial pathogens that induce 'zombie plants'.

BatLab Ageless Project - July 2015

Every July BatLab sets sail for France in search of the secret of ever-lasting youth. This is the goal of Prof. Emma Teeling’s European Research Council funded Ageless project which focuses on determining the molecular bases underlying the evolution of exceptional longevity in the Greater Mouse Eared Bat, Myotis myotis. Given their small size and high metabolic rate it would be expected that these bats should live about as long as a mouse (2-3 years), but contrary to this, a tagged Myotis bat has been recaptured at an amazing 41 years old! To discover just how these bats live for so long every year the Ageless team samples a tagged population of Myotis myotis of known age in Brittany, France

Nitrogen - A New Route to Boosting Gut Bugs!

Whether you are a cow, a sheep, a goat or a human, it pays to have a good relationship with the bacteria in your gut. So could we use nitrogen more smartly to broker intestinal harmony? Dr Gavin Stewart is investigating.

An Ecological Eye on Oysters - Reducing stresses and Maximising Benefits.

Oysters are a delicacy in demand, but farming them is not without its stresses. ‘Invading’ species can take hold at oyster farms, where they grow rapidly. Conversely, some types of farmed oyster can themselves ‘escape’ and cause problems in the wild. Dr Tasman Crowe and his group at UCD School of Biology and Environmental Sciences are taking an ecological-eye view of these issues in oyster farming, with the aim of protecting oysters from the the environment and of protecting the environment from oysters. (Posted 5 August 2015)