6th European Conservation Genetics Meeting 2024
Alexandra Schmidt and Laura Epp attended the
6th European Conservation Genetics Meeting 2024 in Lausanne, Switzerland (28th-30th of August 2024).
Laura Epp gave a keynote talk: Environmental genomic time series from seasons to millennia: Impacts of climate, humans and tools for long-term biomonitoring
Alexandra Schmidt gave a talk: Paleogenomic insights: unraveling phytoplankton resilience in the Baltic Sea
Laura Epp giving her keynote talk
Alexandra Schmidt giving her talk
New molecular index using Baltic Sea phytoplankton for ecosystem assesment
On Augus 23, 2024, the article "Decoding the Baltic Sea’s past and present: A simple molecular index for ecosystem assessment" got published in Ecological Indicators.
The paper is a joint cooperation of members of WP2 and WP1,
with Alexandra Schmidt being the first author.
We propose extending monitoring time series for phytoplankton using sedimentary ancient DNA and show that a simple two-species ddPCR reaction for a diatom and a dinoflagellate can deliver an index for ecosystem assessment.
We reveal the timing of recent anthropogenic changes and evaluate local ecosystem stability and good ecological status across millennia.
The full article can be accessed here.
Schmidt et al. (2024) Ecol. Indic. Volume 166, The header of the published article
New set of phytoplankton primers published
On June 21, 2024, the article "Glimpse of past dynamics: A new set of phytoplankton primers for sedaDNA" got published in Environmental DNA.
The paper is a joint cooperation of members of WP1 and WP2, with Juliane Romahn being the first author.
We published two newly designed primer pairs targeting dinoflagellates and cyanobacteria and compared them with three existing primer pairs.
The study highlights the usage of primer pairs amplifying short fragments and how primer choice affects community composition.
The full article can be accessed here .
Romahn et al. (2024) Environmental DNA 6, e577 - The header of the published article
Wellcome Conference 2024 - Ancient Biomolecules of Plants, Animals and Microbes
Alexandra Schmidt and Juliane Romahn attended the Ancient Biomolecules of Plants, Animals and Microbes 2024 at Hinxton Hall Conference center in England from June 3rd to June 5th.
Alexandra Schmidt gave a pitch talk and poster presentation: Deciphering the Resilience of Phytoplankton in the Baltic Sea using Sedimentary Ancient DNA (sedaDNA)
Juliane Romahn gave a pitch talk and poster presentation: From the Depths of Time: Advancements in Sedimentary Ancient DNA Metabarcoding for Phytoplankton
Alexandra Schmidt giving her pitch talk
Juliane Romahn at the poster session
First PhytoArk article published
On April 5, 2024, Isabell Hochfeld and Jana Hinners published their article titled
“Evolutionary adaptation to steady or changing environments affects competitive outcomes
in marine phytoplankton” in Limnology and Oceanography. The article presents the results of an
innovative eco-evolutionary ecosystem model for the Baltic Sea, which provide new insights into how the
interplay of phytoplankton competition and adaptation plays out in present and future environments.
The full article can be accessed here.
3rd PhytoArk meeting
The third annual meeting of the PhytoArk project took place at the University of Konstanz took place.
All Project partners met at 21st and 22nd of September 2023.
From left to right: Anke Kremp, Miki Balint, Laura Epp (bottom), Isabell Hochfeld (top), Alexandra Schmidt,
Sarah Bolius (top), Juliane Romahn (bottom), Stefanie Knell
Zoom: Jérôme Kaiser, Jana Hinners, Helge Arz
INQUA 2023 - International Union for Quaternary Research
Alexandra Schmidt, Laura Epp, Juliane Romahn, Miki Bálint and Sarah Bolius attended the INQUA Roma 2023 at the Sapienza University of Rome in Italy from July 13th to July 20th. The International Union for Quaternary Research holds this Congress every four years, where the scientific community gathers to exchange current research in Quaternary studies.
Laura Epp gave a talk: Circumartic changes in herbivore populations over the past millennium
Alexandra Schmidt gave a talk: Evolutionary population genomics of Baltic Sea phytoplankton across the Holocene
Juliane Romahn gave a talk: Insight into the Holocene phytoplanktonic community of the Baltic Sea: a multi-method approach
Sarah Bolius gave a talk: Past, present and future of Baltic Sea phytoplankton
Miki Balint presented a poster: Ancient sediment DNA shows biodiversity change in the Anthropocene
From left to right: Laura Epp, Juliane Romahn, Alexandra Schmidt, Sarah Bolius, Miki Balint
sedaDNA Meeting
Alexandra Schmidt, Laura Epp and Juliane Romahn joined the SedaDNA Meeting Potsdam at the Alfred-Wegener-Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) (Germany, June 6th - June 9th).
Laura Epp gave a talk: From where, from when and how? Assessing the provenance and spatiotemporal fidelity of sedimentary DNA
Alexandra Schmidt presented first results of a ddPCR study in one of the poster sessions.
Juliane Romahn presented her metabarcoding primer study in one of the poster sessions as well.
Juliane Romahn (left) and Alexandra Schmidt (right) at their poster session
2nd PhytoArk Meeting
The second PhytoArk Meeting took place in Frankfurt from 1st-2nd of March 2023. A two-day retreat between the PI's and the young scientists was used to discuss the current status and progress of the project. Elinor Andrén and Jérôme Kaiser joined the meeting online. The next event with all participants is planned in Konstanz this autumn.
From left to right: Anke Kremp, Juliane Romahn, Alexandra Schmidt, Isabell Hochfeld, Miklós Bálint, Jana Hinners, Laura Epp and Sarah Bolius
Marine Microbes Gordon Research Conference
Isabell Hochfeld and Jana Hinners joined the Marine Microbes Gordon Research Conference at the Les Diablerets Conference Center (Switzerland, May 29th - June 3rd).
Isabell Hochfeld at her poster presentation
Kick-off meeting
The first Kick-Off Meeting took place in Warnemünde from 23rd-25th May 2022. In addition to the participants and international project partners, the guest scientists Ebuka Nwosu, Raffaele Siano, Dagmar Frisch and Iveta Jurgensone joined the meeting.
From left to right: Elinor Andrén, Miklós Bálint, Iveta Jurgensone, Alexandra Schmidt, Isabell Hochfeld, Jana Hinners, Sarah Bolius, Anke Kremp, Juliane Romahn
Conference participation
Isabell Hochfeld and Jana Hinners are joining the Marine Microbes Gordon Research Conference at the Les Diablerets Conference Center (Switzerland, May 29th - June 3rd).
Kick-off meeting
The first PhytoArk in person Kick-off meeting with all the participants and international partners will take place at the end of May (23rd - 25th 2022) at the IOW.
Sediment extractions finished
Juliane Romahn and Alexandra Schmidt finished the extractions of >250 sediment samples collected in spring 2021.
First report meeting
The first report meeting to present the process within the different project areas happened today. All PhytoArk members were present.