Urbanisation appears to be another key factor for insect decline. This is shown by a study in which the impact of climate and land use on insects was disentangled for the first time.

Poxviruses have found a unique way of translating their genes into proteins in the infected organism. A team of researchers from Würzburg shows for the first time how the molecular machinery involved works at an atomic level.

The higher the biological diversity in an ecosystem, the better the important processes there function. A heterogeneous environment promotes this effect, while intensive land use weakens it, as a new study shows.

The newly funded EU Horizon 2020 project Safeguard will address the decline of wild pollinators, its effects on biodiversity and ecosystem services, and options to restore pollinator diversity.