Research with the archive of biodiversity
Interview with Prof. Dr Christine Römermann
Prof. Dr Christine Römermann (left) and PhD student Anna Vincze examine preserved plants using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy.
Founded in the spring of 2024, the Senckenberg Institute for Plant Form and Function (SIP) represents another important addition to the biodiversity research landscape in Jena. Prof. Dr Christine Römermann, Chair of Plant Biodiversity at the University of Jena, is the Director of the new Institute. In this interview, she outlines how these new structures can augment the research spectrum and further enrich the Herbarium Haussknecht.
Interview: Sebastian Hollstein
There is a rich tradition of biodiversity research in Jena. It is a key field of research for the University. How does the new Senckenberg Institute fit in?
We’re now able to focus on more facets of plant biodiversity far more intensively and at many different levels. For example, we want to examine how species respond to changes in environmental conditions, the role their trait composition plays in this and whether they have spread more widely or, potentially, disappeared. Evolutionary processes play a role for changes in biodiversity, as does the influence of humans, for example through land use and climate change. Our main research areas align very well with activities at the University
of Jena to date and contribute to the existing research landscape—which includes the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) or the Jena Experiment, along with many other initiatives. Thanks to our collections at the Herbarium Haussknecht and associated data-driven biodiversity research, we’re able to use a wealth of new information and share it with our colleagues.
Upon its foundation in June 2024, Bettina Stark-Watzinger—the Federal Minister of Education and Research at the time—said that the new Institute would benefit Germany as a location for science. What potential will be unlocked?
One of the new Institute’s aims is to develop new methods to make even better use of collections and extract information from them more efficiently. For instance, we could develop AI-assisted automated label readers. This might sound simple but, given that collections have grown over centuries, deciphering handwriting and transferring this information into databases isn’t so straightforward. In fact, it usually requires time-consuming manual input. If we succeed in developing such tools—also in co-operation with other colleagues from the Senckenberg Society and the University of Jena—then collections and archives could be integrated more closely into current research. This could allow researchers to better document and understand biodiversity dynamics.
The new Senckenberg Institute is also the new home of the Herbarium Haussknecht. At over 3.5 million specimens, it is one of the most significant collections of its kind in Europe. How will the new Institute affect the structure of this Jena-based collection?
For a start, it enables us to bring all parts of the collection together, professionally, in a single location. Thanks to this, and due to the improved personnel situation, we will be able to launch a major initiative to digitalize the Herbarium, which will make all evidence available to the scientific community for more detailed research questions. This will help us and support collection-based research of many colleagues around the world, including systematic taxonomic studies, and projects examining phenological changes and
species’ distribution patterns.
How exactly is the Herbarium integrated into research at present?
A doctoral thesis project recently completed at the University of Jena in conjunction with the Senckenberg Museum in Görlitz and the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in the field of functional biodiversity research focuses on how leaf nutrient concentrations have changed over the course of several decades. In general, we can observe an increase in leaf nitrogen concentration over the last 100 years. During the project, the candidate collected current data from the region surrounding Jena and Görlitz. He compared this against historical data from Herbarium specimens. We can extract information on leaf nutrient content from herbarium specimens in a non-destructive way. To do so, we conduct chemical analyses to measure the nitrogen content in current plants and apply near-infrared spectroscopy to build a model. Based on this comparison, we use the spectral fingerprint to collect data on leaf nutrients from century-old herbarium specimens without the need to destroy them.
A plant is being analysed with a near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy probe.
Image: Nicole Nerger (Universität Jena)Not only does this collection support biological research, it’s also the subject of research itself. A new professorship on »Digital Collectomics« is set to be established. What does this mean?
The professorship will engage with all issues related to the digitalization of information from collections. Are there AI methods to optimize technological processes to extract information? For example, do we need to measure each specimen individually or could we turn to automated procedures? How can we integrate databases to retain very wide-ranging information about a single entry or a specimen—for example, to link the occurence of a plant species with additional information on the species—these are also called »extended
specimens«. Would it be possible for plant identification apps to draw on herbarium databases so that the public can make increased use of basic scientific knowledge? We’re probably not even able to imagine many of the possibilities related to the Herbarium. And this work can also be of interest to other collections.
What new research fields and focuses will enjoy additional attention due to the new structure?
In the future, Germany’s first Professorship of Bryophyte Ecology and Evolution will be established here in Jena. Mosses play a pivotal role in our ecosystems. They are excellent bioindicators: they highlight, for example, when the climate and nutrient situations change, or when environmental toxins are present. Like the Professorship of Integrative Plant Taxonomy as the succession to the Professorship of Systematic Botany, this new professorship will also focus on topics such as species evolution by using modern and also
molecular methods.
In your own research, you concentrate above all on changes in the last century. Why is that?
Humankind has impacted biodiversity, including plant biodiversity. The creation of the cultural landscape initially led to an increase in biodiversity. However, the intensification of landuse and climate change have led to a decrease in biodiversity. By scrutinizing these dynamics over the past 100 years, we can identify how the intensification of landuse by humans has impacted nature. We can understand the processes that lead to changes in biodiversity and identify which species are resilient to specific changes and which are not. Indicators such as the nitrogen concentration in leaves prove informative in this context, because they provide information about plants’ adaptability.
Through the changes in species we receive information for the management of ecosystems and can therefore transfer relevant aspects of our research into society. How does climate change manifest itself over decades in your studies?
Herbarium specimens allow us to demonstrate clearly, for example, that the density of stomata—so, the openings in the epidermis through which plants regulate gas exchange—has changed and is continuing to change or that flowering times have been shifted in response to climate change. Based on these observations, predictions can be made about how plants will continue to adapt and what this means for their
function in the ecosystem.
Affiliation with the Senckenberg Society opens up a new network for you. How will you benefit from new links with other institutions?
On the one hand, close links with researchers in the Senckenberg Society opens up new expertise and perspectives and opportunities for collaboration—for example in the recording, digitization and provision of type specimens of mosses and lichens. On the other hand, we now have easier access to technical facilities, such as specialized laboratories. In addition, the new Institute is a chance for us to increase public awareness of our research and its outcomes. For example, the Senckenberg Society aims to establish what it calls »Solution Labs«. The intention is to bring experts and members of the public together—including in citizen science projects—to develop solutions to problems related to our research fields, and then transfer these solutions into society.
Christine Römermann, Prof. Dr
Mananging Institute Director; Head of the plant biodiversity group
Professorship of Biodiversity of Plants