Andreas Hübner

Stratified prokaryote network in the oxic-anoxic transition of a deep-sea halocline

The chemical composition of the Bannock basin has been studied in some detail. We recently showed that unusual microbial populations, including a new division of Archaea (MSBL1), inhabit the NaCl-rich hypersaline brine. High salinities tend to reduce biodiversity, but when brines come into contact with fresher water the natural haloclines formed frequently contain gradients of other chemicals, including permutations of electron donors and acceptors, that may enhance microbial diversity, activity and biogeochemical cycling. Here we report a 2.5-m-thick chemocline with a steep NaCl gradient at 3.3 km within the water column betweeen Bannock anoxic hypersaline brine and overlying sea water. The chemocline supports some of the most biomass-rich and active microbial communities in the deep sea, dominated by Bacteria rather than Archaea, and including four major new divisions of Bacteria. Significantly higher metabolic activities were measured in the chemocline than in the overlying sea water and underlying brine; functional analyses indicate that a range of biological processes is likely to occur in the chemocline. Many prokaryotic taxa, including the phylogenetically new groups, were confined to defined salinities, and collectively formed a diverse, sharply stratified, deep-sea ecosystem with sufficient biomass to potentially contribute to organic geological deposits.

Fact-based communication: the Shale Gas Information Platform SHIP

In response to an increasingly expressed need for factual information, a science-based information web portal, the Shale Gas Information Platform SHIP, was developed. At the core of the project is the shale gas expert network. It’s an international and interdisciplinary group composed of mainly scientists that share their specific knowledge with the public. With a strong focus on factual information, this initiative also strives to serve the scientific community as a publication and knowledge exchange platform. SHIP relies upon the basic principles of being science-based, transparent and balanced. The GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences coordinates this initiative.

Open access im Dienst der Wissenschaft : Umsetzung von freiem Zugang in der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft

The Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres was among the first to sign the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities. In order to implement open access within research centers a pragmatic and result-oriented plan has been developed to establish the technical prerequisites and the conditions which will enable the collaboration of all parties concerned. The wide variety of activities and measures which are presented here mark the beginning of a transformation of the publication program of the Helmholtz Association toward open access.

FID GEO: Digital transformation and Open Access in Germany’s geoscience research community

The ‘Specialized Information Service for Solid Earth Sciences’ (FID GEO) supports Germany’s geoscience research community in 1) electronic publishing of i) institutional and “grey” literature not released in publishing houses and ii) preand postprints of research articles 2) digitising geoscience literature and maps and 3) addressing the publication of research data associated with peer-reviewed research articles (data supplements). Established in 2016, FID GEO is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and is run by the Göttingen State and University Library (SUB Göttingen) and the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences. Here we present recent success stories and lessons learned.

KOBV-Sonderedition zur International Open Access Week 2016 „Open in Action“

An der internationalen Open-Access-Woche 2016 vom 24.-28. Oktober war der KOBV erstmalig mit einem Online „Publishing Event“ beteiligt. An funf aufeinanderfolgenden Tagen erschien taglich eine Sonderausgabe des KOBV-Newsletters zu ausgewahlten Open-Access-Themen. Die einzelnen Beitrage sind in dieser Sonderedition als Online-Reader zusammengestellt. Der aktuelle Diskussionsstand zum jeweiligen Thema wird von Expertinnen und Experten in kurzen Ubersichtsartikeln vorgestellt und mit Praxistipps erganzt. Zielgruppe sind vor allem Bibliothekare und Bibliothekarinnen, die sich einen schnellen Uberblick zu Open Access verschaffen wollen.