The annual interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary GfÖ conference serves as an exchange platform between basic research, applied research and practice. This year's conference from 1st to 5th of September was held under the motto “Ecological systems under pressure: challenges and solutions” and offered scientists the opportunity to present evidence-based knowledge and discuss solutions to the climate and biodiversity crisis in a total of 36 lecture and 8 poster sessions. Numerous exciting lectures and posters provided new impetus and stimulated intensive discussions.  

The MonViA team was represented by researchers from the Thünen Institute and the Julius Kühn Institute (JKI), who presented the project and its latest findings. The wild bee team presented its bumblebee monitoring module in the lecture session “Trends in biological diversity.” In addition, insights from the Bumblebee Challenge and from the cavity nesting bee module were presented in the poster session “Insects and Other Animals” (Thünen Institute). The focus laid thereby on the use of opportunistic citizen science data for reconstructing plant-pollinator interactions (Bumblebee-Challenge) and the effectiveness of different one-way exit devices for cavity nesting bees from nesting observation blocks. In the poster session Agriculture, Grassland, Landscape Ecology an overview of the JKI-MonViA indicators in the areas of land use, small structures and landscape elements, as well as field weeds, insect pests, bees, beneficial insects in orchard meadows, insect diversity in small bodies of water and in viticulture was presented by the JKI-MonViA Coordination. Despite the late hour, the poster sessions were well attended and a lively exchange took place in a relaxed atmosphere, allowing new contacts to be made.

Thanks to its wide reach and broad range of topics, the GfÖ offers opportunities to bring together basic and applied research with its stakeholders and, for MonViA, the opportunity to showcase the research approaches developed for recording biodiversity in agricultural landscapes and to discuss them with colleagues.