The planned festive event as part of the 15th anniversary of the Biosphere Reserve Wienerwald fell victim to the measures of the Covid-19 pandemic, like so many other events in this year. The numerous experts from a wide range of disciplines nevertheless made the search for species a festival of biodiversity.… Read more
Recently, the description of a fungus species of Inocybe section Marginatae, Inocybe antoniniana, was published. Up to now, the species is known from Austria, Germany and Turkey. The preferred habitats of the mycorrhizal fungus are beech forests, partly mixed with other tree species. The new species has been described in detail with illustrations of micro- and macromorphology, as well as genetically using ITS sequences.… Read more
The DNA barcode library for Austrian amphibians and reptiles is now complete. All native species were analyzed, with the exception of Vipera ursinii rakosiensis and Lissotriton helveticus, which are probably extinct or extremely rare and spatially limited.
As part of the ABOL initiative, 194 DNA barcodes were created at the University of Graz, mainly from material in scientific collections, but also from fresh material.… Read more
Dear ABOL community, dear colleagues,
Knowledge about biodiversity is more important than ever, not only in the scientific community, but also among the general public. The Days of Biodiversity have been significantly contributing to our knowledge on biodiversity for many years. ABOL will this year again participate in Days of Biodiversity with ABOL BioBlitz actions in order to make the knowledge, provided by experts, available for the society.… Read more
On December 18, the 2nd Austrian Forum on Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services took place at VetMed Uni Vienna with the motto Land Use and Biodiversity.
In addition to lectures on the measurement and assessment of biodiversity and the launch of the Biodiversity Atlas for Austria (https://biodiversityatlas.at/),… Read more
Dear ABOL community,
this year, the ABOL meeting took place in Innsbruck for the first time. Gorgeous winter weather formed the framework for the 3-day event, which consisted of the first D-A-CH User Group Meeting (UGM) on the subject of DNA methods in environmental management and the 6th ABOL meeting.… Read more
Biodiversity is a term that is far from being firmly anchored in people’s minds. Global climate change can no longer be ignored as a fact, problem and danger, “Fridays for Future” is an expression of this situation. By contrast, the “Sixth Mass Extinction” is fully under way, yet many people are still unaware of the term biodiversity.… Read more
Dear ABOL community, dear colleagues,
We have extended the early bird registration for this year’s ABOL conference until October 18th !
Conference contributions in the form of 15 minute talks or lightning talks (3 minutes) can be submitted until October 31st.
Further information about the conference can be found on our conference website.… Read more
The dependence of man on his living environment is reflected far too little in political action. In order to give a stronger voice to biodiversity, a Biodiversity Council has recently been set up by experts. A first press release can be read here.
Hopefully, the Biodiversity Council will grow in the future, so that biodiversity can become one of several equal societal goals, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.… Read more
Metabarcoding-Symposium 202624. September, 2026 - 10:33The Metabarcoding Symposium, held on 17 and 18 September 2026 at the Natural History Museum Vienna, was not only a platform for professional exchange, but also marked the beginning of an Austrian eDNA community (provisionally: OeDNA). The symposium was organised by the ABOL coordination team together with Bettina Thalinger (WasserCluster Lunz) and Christoph Hahn (University of Graz).… Read more
A decade of ABOL – new paper!24. September, 2026 - 09:36How can a country’s biological diversity be systematically documented – and what does it take to turn a research initiative into a sustainable, long-term network?
Since 2014, the Austrian Barcode of Life (ABOL) Initiative has been dedicated to systematically documenting Austria’s animal, plant, and fungal diversity using DNA barcoding.… Read more
ABOL-BioBlitzes 2026 – from the river plain to the summit27. July, 2026 - 15:44Since 2019, the ABOL coordination team has been actively involved in the various Days of Biodiversity, conducting ABOL BioBlitz surveys. These surveys generate DNA barcodes and familiarize experts with this methodological approach. This year’s Days of Biodiversity were once again very popular.… Read more
