Tracing the sources of water for life at the dry limit (CZ2*)

• Subject Area: Anatomy and Physiology
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 268236062

Tracing the sources of water for life at the dry limit - Living cells require water to function. Nevertheless, highly adapted specialists are observed in the fierce water limited conditions within the fog free hyperarid Atacama Desert with a maximum relative humidity of less than 20 %. Oxygen and hydrogen isotopic compositions of trapped specimen from the hyperarid core, more precisely from their body water (Tenebrionidae, Maindronia), revealed a large isotopic range, pointing to specific strategies to harvest water from the ambient air or prey. In combination with B02 and C09, main aim of the project is to detect and identify sources of water for biological life.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1211: Earth - Evolution at the Dry Limit
• Applicant Institution: Universität zu Köln
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Daniel Herwartz; Professor Dr. Reinhard Predel