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Microbiology
Germany
2026
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Biology and Biochemistry
Germany
2023

D-Index & Metrics

Microbiology

D-Index
125
Citations
49665
World Ranking
110
National Ranking
6

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Microbiology in Germany Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Microbiology in Germany Leader Award
  • 2023 - Research.com Biology and Biochemistry in Germany Leader Award
  • 2005 - Fellow of American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Overview

Ralf Conrad is affiliated with the Max Planck Society in Germany. Their research primarily focuses on Environmental Science, with a particular emphasis on Environmental Chemistry, Ecology, Molecular Biology, Global and Planetary Change, and Mechanics of Materials as underlying subfields.

The main topics of their work encompass Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena, Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology, Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics, Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies, Hydrocarbon Exploration and Reservoir Analysis, Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Production, and Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics.

Notable recent papers authored by Ralf Conrad include:

  • "Methane Production in Soil Environments-Anaerobic Biogeochemistry and Microbial Life between Flooding and Desiccation" (2020, Microorganisms)
  • "Complexity of temperature dependence in methanogenic microbial environments" (2023, Frontiers in Microbiology)
  • "Fractionation of stable carbon isotopes during acetate consumption by methanogenic and sulfidogenic microbial communities in rice paddy soils and lake sediments" (2021, Biogeosciences)

Frequent coauthors in their work include Peter Claus, Yang Ji, Yongji Xu, Guangbin Zhang, and Jing Ma, indicating collaborative research activities involving multiple contributors.

Ralf Conrad has published regularly in specific scientific venues such as Biogeosciences, Microorganisms, bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), Frontiers in Microbiology, and the Journal of Environmental Management.

In recognition of research contributions, Ralf Conrad was named a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in 2005.

Best Publications

  • Soil microorganisms as controllers of atmospheric trace gases (H2, CO, CH4, OCS, N2O, and NO).

    Ralf Conrad

  • The global methane cycle: recent advances in understanding the microbial processes involved

    Ralf Conrad

  • Contribution of hydrogen to methane production and control of hydrogen concentrations in methanogenic soils and sediments

    R Conrad

  • Bacteria rather than Archaea dominate microbial ammonia oxidation in an agricultural soil

    Zhongjun Jia;Ralf Conrad

  • Methane fluxes show consistent temperature dependence across microbial to ecosystem scales

    Gabriel Yvon-Durocher;Andrew P. Allen;David Bastviken;Ralf Conrad

  • A 3-year continuous record on the influence of daytime, season, and fertilizer treatment on methane emission rates from an Italian rice paddy

    H. Schütz;A. Holzapfel-Pschorn;R. Conrad;H. Rennenberg

  • Processes involved in formation and emission of methane in rice paddies

    Helmut Schütz;Wolfgang Seiler;Ralf Conrad

  • Competition for electron donors among nitrate reducers, ferric iron reducers, sulfate reducers, and methanogens in anoxic paddy soil

    Christof Achtnich;Friedhelm Bak;Ralf Conrad

  • The capacity of hydrogenotrophic anaerobic bacteria to compete for traces of hydrogen depends on the redox potential of the terminal electron acceptor

    Ralf Cord-Ruwisch;Hans-Jürgen Seitz;Ralf Conrad

  • Quantitative Detection of Methanotrophs in Soil by Novel pmoA-Targeted Real-Time PCR Assays

    Steffen Kolb;Claudia Knief;Stephan Stubner;Ralf Conrad

  • Methanogenic archaea are globally ubiquitous in aerated soils and become active under wet anoxic conditions

    Roey Angel;Peter Claus;Ralf Conrad

  • Effects of vegetation on the emission of methane from submerged paddy soil

    A. Holzapfel-Pschorn;R. Conrad;W. Seiler

  • Influence of O2 availability on NO and N2O release by nitrification and denitrification in soils

    Annette Bollmann;Ralf Conrad

  • Diversity, structure, and size of N(2)O-producing microbial communities in soils--what matters for their functioning?

    Gesche Braker;Ralf Conrad

  • Molecular analyses of the methane-oxidizing microbial community in rice field soil by targeting the genes of the 16S rRNA, particulate methane monooxygenase, and methanol dehydrogenase

    Thilo Henckel;Michael Friedrich;Ralf Conrad

  • Methane emission from rice paddies

    W. Seiler;A. Holzapfel-Pschorn;R. Conrad;D. Scharffe

  • Kinetics of CH4 oxidation in oxic soils exposed to ambient air or high CH4 mixing ratios

    Martin Bender;Ralf Conrad

  • Effects of temperature and fertilizer on activity and community structure of soil ammonia oxidizers.

    Sharon Avrahami;Werner Liesack;Ralf Conrad

  • Molecular analyses of methyl-coenzyme M reductase alpha-subunit (mcrA) genes in rice field soil and enrichment cultures reveal the methanogenic phenotype of a novel archaeal lineage.

    Tillmann Lueders;Kuk-Jeong Chin;Ralf Conrad;Michael Friedrich

  • Acetoclastic and hydrogenotrophic methane production and methanogenic populations in an acidic West-Siberian peat bog.

    Oleg R. Kotsyurbenko;Kuk-Jeong Chin;Mikhail V. Glagolev;Stephan Stubner

  • Effect of soil ammonium concentration on N2O release and on the community structure of ammonia oxidizers and denitrifiers.

    Sharon Avrahami;Ralf Conrad;Gesche Braker

  • Effect of CH4 concentrations and soil conditions on the induction of CH4 oxidation activity.

    Martin Bender;Ralf Conrad

  • Production, oxidation and emission of methane in rice paddies

    Annette Holzapfel-Pschorn;Ralf Conrad;Wolfgang Seiler

Frequent Co-Authors

Wolfgang Seiler
Wolfgang Seiler Max Planck Society
Yahai Lu
Yahai Lu Peking University
Michael W. Friedrich
Michael W. Friedrich University of Bremen
Peter Frenzel
Peter Frenzel Max Planck Society
Tillmann Lueders
Tillmann Lueders University of Bayreuth
Zhongjun Jia
Zhongjun Jia Chinese Academy of Sciences
Alex Enrich-Prast
Alex Enrich-Prast Linköping University
Wolf-Rainer Abraham
Wolf-Rainer Abraham Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research
Werner Liesack
Werner Liesack Max Planck Society
Bernhard Schink
Bernhard Schink University of Konstanz

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