News

Sonja Jähnig has been appointed Head of Department at IGB since 1 January 2022. In an interview, the professor talks about her personal goals, what each of us really should know about rivers and lakes, and why water bodies are often overlooked.

Researchers at IGB have found that the Mexican waves collectively produced by tiny fish in Mexico actually reduce both their predatory birds' propensity to attack as well as the birds’ hunting success.  Functionally, these waves may work as a signal from the fish to the birds: “We know you are there, don’t waste your time on attacking us!”

Light pollution is a serious threat to all levels of biodiversity – from genes to ecosystems. An international team of researchers has identified 11 urgent research questions that need to be addressed in order to mitigate the effects of light pollution on biodiversity.

Justyna Wolinska has successfully passed the six-year tenure track phase, and has now been jointly appointed to a permanent professorship for Aquatic Evolutionary Ecology by IGB and Freie Universität Berlin.

Researchers from 90 scientific institutions worldwide have stated that freshwater biodiversity research and conservation lag far behind the efforts carried out in terrestrial and marine environments. In a new publication in Ecology Letters, they propose a research agenda with 15 priorities aimed at improving research on biodiversity in lakes, rivers, ponds and wetlands. This is urgently needed, as biodiversity loss is taking place much faster in inland waters than on land or in the oceans.

The World Climate Summit in Glasgow recently ended and climate protection is also to be given greater priority in Germany. Rita Adrian, Sonja Jähnig and Mark Gessner from IGB shed light on what climate change and the current political discourse mean for inland waters and aquatic biodiversity.

What happens in water bodies when the water goes and comes back? Dr. Maria Isabel Arce has shown on a lowland river that after drying up and raining, rivers can release more carbon dioxide and methane.

IGB scientists gave feedback on the potential revision of the EU list of pollutants affecting surface and groundwater