News

Together with Dr Jörn Gessner from IGB and the Director of the Lower Oder Valley National Park, Dirk Treichel, Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke today released 600 sturgeons into the Oder River near Criewen. The new home of the young fish is a special habitat, as the Oder is the last major river in Germany where sturgeon and other animals can migrate unhindered over long distances. Since 2006, it has been a priority area for the reintroduction of the Baltic sturgeon.

Oxygen is essential for most aquatic organisms. Chemical and biological processes, such as the ability to self-purify, are also dependent on oxygen. However, environmental changes and rising water temperatures are altering the oxygen content of lakes, ponds and pools. Oxygen concentrations in the deep layers of lakes are decreasing worldwide. In addition, oxygen depletion can lead to an increased release of greenhouse gases. IGB researchers are investigating the extent and consequences of this. In the process, they are also questioning some theories about the laws of lake ecology.

In order to protect lakes from chronic diseases and threatening conditions and to heal them, strategies similar to those used in human healthcare should be applied: Prophylaxis, regular screening, treatment and mitigation on a local to global scale.

A new IGB manual makes knowledge about the construction methods and authorisation requirements for Vertical Wetlands publicly available to interested parties.

The Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) has long been identified as a threatened species. In order to better understand its life cycle, long-term monitoring of the salmon population in Girnock, Scotland, a well-known freshwater habitat of this migratory fish species, was started around sixty years ago. The work is the most detailed long-term study of an Atlantic salmon population in the world. It revealed quantitative changes in the return rates, distribution, size, growth and age of salmon.

At around 380 kilometres, the Spree is not one of Germany’s longest rivers, but it is one of its most famous. As the capital’s river, it is representative of water bodies in Germany and around the world that are under increasing pressure. While private and commercial interests in its water resources continue to grow, it is also clear that there will be significantly less water available in the future. What needs to be done to counteract this is the subject of controversial debate.

Although lots of rain has reached the ground, the groundwater has not yet returned to the state it was in before the dry year of 2018. Moreover, in 2023, a year with high precipitation, a particularly large amount of water evaporated due to high temperatures. So, no reason to sound the all-clear?

The IGB has provided research-based feedback on a draft legislation to regulate the reuse of municipal wastewater for agricultural irrigation.