News

A new article in Nature Reviews Biodiversity states, that the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) does not adequately address the issue of migratory freshwater fishes. Of the more than 1,100 migratory species listed, only 23 are freshwater fishes.

Whether a caught fish is released back into the water or removed for consumption depends on more than just the fish species and size. Researchers from IGB have analysed the role of anglers' personal characteristics and the influence of the fishing context in a diary study.

Researchers at IGB have simulated how summer storms change the ecology of deep, clear lakes in the “LakeLab” at Lake Stechlin. They artificially generated a storm in the LakeLab enclosures, which mixed the water column. This brought nutrients, inorganic carbon, and algae from deeper layers to the surface, triggering a mass development of cyanobacteria—known as blue-green algae blooms.

Internal clocks can tick very differently. While some people are most productive in the morning, others are only active later in the day or at night. This phenomenon is known in science and medicine as chronotype. In a comprehensive analysis of the activity patterns of wild fish, a research team involving the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) has shown that fish – carp, trout, zander, and others – also have individual early and late risers. The results were published in the journal Fish and Fisheries. 

Sufficient light, but fewer dead insects – that's what Selux's “Tal Shield: Insect-Friendly Street Lighting” provides. The lighting system, developed with IGB, was awarded the German Sustainability Prize in the “Transformation Products Nature” category. A

A research team from IGB has analysed the zooplankton communities in the White Nile and Blue Nil in Khartoum. It is the first study of plankton in the Sudan Nile since the 1980s and provides an important baseline for monitoring of the river‘s biodiversity in the face of ongoing hydropower dam construction.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has released its inaugural Green Status assessment for the gharial, classifying the species as "Critically Depleted" numbers-wise and habitats-wise, across its former range. One of the co-authors of the expert assessment is Dr Phoebe Griffith from IGB.

A study  of the physical characteristics of the Aral Sea shows continuous mixing of the water layers, which supplies the upper layers with nutrients and the bottom of the lake with oxygen. However, even small changes in water level or transparency (e.g. due to increased algal production) can bring the lake out of balance.