News

A Chinese team, in collaboration with IGB researcher Sabine Hilt, has shown in a large mesocosm experiment how heat waves, nutrients and pesticides promote algae growth and cause aquatic plants to dwindle. This shift in plant types may increase the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions from shallow lakes, as Sabine Hilt and Dutch colleagues demonstrated in another mesocosm experiment.

Whether a lake appears blue or green is also related to its chlorophyll-a content. Researchers led by IGB used satellite data to draw conclusions about the concentrations of the green pigment produced by algae. They showed that 63 percent of the lakes have become greener since 1997. 

Researchers from IGB have investigated which factors promote the formation of vivianite and thus increase the amount of recoverable phosphorus.

Using a robotic fish, the team of David Bierbach and Jens Krause has shown that guppies can anticipate the behavior of their artificial conspecific and predict both the direction and dynamics of its movements.

Wywołana przez człowieka katastrofa ekologiczna, skutkująca masową śmiercią ryb, małży i ślimaków, spowodowała poważne szkody w ekosystemie Odry. Co można teraz zrobić, aby pomóc rzece - i jak można zmniejszyć ryzyko tak poważnych szkód ekologicznych i gospodarczych w przyszłości? 

The man-made environmental disaster, resulting in masses of dead fish, mussels and snails, has caused severe damage to the Oder ecosystem. What can now be done to help the river – and how can the risk of such major ecological and economic damage be reduced in the future? IGB has published its recommendations in an IGB Policy Brief. 

Intact peatlands are habitats for many rare animal and plant species and important sinks for greenhouse gases. Many peatlands that have been converted to agricultural land should therefore be restored. A current study with IGB participation discusses different strategies for this. The authors make clear that the most commonly used method of flooding former peatlands is problematic.

Many rivers are polluted by nitrogen inputs. An international research project involving the IGB has now investigated for the first time the extent of these inputs, the extent to which they are reduced and the contribution made by floodplain areas to this in the Danube catchment area. The results show how useful the large-scale renaturation of river floodplains is for improving water quality.