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Biological invasions are widely acknowledged as a serious threat to biodiversity, global economies, and a good quality of life. Yet, they are not universally perceived as a nuisance and are sometimes gaining – often unexpectedly – cultural acceptance in local communities around the world. The consequences of this acceptance are not trivial for the management of invasive species.

A study in Nature Cities shows that artificial light, together with urban heat, may be lengthening the growing season in urban environments by as much as 3 weeks compared to rural areas. Light pollution has a greater impact than urban heat, particularly at the end of the growing season. For the study published in Nature Cities, the researchers analysed satellite data from 428 urban centres in the northern hemisphere over a period of seven years.

Two recent studies highlight the profound impacts of hydropower on biodiversity in river channels and at the land-water surface. The studies demonstrate that these effects arise from impoundment upstream of the dams, disruptions to the natural flow, sediment, and thermal regimes in downstream channels and floodplains, altering habitat conditions and environmental cues vital for many species to complete their life cycles. 

Today on Earth Day, the 19 National Champions of the Frontiers Planet Prize, a globally significant research prize for sustainability, were announced. Robert Arlinghaus, Professor of Fisheries at the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) and the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, and his team are recognized for their groundbreaking publication in Science on the effectiveness of habitat improvement on fish populations in lakes.

How do invasive species change the use of food resources? A meta study reveals that the maximum consumption rates of the invasive species are on average 70 percent higher than those of their native counterparts. This phenomenon is particularly pronounced in freshwater species and could be a major reason for the strong impact of invasive species on biodiversity.

Light pollution, which illuminates the night sky, promotes the growth of cyanobacteria (often called blue-green algae) and stimulates metabolic processes in lakes. This is shown by a recent study by the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) in the largest field experiment to date on the effect of light pollution on lakes. The results have been published in the scientific journal Water Research.

Water is misused as a weapon when infrastructure and water resources are deliberately destroyed in armed conflicts. Water resources and infrastructure are also affected by the ongoing armed conflict in Ukraine: In June 2023, the Kakhovka Dam, which held water from one of Europe's largest reservoirs, collapsed as a result of military damage. Researchers led by the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) have now published a study on the ecological consequences of the dam collapse in the journal Science.

The Panama Canal is a busy maritime route, with 14,000 ships passing through it every year. But this canal is also a potential pathway for the spread of non- native fishes from one ocean to another. Researchers at the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Freie Universität Berlin, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and Harvard University have now compared the fish communities of Lake Gatun in the Panama Canal aquatic corridor before and after the canal’s expansion in 2016.