News

Researchers from the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) analysed various bodies of water in Berlin for traces of nicotine. They detected nicotine in all of the samples, with concentrations ranging from 7 to around 1,500 nanograms per litre. Nicotine from discarded cigarettes primarily enters water bodies via heavy rainfall and the sewage system. 

When predators strike, fish need to decide fast: dive or stay? It’s a life-or-death choice, and getting it wrong, whether by overreacting to harmless disturbances or missing a real threat, can be costly. Now, researchers from the Cluster of Excellence “Science of Intelligence” (SCIoI) with Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), have shown that wild fish shoals become not just faster, but better at making these decisions as they grow in size.

Too little rain, too little water in the landscape – so simple, so serious. Even if the drought is obvious because freshwaters carry less water, plants wither and the soil becomes brittle and cracked, the drying out itself is a complex process in which the spatial context plays an important role. Professor Dörthe Tetzlaff from the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) is investigating this interplay of environmental factors, water storage and water flows in the landscape, focussing on the Berlin-Brandenburg region.

Tires abrade fine particles when driving. These contain a complex mixture of different compounds, including toxic substances. If the tire wear particles end up in freshwater ecosystems, the pollutants are leached out there. A new review article in the Journal of Environmental Management summarises the current state of knowledge on the occurrence of tire wear particles and the release of pollutants in aquatic ecosystems. The researchers warn of the toxic effects on aquatic organisms and associated ecological consequences.

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.