News

As the earth warms up, our bodies of water can release more methane and carbon dioxide. It is a vicious circle in which climate change itself intensifies. Researchers at IGB investigate the processes that lead to this release of greenhouse gases.

Much more than foul water in clogged canals: urban waters could make our cities more livable. On the World Cities Day, we have talked to IGB scientist Jörg Freyhof about how this can be achieved.

Which fish species live in the Lake Müggelsee, how many of them are there, and how big do they get? These were the questions investigated by some 20 IGB employees between 8 and 10 October.

Lakes as the Müggelsee near Berlin are currently covered with an unusually thick carpet of algae. This algal bloom is primarily a result of the warm summer months, but there are also other reasons...

How do the conditions set in this year's LakeLab experiment, i.e. skyglow and brownification, affect macrophytes and periphytons? This question is investigated by Ivana Trbojević from the University of Belgrade. The Serbian researcher spends a good four weeks at Lake Stechlin to strengthen the LakeLab team.

Fish are an important element in the food web of lakes. This also applies to the experimental enclosures of the LakeLab. However, in this case, the number of fish must be controlled so that the results from the individual cylinders can be compared with each other. Because fish from the lake repeatedly jump into the enclosures, all fish must first be removed with nets from the cylinders before starting a new experiment. Today, 5 small perch were released into each enclosure for this year's LakeLab experiment.

As energy supplier and stimulus of the internal clock, light is of fundamental importance to plants and animals. This also applies to fish and microscopic organisms in lakes. Like other species, they have adapted to the day-night rhythm during evolution. But what happens if a lake is illuminated by artificial lighting at night, or if not enough light penetrates into the water during the day? These questions are examined during this year's summer experiment at the Lake Lab.

Six tanks filled with water of River Spree and exposed to differently-colored artificial light: this is the core element of an art installation shown from July 5th to September 2nd 2018 in Berlin-Charlottenburg.