News

A new IGB Manual helps those seeking assistance to find solutions when lakes appear to be out of balance.

A study published in Communications Earth & Environment shows that the winter North Atlantic Oscillation is strongly associated with the development of summer droughts in Central Europe. This cross-seasonal connection could improve early forecasting and resilience planning land and water management in drought-sensitive regions.

A new study in Communications Biology has demonstrated for the first time that Arapaima juveniles gather by the hundreds to synchronize their trips to the water surface with split-second precision, most likely to avoid predators and maximize survival and efficiency. The principle behind this behavior could also help inform mathematical models for synchronizing heterogeneous groups of robots or drone swarms.

Artificial light at night is an increasingly prevalent environmental hazard. The effects of artificial light on animals, plants, biotic communities and ecosystems have now been comprehensively documented by scientists. This has prompted the legislature to incorporate an additional protective provision into the Federal Nature Conservation Act (BNatSchG). The IGB has established a robust scientific and legal basis for implementing Section 41a of the BNatSchG, which aims to protect animals and plants from the adverse effects of artificial lighting.

Today, researchers presented their findings on the 2022 Oder River environmental disaster at a symposium in Schwedt, handing over a report containing recommendations for action to Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider. The researchers recommended reducing salt and nutrient pollution, revitalising floodplains, and retaining more water in the landscape to strengthen the river’s long-term resilience.

A study published in Science shows that both the amount of water moving through landscapes and how fast it moves, play a key role in nitrogen pollution risk. The findings reveal that increasing pollution is often climate-driven by extreme acceleration or deceleration of water cycling. 

Nanoplastics are increasingly polluting our environment, and research usually focuses on how they affect individual organisms. Two new studies  from IGB take a different angle, examining the microbiome of the water flea Daphnia magna and its relationship with the common fungal parasite Australozyma monospora.

Tom Shatwell is head of the new research group "Lake Ecosystem Dynamics" at IGB. Here he speaks in an interview.