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.

Biodiversity, ecosystem services and complexity: these keywords are inextricably linked to freshwaters and henceforth form the anchor point of all our research activities. With the beginning of November, IGB has established new programme areas.

IGB researchers have carried out sample fishing in the River Oder to get a better overview of the remaining fish population after the man-made environmental disaster. The results are very sobering.

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. 

How are species richness and the characteristics of running waters related worldwide? This question is being addressed by a team led by IGB scientist Sami Domisch. The researchers have developed the highest-resolution map of the world’s river systems ever produced. The map provides a basis for the detailed analysis of what characterises riverine habitats and how they are interconnected.

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

Citizen scientists sampled more than 600 rivers, streams, lakes and ponds across Germany. The samples have now been analysed by researchers under the auspices of IGB. In this way, a unique data set emerged that provides evidence of three Germany-wide trends: first, microorganisms in the sediment show signs of chemical stress and antibiotic resistance in their genetic material. Second, excessive artificial lighting at night alters the species composition of underwater microorganisms. And third, all studied water bodies emit greenhouse gases.

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.