News

Excessive artificial light in freshwater environments has far-reaching consequences for aquatic organisms and entire ecosystems. But what exactly happens to light underwater? 

A research team under the lead of IGB has identified the most important risk species among aquatic pets for Germany and developed a three-step risk assessment method that can serve as a screening tool and as a basis for legislation to restrict future releases of unwanted animals. This is essential, as the study also shows that 97 per cent of the freshwater species sold in Germany are not native.

Without microorganisms, our ecosystems would not function properly: fungi “predigest” food, parasites keep blue-green algae in check, and water fleas play an important role in aquatic food web dynamics and structure. At IGB, many researchers are working on different microorganisms, studying both the ecology of these organisms and the extent to which they are threatened by climate change and other human-induced changes. While the findings are fascinating, they are also a stark reminder that the diversity of life in our waters is under threat - even the microbes.

A team of researchers led by the University of Iceland's Research Center at Snæfellsnes and IGB has now used unusual Citizen Science data from several decades to show that the American mink has decimated the native eider duck in the Brokey archipelago by about 60 percent.

For most pollutants, there are standard protocols for assessing the risks to ecosystems. Despite the increasing concern about the harmful effects of micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs), so far, there exist no harmonised guidelines for testing the ecotoxicity of MNPs. An international research team with IGB has now developed protocols to assess the toxicity of these substances in soil and aquatic ecosystems.

Microplastics can be toxic to various aquatic organisms, but how hazardous can they really be? Prof. Justyna Wolinska's research group at IGB has investigated a water flea that is a keystone species to European lakes. It turned out that this species may be under much higher pressure of microplastic hazards than previously thought.

In water bodies, stones, aquatic plants or the substrate often feel slippery. The cause of this is the so-called biofilm, a wafer-thin layer of countless microbes. They form the basis of aquatic food webs, cleaning and detoxifying the water by breaking down organic pollutants. Using lakes in the French Pyrenees as an example, researchers from the Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse and the IGB have now shown that the microbial biofilm composition is changing rapidly as a result of climate change and that toxic cyanobacteria are increasing.

The German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), in close cooperation with the IGB research group "Light Pollution and Ecophysiology", has published a new special issue of the journal "Natur und Landschaft" on the topic of light pollution.