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Microplastics are found in lakes and reservoirs around the world. Pollution reaches even the most secluded places where human influence is minimal. Moreover, concentrations of microplastics in freshwaters are sometimes higher than in subtropical gyres, the marine areas where large amounts of waste accumulate. These are the findings of an international study of 38 lakes and reservoirs led by the University of Milan-Bicocca in Italy, with the participation of IGB, and published in the journal Nature.

The IGB has commented on the draft National Biodiversity Strategy 2030 from a research perspective and is also making the analysis public here.

How does oxygen make fish larvae glow? How can hungry scavenger cells protect against diseases? And why does dirt in the water help fish grow better? Researchers utilize natural substances to breed sustainable and healthy food fish.

Today, Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke visited the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) in Berlin to learn about the first interim results of the special investigation programme on the environmental disaster in the Oder River (“ODER~SO”), which has been funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) since February 2023. Fish stocks in the Oder River have declined by 53 to 67 per cent as a result of last summer’s environmental disaster, especially midstream.

On 2 March 2023, an international team of researchers raised concerns about the impact of Russia's war of aggression on Ukraine's freshwater resources, water infrastructure and environment. Now, with the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam on 6 June 2023, the worst feared scenario has become a reality. In a joint statement, Dr Oleksandra Shumilova of IGB and Professor Klement Tockner, Director of the Senckenberg – Leibniz Institution for Biodiversity and Earth System Research (SGN), stress the serious consequences of this ecological disaster.

Taxonomy, or the identification of animal and plant species, can be very time-consuming, especially when a large number of objects are being analized. For example, scientific studies on the global decline of insects are often challenging from a taxonomic point of view. Molecular methods can now replace the human eye in identifying species. For the first time, researchers from the Biological Station Doñana (CISC) in Spain, with the participation of the IGB, have compared the efficiency of conventional and molecular methods using non-biting midges.

Submerged macrophytes are declining in many shallow lakes around the world, with more algae and free-floating plants taking their place. But an opposite trend is also emerging: water bodies with improved water quality are increasingly experiencing a mass growth of aquatic plants. Given that these plants perform many important ecosystem functions, careful management is required. 

On 8 May 2023, around 2,000 juvenile fish will be stocked near Stützkow. The original plan was to release the fish in the autumn of 2022, but this was not possible due to the man-made environmental disaster on the river. Now, the partners involved are making a new attempt and sending a signal for better protection of our river habitats.