News

Scientific findings demonstrate how phosphorus enters the lake and explain why tackling pollution sources and chemical phosphorus removal by precipitation within the lake are both appropriate measures. Only by combining these approaches can the ecological condition of Saxony-Anhalt's largest lake be improved sustainably, and can the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive and Natura 2000 protected area be met.

In nature, the rarest ingredient can be the one that holds everything together. In a new article in the Cell Press journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Dr Erika C. Freeman argues that a handful of scarce molecules can shape entire living communities, far out of proportion to how little of them is present. These are what ecologists call “keystone molecules”.

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

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.

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.

Dr Erika Freeman has been leading the new IGB research group, "Aquatic Biogeochemistry of Carbon", since mid-January 2026. After completing her PhD at the University of Cambridge in the UK, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Eawag in Switzerland.

Researchers explain the ecological developments in Lake Stechlin and the latest findings in a new IGB Dossier. In it, they also provide an assessment of which follow-up actions now appear appropriate.

IGB researchers emphasise the great importance of the WFD for sustainable water management.