Projects

Network of Leading Ecosystem Scale Experimental AQUAtic MesoCOSM Facilities Connecting Rivers, Lakes, Estuaries and Oceans in Europe and beyond

In this project, the effect of climate change on the physical processes of lakes will be investigated. Several lakes with a diverse set of boundary conditions (e. g. differing mean depth or different wind exposure) will be instrumented with logger chains. They will measure temperature and oxygen in high resolution and make it possible to resolve changes in physical conditions in response to varying climatic forcing.  In addition to direct measurements, numerical models can be used to reproduce water temperatures in lakes.

Agricultural Systems for Future

Immission and effect iron from mining regions – Dispersion mechanisms and biogeochemical signatures

The main objectives of this research consortium are generating an ecological knowledge base behind environmental flow management and the training of a new generation of advanced experts in this field.

Woody riparian buffer strips along rivers have widely been used mainly to reduce nutrient and fine sediment input from agricultural areas but potentially offer many more ecosystem services (e.g. habitat provision increasing biodiversity, shading and temperature regulation, mitigating climate change effects).

New scientific publications about the taxonomy of small suspended algae, called phytoplankton will be implemented into an update of the German taxa list. This update is needed to ensure uniform identification and coding of indicator species used for the assessment of the ecological status of lakes and rivers in Germany.

The first network connecting freshwater and marine large experimental research infrastructures.