News

Student Katja Mehrwald has investigated what species are on the diet of grey seals in the southern Baltic Sea. For her study, carried out at the University of Rostock and IGB, she has now been awarded the Master's Prize of the German Zoological Society. 

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.

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.

This summer, the water shortage in Europe continues to preoccupy politicians and the public. Small standing water bodies such as natural or artificial ponds, kettle holes or park waters are particularly suffering from the lack of water. In order to raise awareness of this problem and to point out options for action for policymakers, authorities and the civil society, IGB has today published a new IGB Dossier on this important type of water body.

An international research team has analysed the state and development of biodiversity in European rivers. As the extensive study shows, development has stagnated after initial improvement; many river systems have not been able to regenerate completely.

Researchers from the Chinese Ministry of Natural Resources in Xiamen and the IGB have identified a natural fungus-bacteria consortium that metabolises nitrate particularly efficiently and consistently. This could be crucial for the further development of biotechnological approaches in water treatment and provides further evidence of the important role of fungi in aquatic ecosystems.