News

Today is World Water Day. In an interview, IGB doctoral student Helena Huđek and her scientific supervisor Martin Pusch report on the state of Europe’s rivers, and how to get them flowing again.

We were awarded the "HR Excellence in Research Award" for our HR development strategy. Every three years we commit to new tasks, the implementation of which is assessed externally on a regular basis. Currently it is that time again. An interview on the HRS4R process.

Urban green spaces are increasingly suffering from persistently warm and dry periods. Even in temperate latitudes, precipitation amounts are decreasing while evaporation rates remain high, increasing irrigation needs. An IGB team has analysed the water consumption of vegetation in Berlin.

In the last 10 years, the ecological status of Lake Stechlin has deteriorated seriously. IGB-researchers have prepared a new IGB Dossier that summarises the state of knowledge and identifies possible options for action. 

Fishing primarily removes larger and more active fish from populations. It thus acts as a selection factor that favours shy fish, as a recent study by IGB shows. 

According to scientific theories, clonal vertebrates actually have a harder time succeeding than species that reproduce sexually. The Amazon molly proves otherwise. It has found a way to deal with the challenges of its origin and reproduction.

The new approach can provide predictions about the distribution and persistence of species at different time scales, and their dependence on patch distribution and patch density in the landscape.

A team with Hans-Peter Grossart has researched how resistant small freshwaters are to storms – they are amazingly resilient. And the rapid recovery from heavy rainfall is mainly thanks to microorganisms.