Projects

A training network at the interface between the science and the policy of international biodiversity conservation.

Multidisciplinary studies on the conditions leading to the mass development of toxic algae in the Odra river and on the occurred population losses of aquatic organisms and their regeneration, as well as on the strengthening of resilience, ecosystem services and development scenarios for the coupled river-floodplain ecosystem.

In this project, we will develop a prototype for an argumentation machine that supports users in and during the argumentation process in a scientific context. The goal is to enable for example fresh PhD students to develop and refine their own research hypotheses in the research field of invasion biology by referring them to the relevant scientific terminology and respective publications.

Skyglow, the diffuse illumination of the night sky by artificial light, has never before been experienced during evolutionary history. Together with another feature of global change – the brownification of lakes caused by humic substances – skyglow disrupts the current light conditions in lake ecosystems. We will elucidate the ecological consequences of these phenomena and the mechanisms underlying them.

Eutrophication is a worldwide environmental problem accelerated by global warming, affecting the stability of aquatic ecosystems and having long-lasting consequences. In this project we investigate if and how eutrophication affects two interacting evolutionary processes: disease spread and interspecific hybridization.

Global freshwater biodiversity, biogeography & conservation

Climate change affects not only air temperature and precipitation, but also our streams and rivers: water temperature is rising, river flow characteristics are changing, oxygen concentration is sinking, while nutrient concentrations increase. This is not without consequence for the plants and animals living in freshwaters.

The “GeoFRESH” online platform will allow high-resolution geospatial queries of the global hydrographic network, and enables users to download analysis-ready environmental data.