Selected publications

The authors provide open access to a unique ecohydrological and water stable isotope data set from different landscape compartments monitored during the extreme drought of 2018 at multiple spatial scales from lowland headwaters, which are often understudied despite them providing important ecosystem services.This data set allows to differentiate “blue” and “green” water fluxes.

Groups composed of more than one species offer a unique opportunity to look into the evolution of both mechanistic and functional aspects of collective behavior. The study presents data on mixed-species fish shoals that perform collective dives. The dampening effect of less responsive gambusia on molly diving behavior can have strong evolutionary consequences on the overall collective behavior.

A team from TU Bergakademie Freiberg and IGB has developed an easy-to-use method to estimate the consequences of oxygen depletion in the deep water of lakes. Monitoring data from L. Arendsee and L. Stechlin, a.o., were used to model the spatiotemporal extent of anoxia. The novel tool has the potential to predict the ecological consequences of increasing anoxia in lakes due to climate warming.

Thanks to the commitment of nearly 100 researchers, the EPTO-database is the first global data source regarding geo-referenced and freely available data sets on aquatic insect occurrences - Mayflies (Ephemeroptera), stoneflies (Plecoptera), caddisflies (Trichoptera) and dragonflies (Odonata) - worldwide. 

The authors investigated the effectiveness of Protected Areas (PAs) in conserving amphibians and reptiles under climate change. They found that PAs are effective in providing refuge to these species, but spatial conservation gaps still exist and many species may go extinct due to climate change.

Cyanobacteria are considered to be heat-loving, and massive algal blooms are reported mainly in summer, when monitoring is particularly close. Now, the authors show that cyanobacterial blooms can also occur at colder temperatures - even under ice. If the algal blooms go unnoticed, there are risks to drinking water production.

This is a review of multiple-stressor research in freshwaters, particularly studies that have experimentally manipulated multiple stressors and measured responses of multispecies assemblages. There is a gap between biotic interactions under multiple stressors and ecosystem recovery pathways after restoration, indicating a disconnect between multiple stressor research and environmental practice.

The authors analysed data from 14 lakes in the Berlin catchment area for the period 2000 to 2020. They found that if sulphate concentrations had not increased, there would be about 20 per cent more reeds in the sulphate-polluted lakes today.