Department Aquatic Ecology

Aquatic Ecology

The Aquatic Ecology department at Eawag consists of eight research groups and covers a wide range of different disciplines in ecology and evolutionary biology, ranging from the individual level to associations and ecosystems. Learn more

The latest news from our department

Beavers create habitats for bats

Stagnant water, gaps in the forest and dead trees: bats find good hunting conditions here. (Photo: Christof Angst)
November 13, 2025 –

A study shows that land animals benefit from beaver dam construction – for example, endangered bats.

A study shows that land animals benefit from beaver dam construction – for example, endangered bats.
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10 years of Eawag Sensorlab

A series of temperature sensors with radio transmission is ready for a general overhaul, as operating conditions in the mountains or in sewer systems can be harsh. (Andri Bryner, Eawag)
November 11, 2025 –

Sensorlab is celebrating. It keeps water research at the cutting edge with new measurement and automation solutions, data transmission and management.

Sensorlab is celebrating. It keeps water research at the cutting edge with new measurement and automation solutions, data transmission and management.
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Indirect effects drive evolution

Martin Schäfer taking a water sample from one of the test ponds (Photo: Christoph Walcher, Eawag).
August 28, 2025 –

An international study conducted in Eawag's experimental ponds demonstrates how indirect ecological effects influence the evolution of species.

An international study conducted in Eawag's experimental ponds demonstrates how indirect ecological effects influence the evolution of species.
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Join our events

23.01.​2026,
10.00 am
Eventforum Bern, Fabrikstrasse 12, 3012 Bern
Final Event SPEED2ZERO
25.02.​2026,

SNSF Starting Grants and Ambizione Fellowships

Information for Interested Parties 

Aquascope

Real-time underwater imaging

Research Projects

Investigation of the Resilience and Adaptability of Quagga Mussels

Epigenomics of rapid adaptation in invasive Quagga mussels
A multi phase research program by Eawag and the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN)

Climate Change and Freshwater Biodiversity
Together with climate change, biodiversity loss is the most pressing environmental crisis of our time. The "Translational Centre Biodiversity Conservation" bundles knowledge and makes it generally available. In collaboration with key Swiss stakeholders, the Centre identifies topics for knowledge exchange, translation, and synthesis, and communicates and distributes the resulting synthesis products.

Translational Centre Biodiversity Conservation (TCBC)
The architecture of community structure, functional traits and trophic networks across blue-green ecosystems

Architecture of blue-green communities
Dieses Projekt leistet einen Beitrag zur Blue Green Biodiversity Research Initiative - einer Eawag-WSL-Kollaboration, die sich auf die Biodiversität an der Schnittstelle von aquatischen und terrestrischen Ökosystemen konzentriert.

Warming-related community turnover in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems
Why do toxic cyanobacteria bloom? A gene to ecosystem approach...

Cyano Bloom
Understanding and measuring how flow intermittency drives biodiversity and river functions in an alpine environment

Alpine Streams and Flow Intermittency
An Eawag-WSL collaboration focusing on Biodiversity at the interface of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

Blue Green Biodiversity Research Initiative

More current Research Projects

Latest publications

Collart, F., Rey, P. L., Altermatt, F., Külling, N., Guisan, A., & Adde, A. (2025). On the use of neighboring habitats as predictors of species distributions. Oikos. doi:10.1002/oik.11963, Institutional Repository

Choosing the appropriate scale for measuring environmental predictors is needed for accurately modelling species distributions. This need is becoming increasingly important with the use of high-resolution species distribution models (SDMs), emphasizing the challenge of aligning predictors with the spatial and ecological scales at which species interact with their environments. Focal predictors, which summarize landscape information within a spatially moving window, are powerful to account for neighboring information and scale dependency but have remained overlooked in SDMs. Using an automated selection procedure to identify the best predictors and measurement scales from a high-dimensional pool of candidates, including 13 nested circular focal sizes from 25 m to 5 km radius for each landscape feature, this study evaluated the use of focal predictors through a set of national-scale, high-resolution SDMs for more than 7000 species across 17 major taxonomic groups. It further examined whether focal selection depended on species' mobility or body size. Among all species, focal predictors were selected at least once in ≥ 94% of the SDMs, highlighting their important role. For mobile species, larger focal windows were selected for the land use and land cover category, whereas sessile species were associated with larger focal windows for topographic predictors. For small species, predictors with smaller focal windows were more often selected. Given the importance of focal predictors across all studied taxa, adjusting the optimal scale for each predictor and species is of utmost importance to improve model performance and account for species' scale dependency.
Karatayev, A. Y., & Burlakova, L. E. (2025). Invasion dynamics and impact of non-native molluscs in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 102706 (26 pp.). doi:10.1016/j.jglr.2025.102706, Institutional Repository

The abundances of non-native species in invaded ecosystems can range from negligible to extremely high, and their effects include competition with and predation on native species, habitat alteration, and the transmission of diseases. Currently, 16 non-native mollusc species are established in the Laurentian Great Lakes, including 14 exotics introduced from other continents and two North American transplants. These species represent 52% of the diversity of all free-living non-native benthic invertebrates in the lakes. Early introductions (Bithynia tentaculata, Pisidium moitessierianum, P. amnicum, and Valvata piscinalis) arrived in the 19th century via solid ballast, whereas recent introductions (Dreissena polymorpha, D. rostriformis bugensis, and Potamopyrgus antipodarum) were primarily transported in ballast water. Most exotics originated from Eurasia (64%) and Asia (21%), with single species introductions from Europe and New Zealand. Mollusc densities vary greatly from rare (e.g., Corbicula fluminea and Radix auricularia) to extremely high (D. r. bugensis). Non-native mollusc diversity is highest in shallow Lake Erie and lowest in Lake Huron. The ecological impact of exotic species is largely proportional to their population abundance, ranging from negligible (e.g., sphaeriids, C. fluminea , and Radix auricularia) to the substantial effects from D. r. bugensis , which has transformed entire ecosystems in the four lower Great Lakes. We also examine potential future invaders (e.g., Limnoperna fortunei) and project their likely distributions and impacts. Ongoing and projected temperature increases will likely enhance conditions for currently restricted species and increase the risk of new introductions from warmer regions, further accelerating ecosystem change.
Velásquez-Parra, A., Alther, R., Britt, R., Lee, M., Moeck, C., Pfenninger, N., … Jiménez-Martínez, J. (2025). Towards the energy transition: understanding aquifer reaction to underground energy storage. In European Geothermal Congress 2025 (p. 2.7 (10 pp.). Brussels: European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC). , Institutional Repository

Underground energy storage is one of the most promising alternatives for the efficient use of energy with regard to the energy transition. High-Temperature Borehole Thermal Energy Storage (HT-BTES) systems use the subsurface as a heat-exchanger to both store and recover heat depending on the season, using the ground as a thermal battery. These systems allow storing the excess of energy, e.g., from solar energy during the summer months, deep in the subsurface, making it available for extraction in the winter months, and thus reducing the dependency on non-renewable energy sources for heating purposes.

Depending on design aspects, such as the number, arrangement, and depth of the borehole heat exchangers, temperature changes from the operation of the HT-BTES facility can reach up to 65 ℃. However, the implications of such a large temperature change on the aquifer remain an open question. In the ARTS project (Aquifer's Reaction to Thermal Storage), we investigate the impact of using the subsurface as a thermal battery, with focus on the changes in aquifer's water chemistry, microbial activity, microbial community composition, and groundwater fauna derived from the cyclic heating and cooling of the subsurface. This objective is approached through an extensive field work campaign, spanning over three years. It consists of both continuous on-site monitoring and additional periodic sampling and post-analysis at three measurement stations installed in the vicinity of a HT-BTES facility finished recently at the campus of the Empa and Eawag research institutes in Dübendorf, Switzerland. Results will be pivotal to better understand the effects of cyclic temperature changes on geochemical dissolution and precipitation, on bacterial respiration, and on temporal and permanent changes in the composition of both microorganisms and fauna communities in the subsurface. Additionally, they will contribute to understand the interplay between chemical, biological and hydrological processes in these environments. The outputs from this campaign will be used for the generation and calibration of a numerical model of the subsurface, i.e., digital twin, that will allow a close representation of the hydro-bio-geo-chemical processes in the aquifer. It will be employed for long-term predictions of the aquifer's reaction to future operational conditions of the facility, thus contributing to optimizing its operation.

With this project, we plan to contribute to the development of greener and more sustainable energy solutions by understanding the effects of underground energy storage on the environment, and in that way, to suggest better strategies for its implementation.

Further publications