Research groups

CEEB is a competence center with three affiliated departments:

The Department of Aquatic Ecology (Eco)

Research focuses on evolutionary ecology, biodiversity and organic matter dynamics. By blending an organismic focus with community and ecosystem perspectives, the department aims at contributing to both general ecological theory building and solving environmental problems related to inland waters. Ecosystems studied include streams and rivers, estuaries and seas, lakes and ponds, wetlands and groundwater, and experimental aquatic systems. The organisms considered range from microbes to small mammals.

The Department of Fish Ecology and Evolution (Fishec)

Research focuses on ecology and evolution of fish, biodiversity dynamics and conservation. The department contributes to ecological and evolutionary theory building and applies such theory to problems in conservation and management. Much of the research seeks to explain variation in species, genetic and functional diversity and in rates and modes of diversification and extinction. This includes the origins, maintenance and loss of ecological diversity within species and of species diversity. Model systems range from adaptive radiations of cichlid fish in the Great Lakes of Africa, to whitefish radiations in prealpine lakes, trout in alpine rivers and lakes and invasive sticklebacks. Recently we began studying entire lake assemblages of fish in the context of environmental change.

The Department of Surface Waters - Research and Management (Surf)

Research focuses on elemental cycles in natural waters, such as rivers, wetlands, lakes and reservoirs as well as in sediment and ice archives. Investigations concern physical and biogeochemical processes and their driving forces, including anthropogenic pressures and climate change. A prime long-term goal is contributing to concepts for sustainable management of natural waters. The research groups in SURF combine expertise in aquatic physics, geochemistry, chemical sensors, stable isotopes, cosmogenic radionuclides, particle analysis, molecular biology and system analysis.