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

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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How much water is left for nature? – The search for the appropriate environmental flow

July 2, 2025 –

After water is diverted for hydropower, rivers are often left with very little streamflow for nature. A new report provides an overview.

After water is diverted for hydropower, rivers are often left with very little streamflow for nature. A new report provides an overview.
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Gaining time in the fight against the quagga mussel

Filters and heat exchangers can protect infrastructures from clogging by mussels (Photo: Eawag, Linda Haltiner).
April 8, 2025 –

To contain the spread of the invasive quagga mussel, Eawag researchers recommend swift action based on comprehensive prevention, early detection and containment.

To contain the spread of the invasive quagga mussel, Eawag researchers recommend swift action based on comprehensive prevention, early detection and containment.
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Join our events

29.09.​2025,
9.00 am
Eawag Dübendorf
Wiedervernässung von Waldflächen

PEAK-Basiskurs B35/25

21. - 22.10.​2025,
9.00 am
Vogelwarte Sempach
Wirkungskontrolle Revitalisierung – Avifauna

PEAK-Vertiefungskurs V61/25

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

Couton, M., Knüsel, M., Locher, N., Alther, R., & Altermatt, F. (2025). The importance of karstic aquifers for the past and future survival of groundwater amphipods. Diversity and Distributions, 31(9), e70063 (14 pp.). doi:10.1111/ddi.70063, Institutional Repository

Aim: Genetic diversity is key to the long-term maintenance and adaptability of species to changing environments. While for above-ground ecosystems, the monitoring and understanding of genetic diversity has advanced substantially, some less accessible ecosystems and their organisms have been largely overseen. This is particularly the case for groundwater organisms. It is not only difficult to collect sufficient genetic data to identify spatial patterns but they may also have been experiencing very different drivers to population size, occurrence, and genetic structure due to very limited dispersal capacity and persistence in areas extending glacial cycles.
Location: Switzerland.
Methods: Here, we use a unique and spatially highly resolved data set containing a representative collection of thousands of Niphargus amphipod individuals across Switzerland. We analysed the genetic structure of ~1300 individuals of five species within their contemporary distribution.
Results: We found a significantly higher diversity in karstic aquifers and a correlation between the genetic diversity of a species and the proportion of its distribution in the karst.
Main Conclusions: This identifies karstic ecosystems as specific targets for future conservation programmes but also indicates that these karstic areas could have been possible refugia of Pleistocene persistence. Being epicentres of genetic diversity, the protection of the karst is also central for the maintenance of groundwater organisms' adaptive potential to future climatic changes.
Schäfer, M., Malacrinò, A., Walcher, C., Spaak, P., Serwaty-Sárazová, M., Käser, S., … Xu, S. (2025). Aphid herbivory on macrophytes drives adaptive evolution in an aquatic community via indirect effects. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America PNAS, 122(34), e2502742122 (8 pp.). doi:10.1073/pnas.2502742122, Institutional Repository

Indirect ecological interactions—where one species influences another via changes to a third species or the environment—are ubiquitous in natural communities but are rarely linked directly to rapid evolutionary change. Using large outdoor mesocosms, we show that terrestrial aphid herbivory on macrophytes (duckweed) cascades through species interaction networks to alter phytoplankton abundance and water chemistry, driving rapid adaptive evolution of the planktonic crustacean Daphnia magna. The aphid-herbivory-mediated changes in the aquatic community then benefited the aphids by enhancing their performance on duckweed. Our findings provide direct evidence that indirect ecological interactions in near-natural communities can drive rapid evolutionary changes and mediate ecoevolutionary interactions between seemingly independent organisms.
Tovstukha, I., Fritze, M., Kravchenko, K., Kovalov, V., & Vlaschenko, A. (2025). Urbanisation may alter baseline cellular immunity in bats: a pilot study. Biologia. doi:10.1007/s11756-025-02027-x, Institutional Repository

Environmental changes linked to urbanization influence wildlife health and may increase zoonotic risks. In this study, we examined the impact of urban stressors on the cellular immunity of two bat species, Nyctalus noctula and Eptesicus serotinus, along an urban-natural gradient in Eastern Ukraine. Using white blood cell (WBC) profiles as immunity markers, we found that N. noctula from urban and suburban habitats had significantly higher WBC counts, as well as lymphocyte and neutrophil proportions, compared to individuals from natural areas. Meanwhile, E. serotinus, a species more adapted to urban environments, exhibited lower neutrophil levels and a trend toward reduced neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratios. These findings suggest species-specific immune responses to urban stressors, with potential implications for wildlife conservation and disease dynamics. Further research is needed to understand long-term physiological adaptations in urban-dwelling bats.

Further publications