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

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. Presented at the European Geothermal Congress. Zürich. , 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.
 
Giacomuzzo, E. (2025). The role of patch size in driving meta-ecosystem biodiversity and function (Doctoral dissertation). Universität Zürich, Zürich, 190 p. , Institutional Repository

The flow of resources between ecosystems is crucial for how these systems function and support biodiversity, but we still do not fully understand how landscape features like ecosystem size and species dispersal affect these processes. Ecosystem size influences properties that can potentially influence the quantity, quality, and heterogeneity of resources being exchanged, as well as how susceptible ecosystems are to these resource flows. Additionally, dispersal could allow the establishment of species in ecosystems where resource flow increases function, creating a stronger effect of resource flows on function if the established species is highly productive. To study the interaction between resource flows and ecosystem size, as well as between resource flows and dispersal, without the confounding factors found in field studies, I conducted a series of protist microcosm experiments in controlled laboratory conditions. My research shows that ecosystem size significantly affects the effects of resource flows on biodiversity and function, with a mediating effect of both the size of the target and connected ecosystems, the spatial scale examined, the trophic type of the ecosystem, and the magnitude of disturbances that trigger resource flows. I also developed a new experimental system to study how resource flows and dispersal interact to influence ecosystem function and biodiversity; however, the extinction of a key species prevented me from drawing conclusions on this interaction. This thesis provides novel findings and experimental approaches that advance our conceptual understanding of the effects of resource flows. As a next step, the findings of my research can be combined with field studies and mathematical models to also make this research applicable to natural ecosystems.
Moser, V. (2025). The influence of beavers on the ecosystem across aquatic–terrestrial boundaries (Doctoral dissertation). Universität Zürich, Zürich, 229 p. , Institutional Repository

Biodiversity declines due to human activities are ongoing, with freshwater habitats especially degraded and fragmented. Restoration actions for these habitats need to be cheap and large-scale to be effective, but often empirical testing of restoration methods is missing. Ecosystem engineers have been suggested as an option to restore freshwater ecosystems. The recolonization of beavers (Castor fiber in Eurasia, C. canadensis in North America) offers the chance to leverage the actions of such an ecosystem engineer. Beavers modify ecosystems across aquatic and terrestrial boundaries, which can benefit the ecosystem functionality, biodiversity and community composition of plant and animal species of the whole ecosystem.
However, so far, most studies on beaver effects took place in pristine systems, not reflective of the situation in much of the former range. Additionally, while it is known that beavers benefit biodiversity and ecosystem functionality, the pathways leading to these changes are poorly understood. To address these knowledge gaps, we recorded biodiversity and abundance data, ecosystem functions and characteristics across aquatic-terrestrial boundaries in 16 stream systems with a land-use gradient in Switzerland in a beaver-engineered area with a beaver dam and a control site without beavers along the same stream. [...]

Further publications