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

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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The devastating impact of humans on biodiversity

According to the study, environmental pollution, such as from the spraying of pesticides, and habitat changes have a particularly negative impact on the number of species and the composition of species communities (Photo: Adobe Stock).
March 26, 2025 –

Not only are the numbers of species declining, but the composition of species communities is also changing. This is shown by a new study published in the journal “Nature”.

Not only are the numbers of species declining, but the composition of species communities is also changing. This is shown by a new study published in the journal “Nature”.
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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

Saccò, M., Elmasri, A., Tawal, M., Alther, R., Altermatt, F., Martínez, A., … Guzik, M. T. (2025). Advancing subterranean conservation through Global Research on eDNA in Groundwaters (GReG). Subterranean Biology, 53, 31-40. doi:10.3897/subtbiol.53.165710, Institutional Repository
Harrow-Lyle, T. J., Elgin, A. K., Rowe, M. D., Alsip, P. J., Burlakova, L. E., Karatayev, A. Y., … Depew, D. C. (2025). Developing the first binational dreissenid mussel biomass map for Lake Erie. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 102652 (10 pp.). doi:10.1016/j.jglr.2025.102652, Institutional Repository

Dreissena rostriformis bugensis and Dreissena polymorpha, collectively known as dreissenid mussels, were first documented in Lake Erie nearly 40 years ago and continue to strongly impact ecosystem structure and function. Recently, dreissenids have been recognized as the primary regulator of phosphorus dynamics in the Great Lakes, potentially reducing external phosphorus load management strategies. To evaluate the extent that dreissenids may modulate phosphorus dynamics and assess the effectiveness of external load management strategies, ecosystem models need to adequately represent spatial patterns of dreissenid biomass densities. Assessment of dreissenid populations in the Great Lakes are complicated by their vast size, as well as the heterogeneity and stochastic nature of critical physical variables that shape habitat suitability (e.g., depth, hypoxia, substrate type, and benthic shear stress). We used observations from a 2019 benthic survey and 10-fold cross validation to assess spatial prediction methods to create a spatially explicit data layer representing dreissenid biomass in Lake Erie, including inverse distance weighting, nearest neighbour, depth binned average, random forest, generalized linear, and general additive models. A random forest spatial prediction approach produced the best predictive surface for dreissenid biomass in Lake Erie. The estimated spatial pattern of dreissenid biomass may be used in nutrient modeling exercises across Lake Erie to improve estimates of dreissenid impacts on biogeochemistry and lower food web productivity. This work also provides insight for potential sampling design improvements for benthic surveys in future years that could help refine the predictive capacity of the developed spatial prediction framework.
Altermatt, F. (2025). Mehr Raum, mehr Leben. Aqua Viva, 67(2), 3-9. , Institutional Repository

Gewässerräume sind die Schnittstelle von Wasser und Land und von grosser ökologischer Bedeutung: als Lebensraum, Vernetzungskorridor und für Stoffkreisläufe verschiedenster Art. Doch nur wenn Gewässerräume gross genug, miteinander vernetzt und mit ausreichend Gehölzbestand bestückt sind, können sie ihr ökologisches Potenzial voll entfalten. Die gesetzlichen Vorgaben zur Ausgestaltung der Gewässerräume sind aus ökologischer Sicht als absolutes Minimum zu betrachten – umso wichtiger ist eine vollständige Umsetzung und Ausscheidung der Gewässerräume.

Further publications