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

November 14, 2024 –

Every year, the Hydrobiology Limnology Foundation for Water Research issues an award for dissertations and master theses on limnology. This year, the prize for the dissertation and master thesis went to researchers at the aquatic...

Every year, the Hydrobiology Limnology Foundation for Water Research issues an award for dissertations and master theses on limnology. This year, the prize for the dissertation and master thesis went to researchers at the aquatic research institute Eawag.  

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October 31, 2024 –

A new publication by Eawag shows that co-cultures of different microalgae are more resistant to pests than monocultures.

A new publication by Eawag shows that co-cultures of different microalgae are more resistant to pests than monocultures.

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October 22, 2024 –

Forest or farmland: The impact on amphipods in the groundwater is detectable, even if the groundwater extraction site is up to one kilometre away.

Forest or farmland: The impact on amphipods in the groundwater is detectable, even if the groundwater extraction site is up to one kilometre away.

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Join our events

18.03.​2025,
9.00 am
Eawag Dübendorf

PEAK-Vertiefungskurs V59/25

29.09.​2025,
9.00 am
Eawag Dübendorf

PEAK-Basiskurs B35/25


SNSF Starting Grants and Ambizione Fellowships


Research Projects

Investigation of the Resilience and Adaptability of Quagga Mussels
A multi phase research program by Eawag and the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN)
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.
The architecture of community structure, functional traits and trophic networks across blue-green ecosystems
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.
Why do toxic cyanobacteria bloom? A gene to ecosystem approach...
Understanding and measuring how flow intermittency drives biodiversity and river functions in an alpine environment
An Eawag-WSL collaboration focusing on Biodiversity at the interface of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

Latest publications

Rixen, C., Khaliq, I., & Narwani, A. (2024). Der Einfluss des Klimawandels auf das Leben in Süsswasser- und Landökosystemen. Natur und Landschaft, 3. , Institutional Repository
Peller, T., Gounand, I., & Altermatt, F. (2024). Resource flow network structure drives metaecosystem function. American Naturalist, 204(6), 546-560. doi:10.1086/732812, Institutional Repository
Nava, V., Dar, J. Y., De Santis, V., Fehlinger, L., Pasqualini, J., Adekolurejo, O. A., … Gostyńska, J. (2024). Zooming in the plastisphere: the ecological interface for phytoplankton–plastic interactions in aquatic ecosystems. Biological Reviews. doi:10.1111/brv.13164, Institutional Repository