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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13.11.​2025,
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

Levasseur, S., Weber de Melo, V., Lambers, J. H. R., Klausmeier, C. A., Kremer, C. T., Litchman, E., … Narwani, A. (2025). Warm-loving species perform well under limiting resources: trait combinations for future climate. Global Change Biology, 31(10), e70554 (18 pp.). doi:10.1111/gcb.70554, Institutional Repository

Ecosystems are warming alongside shifts in other abiotic factors, leading to interactive effects on populations and communities. This underscores the importance of studying how organisms respond to multiple environmental changes simultaneously. In pelagic ecosystems, as surface waters warm, longer and stronger periods of thermal stratification lead to changes in resource (light and nutrient) availability. We investigate the combined effects of temperature and resource availability on the growth rates of 19 populations (comprising 17 species) of freshwater phytoplankton in order to examine how temperature influences the minimum resource requirements (and Monod parameters) for light, nitrogen, and phosphorus. We also evaluate how resource availability affects each population's thermal traits (i.e., thermal performance curve - TPC - parameters). When averaged across all populations, the requirements for light and phosphorus tended to display a U-shaped relationship along temperatures. Individual populations varied greatly in their responses to temperature, leading to shifts in the identity of the best competitor across the thermal gradient, particularly for nitrogen and phosphorus. TPC responses to resource limitation were highly variable, but thermal optima and maxima of individual populations often decreased with resource limitation, and thermal breadths (range where growth is 80% or more of its maximum) often increased due to a flattening of TPCs. Across all populations and resource types, the maximum optimum temperature across resource levels (maximum Topt) tended to be positively correlated with the temperature at which populations had the lowest resource requirements (minimum R*). However, the temperature at which populations were the best competitors tended to be ~5°C colder on average than the temperature at which they grew the fastest. The populations with the highest thermal optima also had the lowest minimum resource requirements. Our findings reveal trait associations suggesting that some taxa already exhibit trait combinations that would support high performance under future warm and resource-limited conditions.
Vila, M., Marí-Mena, N., Vila, R., Riesgo, A., García-Souto, D., Lopez-Vaamonde, C., … Bortoluzzi, C. (2025). ERGA-BGE genome of the Spanish moon moth Actias isabellae Graells, 1849: a nocturnal lepidopteran protected by the Habitats Directive. Open Research Europe, 5, 175 (13 pp.). doi:10.12688/openreseurope.20658.2, Institutional Repository

High-quality reference genomes are critical resources for understanding biodiversity and supporting conservation efforts. We present the chromosome-level assembly of the Spanish moon moth, Actias isabellae (Graells, 1849), a nocturnal lepidopteran protected under the EU Habitats Directive. The assembly spans 0.56 Gb across 31 pseudomolecules, including the Z chromosome, with a contig N50 of 18.9 Mb and a scaffold N50 of 20.4 Mb. The mitochondrial genome was also assembled into a 15,247 bp circular sequence. Annotation identified 11,805 protein-coding genes and 2,238 non-coding genes, with a BUSCO completeness of over 94%. Notably, no W chromosome was detected, suggesting a ZZ/Z0 sex determination system. This reference genome provides an essential foundation for studying sex chromosome evolution in Lepidoptera and enables advanced population genomics monitoring of this protected species. More broadly, it contributes to ongoing efforts within the European Reference Genome Atlas and the Earth BioGenome Project to harness genomics for biodiversity conservation.
Müller, T., Hofstetter, L., & Spaak, P. (2025). Wie lässt sich die Ausbreitung der Quaggamuschel stoppen?. Vierteljahrsschrift der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Zürich, 170(2), 4-8. , Institutional Repository

Seit etwa 10 Jahren ist die Quaggamuschel nun in der Schweiz. Sie ist eine der einflussreichsten invasiven Arten in unseren Seen, und sie ist auch zunehmend in den Medien als wichtiges Thema präsent. Trotz der grossen Aufmerksamkeit bleiben viele Fragen zur Quaggamuschel bis heute offen und eine praktikable Methode, die Muschel wieder loszuwerden, ist nicht in Sicht. Verschiedene Schweizer Gewässer sind aber bis heute verschont geblieben. Diese Gewässer gilt es nun so lange wie möglich zu bewahren.

Further publications