Projects - Eawag

In this project we establish geostatistical AI models to explain and spatially project biodiversity change at regional to global scales.

BioTesselate

In this project we develop and pre-train an open-source large-scale geospatial foundation model (GFM) for ecology and biodiversity predictions across terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

In this project, we assemble eDNA datasets from rivers across Switzerland and re-analyse them with a standardized analytical framework for harmonized biodiversity assessment and ecological indicator development.

Eawag–WSL BiMo Initiative

Quagga mussels thrive at depths of over 200 meters but do they reproduce there too? We investigate whether deep-water populations are quietly fuelling the invasion.

The quagga mussel and its secrets in the depths

In late summer 2024, the quagga mussel was found in Lake Zurich for the first time we are documenting the invasion from day one and tracking how it is already changing the lake bottom.

Lake Zurich under change

Where do the quagga mussels in our lakes come from and how did they get here? Using state-of-the-art genomics, we trace their origins and uncover previously unknown intro-duction routes.

Population Genomics and the Spread of the Quagga Mussel

Understanding the ecosystem behind our most important drinking water resource

Groundwater biodiversity of Switzerland

Temporal fluctuations are ubiquitous in ecological systems, shaping how organisms and ecosystems function across multiple scales.

Spatio-temporal dynamics in meta-ecosystem ecology

When do leaves fall and what impact does that have on aquatic communities?

Community ecology and leaf litter dynamics in headwater streams

Developing eDNA indicators for future-oriented, national aquatic biodiversity monitoring

Future-proofing freshwater ecosystems across Switzerland

Sustainable pathways towards net zero Switzerland – a joint initiative within the ETH Domaine.

SPEED2ZERO

Majestic matterhorn reflected in a serene alpine lake with wildflowers

Swiss National Assessment of Lake Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (SNALBES)

Swiss Assessment of Lake Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

Investigation of (epi)genomic signatures in adaptation to ocean acidification in limpets

Adaptation to ocean acidification in Patella limpets

Establishing a framework for conservation genomics of freshwater biodiversity

Conservation genomics of freshwater biodiversity

Investigation of the Resilience and Adaptability of Quagga Mussels

Epigenomics of rapid adaptation in invasive Quagga mussels

Sex ratio as a potential tool for genetic biocontrol

Sex determination in the invasive Zebra and 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)

Why do toxic cyanobacteria bloom? A gene to ecosystem approach...

Cyano Bloom

Distribution and genetic structure of amphipod species in Swiss riverine ecosystems

Amphipod.CH

Understanding how facultative endosymbiotic bacteria that increase host resistance shape coevolution between aphid hosts and their hymenopteran parasitoids.

Aphid-parasitoid interactions

Freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems and their interfaces are hotspots of biodiversity and the underlying ecological and evolutionary processes.

An Eawag-WSL collaboration focusing on Biodiversity at the interface of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

Blue Green Biodiversity Research Initiative

Advancing tools and protocols for eDNA biomonitoring in aquatic ecosystems

Application of environmental DNA (eDNA) in biomonitoring

Identification of transformation products and assessment of environmental relevance

Biotransformation in freshwater algae

An ecological longterm study of the Spöl River, Swiss National Park, to experimental high flows since 1999, including redd counts of brown trout, macroinvertebrates, periphyton and water physico-chemistry at periodic times during each year.

Environmental Flows: The River Spöl

Population genetics approaches to investigate how the massive level of habitat fragmentation affects population connectivity of crayfish, and if technical countermeasures effectively mitigate the negative effects of fragmentation.

Effects of habitat fragmentation on fish and crayfish

One of the most important challenges in environmental toxicology is to understand how responses to chemical pollutants scale through levels of biological complexity...