News Portal

Biodiversity and thus the state of river ecosystems can now be predicted. To achieve this, researchers from the University of Zurich and Eawag (Aquatic Science and Technology) are combining environmental DNA with hydrological methods. Using the river Thur as an example, the approach allows identifying target areas for conservation and initiating protective measures.

Four young researchers from the department SWW received an “Early Postdoc.Mobility fellowship” from the SNSF to broaden their scientific profile abroad: Mariane Schneider, Lena Mutzner, Omar Wani and Matthews Moy de Vitry. The four have already worked together as a team during their doctorate and have published, among other things, a review for the future of water management.

The Verband zum Schutz des Greifensees (VGS) (Association for the Preservation of Lake Greifensee) elected its new Council of Delegates on 25 June 2020. In addition to representatives of all municipalities surrounding the lake, the committee also includes cantonal agencies, farmers, fishermen, sailors and – for the first time – a research representative, with the election of Eawag’s Piet Spaak as an aquatic ecologist.

Natural environments vary in space and time and are now drastically changing due to human activities. Environmental changes, like increasing acidity in a pond, can strongly affect the long-term prospects of species. Katja Räsänen from Eawag’s department Aquatic Ecology aims to understand how natural populations of the moor frog adapt to environmental change.

A new social-ecological approach allows complex relationships in ecosystem governance to be modelled as abstract but easily grasped networks.

Since spring 2018, the newly developed underwater camera Aquascope has been recording a wide variety of plankton species in Lake Greifen. These sensitive organisms can thus, for the first time, be observed undisturbed in their natural habitat – an important step towards automated monitoring of water quality and aquatic biodiversity.

Thanks to a new instrument, water pollutants can be measured automatically over a period of weeks – directly in the field, rather than in the laboratory. The mobile mass spectrometer is housed in a trailer and can be remotely controlled by smartphone.

If one observes the competition between parasites and symbionts, much can be learned about the theory of evolution. Two Eawag researchers have thus shown in a new study that high parasite diversity promotes symbiont diversity.

Around 500 different cichlid species are found in Lake Victoria. According to a study by scientists at Eawag and Bern University, whether closely related species can persist within the same area depends on the effect sizes of individual genes underlying key mate-choice traits.

126 Swiss researchers, including 6 from Eawag, want to draw the attention their Swiss compatriots to the scientific evidence showing the link between the emergence of pandemics and human disturbance of the natural environment.

Many experts describe the health effects of drinking water contaminated with toxic concentrations of arsenic as the greatest mass poisoning in human history. A risk model developed by Eawag researcher Joel Podgorski now shows that up to 220 million people worldwide could be affected.

To mark this year’s International Day for Biological Diversity on 22 May, professor Catherine Graham and professor Florian Altermatt explain in an interview why it is important in biodiversity research to look beyond systemic boundaries. The two scientists lead the joint research initiative “Blue-Green Biodiversity” between WSL and Eawag.

To protect ecosystems, it is important to understand how environmental disturbances, such as forest fires or hurricanes, affect nature. A study by Eawag and the University of Zurich now shows how their frequency and intensity affect small and large organisms. Accordingly, large species are more affected by disturbances than small species, and this influences the size distribution within ecological communities.

In order to increase the permeability of the rock for applications such as the use of geothermal energy, rock is artificially broken. Until now, there was a lack of methods to track this process in the field in real time. Thanks to a new technique, this gap can now be closed, as a study by Eawag and ETH Zurich shows.

Every year, the Swiss National Science Foundation launches a photography competition to select the best images from the world of science. In the category "The Research Project" the collage of a joint research project of Eawag and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute was recognized.

How can water supply and wastewater disposal be provided flexibly and efficiently, especially in rapidly growing cities? A new research agenda formulates open questions from a technical, social and transformative perspective. It stresses the importance of transdisciplinary cooperation between research, policy and practice to promote innovation in the water sector.

In many places in Switzerland, rivers, streams and lakeshores are being restored. The new practice documentation “Evaluating the outcome of restoration projects” by Eawag and FOEN provides the basis for joint learning across project boundaries.

There is a flip side to the annoying blankets of pollen found on cars, garden furniture and other surfaces: when it comes to satellite images, pollen on lakes reveals currents that are otherwise only visible in computer models. This makes the waterbody researchers and remote sensing experts very happy.