Eawag - Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology

Warming of lakes reduces interactions in plankton networks – in the picture a microscope image is shown of a plankton community from Lake Greifen (Photo: Marta Reyes, Eawag).

March 23, 2023

March 23, 2023Thanks to a unique data set from lakes, Eawag has succeeded in determining how plankton networks respond to climate change and phosphate levels.

The grayling (Thymallus thymallus) is threatened by climate warming. Its endangerment status varies from “vulnerable” and “strongly endangered” to “threatened with extinction” depending on the populations (photo: Michel Roggo).

March 2, 2023

March 2, 2023The updated Red List of fish documents a further endangerment. Prof. Ole Seehausen explains why.

Water bodies and the species living in them are exposed to numerous sources of stress, of which hydropower is only one. (Photo: Alessandro Della Bella, Eawag)

February 27, 2023

February 27, 2023Where is there still untapped potential in the use of water bodies for energy generation and what are the associated risks for water systems?

These seven whitefish were described as separate species for the first time, including the "Albeli" from Lake Lucerne, which now bears the name Coregonus muelleri in memory of the whitefish expert Rudolf Müller. (Photos: Eawag)

February 2, 2023

February 2, 2023Biologists at Eawag have identified ten species of whitefish in the lakes of the Reuss river system. Of these, seven have been described as distinct species for the first time – although in two cases this required inspection of specimens from historical collections, since eutrophication of lakes in the 20th century also led to the extinction of fish species in Central Switzerland.

Amphipods are collected from groundwater and then genetically characterised. (Photo: Eawag)

January 27, 2023

January 27, 2023Switzerland's groundwater is home to a multitude of hitherto unknown organisms. An Eawag research project is shining a light into the darkness and revealing this habitat’s exceptional biodiversity.

Historical photo of Horn Richterswil on the shore of Lake Zurich. (Source: https://ba.e-pics.ethz.ch/catalog/ETHBIB.Bildarchiv/r/581286, edited by Water Science Policy)

January 26, 2023

January 26, 2023Where do the toxic metals come from at the bottom of Lake Zurich near Horn Richterswil? With analyses of sediment cores, researchers at Eawag were able to solve the mystery.

Sludge particles with the typical red anammox bacteria at the Mohnheim am Rhein (DE) wastewater treatment plant (photo: Adriano Joss, Eawag)

January 23, 2023

January 23, 2023Too much nitrogen enters many water bodies. The anammox process co-developed by Eawag can contribute to reducing outputs from wastewater treatment plants.

Lake Oeschinen near Kandersteg in the Bernese Oberland (photo: istock)

January 17, 2023

January 17, 2023A new integrative approach to biodiversity research shows how ecosystems on land and in freshwaters can be better protected by considering fundamental ecological processes.

In the presence of fungal hyphae (bottom-row images), the differently coloured bacterial strains form different patterns when they spread spatially than without fungal hyphae (top-row images). (Images from original publication, with permission from Elsevier)

January 9, 2023

January 9, 2023The genetic diversity of populations should decrease as they expand across space – but this is not the case with bacteria. Fungi play a role here.

December 15, 2022

December 15, 2022Work is currently underway in Montreal at the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) to negotiate a framework agreement to preserve biodiversity. In addition to pesticides, nutrients and plastic waste, certain other chemicals ought to be restricted in their production and use, or replaced by less problematic substances, according to a recommendation by a group of scientists, including an environmental toxicologist from Eawag.