Eawag - Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology

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.

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.

Rooftop garden areas, such as this one on the 6th floor of the Toni Molkerei (dairy) site in Zurich, can contribute a great deal to water retention in the city (Photo: Brigitte Kisseleff, ERZ)

December 13, 2022

December 13, 2022The Aqua Urbanica symposium, co-organised by Eawag, explored the question of what is needed to implement the sponge city concept. With the help of this concept, cities should be able to mitigate the consequences of climate change.

For a long time the idyll on the Glatt was invisibly clouded by pollutants - now the situation has measurably improved. (Photo: Office for Water and Energy, Canton St. Gallen)

November 24, 2022

November 24, 2022Together with the Canton of St. Gallen, Eawag has been investigating the impact of the expansion of the wastewater treatment plant at Flawil to include a stage for the removal of micropollutants on water quality in the River Glatt. Initial results now show a very positive picture.

Aquatic food web: Dragonfly nymph (Epiprocta species) eats a three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). (Photo: Ernie Cooper, Shutterstock)

November 7, 2022

November 7, 2022Terrestrial and aquatic food webs respond differently to changes in the environment. Understanding these differences is fundamental to identifying the species most important to an ecosystem and to effectively protecting biodiversity. This is shown by a study led by the research institutes Eawag and WSL and published in the journal Nature Communications.