Aquatic Ecology

Europe-wide study How Does Agriculture Affect Freshwaters?

Agriculture secures our food supply and is an important economic factor. However, it also leaves its mark on the environment, such as in soils, groundwater, and biodiversity. An international research team led by the Aquatic Ecology group has investigated how different types and intensities of agriculture affect the ecological status of rivers in Europe.

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Science paper How could Europe restore its nature?

Early 2024, the European Parliament will take a final vote on the ‘Nature Restoration Law’ (NRL), a globally unique but hotly debated regulation that aims to halt and reverse biodiversity loss in Europe. An international team of scientists led by the University of Duisburg-Essen investigated the prospects of the new regulation. The article will be published on 15 December in the Science Magazine.

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CRC 1439 Collaborative Research Centre

RESIST investigates how water bodies and their habitats respond to multiple stresses. The project is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and runs for four years with a funding volume of 12.3 million euros.

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EU research project Finding natural solutions

MERLIN seeks new, widely applicable solutions for restoring the functions of freshwater ecosystems, for example to improve flood retention and store carbon dioxide. The project involves 48 partners from across Europe, including universities, research institutes, nature conservation organizations, and stakeholders from business, government, and municipalities.

 

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Farewell Helmut Schuhmacher

With deep regret we say farewell to Prof. Dr. Helmut Schuhmacher, who held the Chair of Hydrobiology at the University of Duisburg-Essen and its predecessor institutions from 1982 to 2005.

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Advanced training Webinar

The MERLIN project is offering a monthy webinar-series on (freshwater) restoration-related topics, which are open and free for anyone to join.

Go to MERLIN

Experiment ExStream

The ExStream experiment and the scientists of the CRC - RESIST at the Boye river in a report by WDR "Lokalzeit Ruhr"

Go to CRC - RESIST

Online platform Water assessment tools

The platform serves to provide online calculation tools for determining the ecological quality of water bodies and is operated by Aquatic Ecology on behalf of the Federal Environment Agency. At the moment the platform is only available in German, but other languages are possible and might come in the near future.

Go to platform

Contact

University of Duisburg-Essen
Faculty of Biology
Aquatic Ecology
Universitätsstr. 5
45141 Essen, Germany

Head of research group
Prof. Dr. Bernd Sures
Prof. Dr. Daniel Hering

Office
Birgit Rieth
Jutta Schumacher

Current research

Read which research projects are currently being carried out by the Aquatic Ecology group or in which projects our scientists are involved.

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Current PhD projects

Find out what exciting and interesting topics our doctoral students are currently researching in their work and projects.

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Master, Bachelor & Internships

We offer doctoral, master, bachelor and examination theses as well as internships in all research areas, in a dynamic and internationally networked working group in a good atmosphere. If you are interested, please contact us or the persons mentioned in the text.

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