Ressort Presse

• von Juliana Fischer
• 25.11.2024

A significant achievement for water research at the University of Duisburg-Essen: funding for the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) RESIST has been extended by the German Research Foundation (DFG) for another four years. Since 2021, water research experts at the University of Duisburg-Essen have been studying how rivers respond to climate change, pollution, and structural modifications—and how they recover from these stressors. For the second research phase, the DFG will now provide about 14 million euros in funding.

During its first phase, the Collaborative Research Centre RESIST (Multilevel response to stressor increase and release in stream ecosystems) focused on key stressors that negatively impact rivers worldwide: rising temperatures, salinisation and structural interventions that impair habitats and flow. 'We want to understand how these factors individually and in combination affect river biota - from viruses, bacteria and algae to insects and fish. At the same time, we are investigating their consequences for key ecosystem functions such as organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling, ' explains Professor Dr Bernd Sures, spokesperson of the CRC RESIST.

RESIST adopts an interdisciplinary approach, integrating laboratory and field experiments, large-scale field studies, and modelling. Experimental systems like the large-scale ExStream setup play a central role. In this system, over 120 mini-ecosystems are subjected to targeted combinations of stressors to study how stressed communities recover. Initial experiments have shown that tolerant species establish in stressor phases and remain once the stress subsides.

The experimental findings have been validated through extensive field studies, including in the Emscher catchment area in North Rhine-Westphalia. 'We found that river biota can take up to ten years to recover from severe stress; however, microorganisms exhibit much shorter recovery times,' says Professor Dr Daniel Hering, co-spokesperson of the CRC. In the forthcoming funding period, the RESIST-team plans to closely examine the recolonisation of the main stem of the Emscher River, which has been free of wastewater for two and a half years now. Another important research focus will be on analysing temporary streams, a frequent stress factor in times of climate change, whose effects are yet insufficiently understood.

The CRC RESIST is led by Professor Dr Bernd Sures and Professor Dr Daniel Hering from the Department of Aquatic Ecology at the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE). Alongside 16 researchers from UDE, scientists from Ruhr University Bochum, Kiel University, the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (Berlin), and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Halle-Leipzig are also involved.

Together with its partner universities in the University Alliance Ruhr, UDE is setting strategic priorities for top-level research, for example by appointing internationally renowned scientists to the Research Centre One Health Ruhr. The water researchers are also participating in the ongoing Excellence Strategy competition with their proposal REASONS: River Ecosystems in the Anthropocene – Sustainable Scientific Solutions.

Image Caption: In the mesocosm experiments, over 120 mesocosms simulate micro-ecosystems. They are fed with stream water and colonised by organisms such as small crustaceans, insect larvae and algae from the river under investigation. The effects of stressors and stressor combinations such as increased water temperature, salinity or altered flow velocity are addressed. During the first funding phase of the CRC RESIST, ExStream installations were set up at the Emscher and the Kinzig.

Further Information
CRC 1439 RESIST: https://sfb-resist.de/

Prof. Dr. Bernd Sures, Fakultät für Biologie, Aquatische Ökologie, Tel. 0201 183 2617, bern.sures@uni-due.de
Prof. Dr. Daniel Hering, Fakultät für Biologie, Aquatische Ökologie,  Tel. 0201 183 3084, daniel.hering@uni-due.de