Category Archives: Research

Flooding linked with higher contamination in riparian zone

Fiolka - Riparian Zone

In this blog post, Franziska Fiolka and colleagues discuss their study investigating flooding as a vector for organic pesticides, linking aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. They assessed regularly and rarely flooded riparian plant contamination profiles in small streams around the Upper Rhine valley and found more and higher concentrations of organic pesticides in regularly flooded riparian soil and plants.

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Modeling long-term effects of contaminants on non-biting midges (Chironomidae)

Dr. Alessandro Manfrin and his team developed a model to assess the long-term effects of contaminants on non-biting midge populations. Their study showed that exposure to the biological larvicide Bti reduces larval densities and adult emergence across multiple generations.

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How River Macroinvertebrates Across Europe Respond to Common Pollutants

Figure 1: Stream sampling sites for macroinvertebrates across Europe.

Today, Dr Jonathan Jupke tells us about his latest publication, where he and his colleagues explored how river macroinvertebrates across Europe respond to common pollutants, such as copper and imidacloprid, and what these findings mean for environmental risk assessment.

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How algae and fungi team up to nourish aquatic invertebrates

Figure for how algae and fungi team up to nourish aquatic invertebrates

In this blog post, Alexander Feckler and his colleagues explore the role of autochthonous primary production for the quality of microbially-colonized leaf material as food in heterotrophic food web in headwater streams. Despite reduced autochthonous primary production in shaded headwater streams, this study indicated a potential for enhanced secondary production and energy transfer to higher trophic levels within the aquatic ecosystem due to so-called “algal priming”.

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