Category Archives: Research

Unveiling the Hidden Sources of Plastic Pollution: Shedding Light on Overlooked Microplastics and Novel Plastic Forms

The impact of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems has received substantial attention. However, there are emerging concerns regarding overlooked sources and novel forms of plastic pollution that have remained largely unexplored. This blog post covers the Special Issue of – ‘Frontiers in Marine Science’ , which sheds light on these hidden sources of plastic pollution.

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Beyond the classroom: 1st semester ends on the field

In May 2023, a group of M.Sc. Ecotoxicology students along with Carsten Brühl went to the Ecosystem Research Facility, Eusserthal (EERES) and the Riparian Stream Mesocosms (RSM). This excursion was a part of a module in the study program of M.Sc. Environmental Pollution Management (Ecotoxicology). In this blogpost, Danisa Lione and Hajar Bourassi (student representatives of the 2022 cohort), present some brief details about the excursion and their experience.

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Impacts of Anthropogenic Stressors on Aquatic Insects and Terrestrial Food Webs

Anthropogenic stressors have a significant impact on the delicate balance of ecosystems such as emergence of aquatic insects, connecting aquatic and terrestrial food webs. These insects act as a high-quality food source for terrestrial consumers, such as spiders. In this blogpost, Sebastian Pietz talks about his latest publication on exploring the potential effects of subsidy quality on spiders.

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Should we go the easy way? Realism in decomposition studies

Decomposition of organic matter is a critical function in streams and is important for their food webs. Because of this, organic matter decomposition is the subject of many studies. In this blog post, Verena Schreiner talks about a recently published paper in which decomposition was analysed using different substrates.

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The Impact of Pesticides on Biodiversity: A Case Study of Banana Production in Costa Rica

In this blog post, Carsten Brühl is explaining the background and findings of a review produced together with colleagues of the Central American Institute for Studies on Toxic Substances (IRET) at Universidad Nacional (UNA), in Costa Rica that focusses on pesticide use in banana plantations and addresses exposure and effects in environment and human health. The review is the result of a DFG – Conare collaboration funding.

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Neonicotinoids in global surface waters – risks and challenges

In this blog post, Sebastian Stehle presents a meta-analysis on the exposure and risks of the most widely used insecticides in the world, neonicotinoids, for global agricultural surface waters. Although acute risks for aquatic organisms from neonicotinoid exposure appear to be low, risk assessment results also show chronic risks to be of critical concern. Importantly, official regulatory threshold levels (RTLs) determined for pesticide authorization differed widely between countries, indicating large uncertainties and regulatory challenges in defining robust and protective threshold levels for neonicotinoids.

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Maritime ropes leave behind plasticrusts on rocky coasts

It has recently been discovered that plastic debris can form crusts on intertidal rocks. This phenomenon has been termed- plasticrust, but the formation process and potential plastic sources are unknown. In this study, we show for the first time that discarded maritime ropes are plasticrust sources and that summer rock surface temperature can contribute to plasticrust formation.

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Actually protected? Pesticides in nature conservation areas

In this blogpost, Jakob Wolfram talks about his recent study “Pesticide occurrence in protected surface waters in nature conservation areas of Germany”. In the study, he analyzed millions of records detailing the occurrence of pesticides in surface waters. The study showed that pesticides frequently occur in strictly protected nature conservation areas and could jeopardize their ecological integrity. 

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Avenues for future research to predict the effects of chemicals

Predicting effects of chemicals in ecosystems is complex due to many factors that influence the action of chemicals. Moreover, understanding chemical effects in ecosystems requires the integration of multiple levels of biological organisation such as cells, organs, organisms, whole populations, communities or ecosystems, which is rarely done. In this blogpost, Anke Schneeweiss and her research team provide a framework for how to integrate these levels by delineating connections between different ecotoxicological perspectives.

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