Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management (IHG)

Research Focus

Key areas of research and teaching at the institute are functions, processes and structures of freshwater ecosystems and their environments. IHG aims to foster the sustainable management of freshwater ecosystems, including conservation, restoration and biodiversity aspects aswell as the provision of ecosystem services in thelightof man-made pressures and global change inorder to contribute towards the development and implementation of sustainable policies at the national, EU-wideand global level – such as the EU WFD and the SDGs. Studying the chemical-physical habitat conditions and characteristics of freshwater ecosystems together with the biological demands of organisms leads to an integrative understanding of complex ecological relationships. Taxa knowledge (algae, floodplain vegetation, benthos, and fish) in combination with profound knowledge of autecological demands forms the basis for the assessment of indicator species and the functioning and integrity of ecosystems and the provision of ecosystem services. At the same time, this knowledge is a precondition for meeting the challenges of restoration ecology and the management of complex aquatic ecosystems. All disciplines necessary for an interdisciplinary approach (biology, ecology, landscape planning, environmental engineering, statistics, modelling, system analysis, GIS, water management, law, history, geography) are represented in the institute’s team.