Healthy Aquatic Ecosystems
What looks clean is not always pure. This is obviously the case for around 80 percent of our surface and groundwater bodies in Europe. Even though according to the European Water Framework Directive, surface water bodies have achieved a good chemical status, most of them still have a poor ecological status. Can this be explained by novel chemical pollutants that have not yet been examined or by multiple stressors and unknown interactions? Are we taking measurements at the right time and in the right places?
On these grounds, we are examining the processes behind AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS in their entirety: from hydrology to ecology, from individual organisms to communities, from individual substances to different cocktails of pollutants, while also taking into account legal and economic frameworks. We want to complement the existing and status-related management of inland waters with a function-oriented management. Only then can our goal be achieved: an improved status for our inland waters.