Lower the water level in a marsh temporarily and you get a more resilient, healthy and biodiverse ecosystem in return. That is the advice of ecologist Kerstin Bouma and her colleagues at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW). An extraordinary opportunity presented itself in the Oostvaardersplassen to find out how this works. She defended her PhD on that research in the mud and among the reeds on Friday 4 April.

Every summer there they are again, blue-green algae. Why are they a problem, are they getting worse with climate change and what can we do about them? These are questions that the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) has over the past few years been and still is seeking answers to. The research has provided new insights into fundamental processes, from the cellular level to large-scale changes in lakes and ponds. This allows better assessment of risks and possible development of new control methods.

This is the third article in a series on 70 years of ecological research at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), this time on water research.

Ecohydrologist Stefan Dekker has been named the new director of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences' national institute for ecological research, effective 15 June 2025. Dekker is currently serving as professor of Global Ecohydrology and Sustainability at Utrecht University and as research director of the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development. He will succeed NIOO’s interim director Wim van der Putten.

On 1 October, Wim van der Putten took over the directorship from predecessor Geert de Snoo. For the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) he is a familiar face. Van der Putten started at the 'IOO' back in 1984. He shares stories about his career so far, and his work as interim director.

Until October last year, Geert de Snoo was at the helm of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW). A few months later, we look back with him on five years of directorship and talk about his new role as director of research policy at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).

How do microbes influence the methane release in the arctics? And how will climate change influence these microorganisms? These questions and more are what a new research project led by Suzanne McGowan of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) will try to answer.

West Greenland is home to tens of thousands of blue lakes that provide residents drinking water and sequester carbon from the atmosphere. Yet after two months of record heat and precipitation in fall 2022, an estimated 7,500 lakes turned brown, began emitting carbon and decreased in water quality, according to a new study NIOO is involved in.

City dandelions grow better in hot summers and flower better after mild winters than their rural counterparts. This is according to research by the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) that compared dandelions from the centre of Amsterdam with plants outside the city. These experiments - published in the December edition of Evolution Letters - show that dandelions evolved to adapt to urban heat. Such knowledge is essential for sustainable urban planning.

We are happy to welcome Ciska Veen as the new head of the department of Terrestrial Ecology of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW). Ciska will start on 1 February 2025.

Lakes play a major role in providing ecosystem services. But the ecological status and water quality of these lakes is often still not good enough, and is further threatened by the effects of climate change. Two new projects at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) will look for solutions to this problem.

Three NIOO researchers are on this year's Clarivate Analytics' “Highly Cited Researchers” list. Paolina Garbeva for the first time, two others for the seventh consecutive year: Jos Raaijmakers and Wim van der Putten.