Aquatic Ecology

Our mission is to understand aquatic ecosystems, predict their responses to a changing world, and contribute to a sustainable future.
We investigate aquatic interactions and processes in lab, field and model systems over multiple timescales and actively engage with society to protect and improve the health of aquatic ecosystems.
The complementarity of expertise in the Aquatic Ecology department is our strength. By working together, our diverse approaches provide a deeper understanding of ecological processes and interactions.
Aquatic ecology and climate change
Climate change is placing unprecedented pressures on our streams, ponds, and lakes. We study how longer-term and extreme climate events such as heatwaves, floods and droughts are changing the ecological balance of water bodies. We engage with stakeholders to explore how nature-based solutions can make our water networks and landscapes more resilient to climate change whilst protecting and enhancing biodiversity.

Understanding and restoring aquatic biodiversity
Our fundamental research into rapid evolution of plankton is helping to uncover how species adapt to the changing environment so we can better understand the mechanisms underpinning biodiversity. We also investigate how we as society can adapt by studying sustainable ways to restore and protect water ecosystems through approaches such as rewilding and aim to understand how biodiversity links to ecosystem resilience. To better understand and predict changes in biodiversity, we are developing novel methods for rapid identification of aquatic organisms using DNA analysis to enable more efficient biodiversity monitoring.

Water quality under pressure
Nitrogen and phosphorus pollution are still among the grand challenges for water management and our ecological approaches help to understand, predict and manage their consequences for water quality, including issues such as cyanobacterial blooms, invasive species and degraded food-webs. We use experimental, modelling and monitoring approaches to understand the drivers of water quality and to determine how societies use and interact with water. We investigate how emergent pollutants such as pharmaceuticals and microplastics are changing the structure and functioning of aquatic systems and conduct research into sustainable water treatment methods.

Research support in Aquatic Ecology
Our research assistants have years of experience working in the field and in laboratories, and are experts in aquatic ecology techniques. The team is on hand to support research scientists and students at the NIOO.
Specialist skills within the group include expertise in:
- Flow cytometry and trait identification of phytoplankton
- Water chemistry analysis
- Set-up and operation of experimental mesocosms
- Microscopic identification of zooplankton, phytoplankton and other aquatic invertebrates
- Aquatic plant sampling and identification
- Boat handling and aquatic sampling
- Elemental analysis of waters and sediments
- Chlorophyll and carotenoid pigment analysis
- Operation and maintenance of aquatic sensors
- DNA metabarcoding
- Algal toxin analysis

Experiments across scales: our facilities
Our experimental facilities range from outdoor experimental ponds for investigation of entire ecosystems with their full complexity, to microcosms, chemostats and batch experiments in the laboratory for more focused experiments gaining mechanistic understanding on responses of species, communities, and food-webs. The indoor limnotron facility provides a high level of experimental control at a large scale whilst including natural complexity. A sensor network allows access for remote users to track the conditions in each. We regularly deploy outdoor enclosures or exclosures in the field to allow us to conduct experimental manipulations on site.

Long-term aquatic ecology
In this period of rapid global change, long-term ecological data are vital for helping us to understand how aquatic ecosystems are responding, and the possible consequences for biodiversity, ecosystem services and resilience. Long-term monitoring programmes at IJsselmeer - the largest lake in the Netherlands - help to understand the linkages between nutrient pollution and algal blooms. Sediment core studies can reveal ecologies of the past, covering decades, centuries and millennia to place recent changes into context. Long-term datasets are vital for supporting and testing the development of aquatic ecosystem models.

METS
Applying ecological knowledge for nature-based solutions that improve water quality and valorisation of resources: that is what METS (Microalgae eco-technological solutions) stands for. METS is one of two special units within the department of Aquatic Ecology. METS explores the potential of microalgae-bacteria biodiversity and interactions for ecological and sustainable eco-technologies, providing clean water, valorisation of resources and safe solutions.

AKWA
Aquatic Knowledge Centre Wageningen (AKWA) is one of two special units within the Department of Aquatic Ecology. AKWA translates state-of-the art scientific knowledge into practical solutions for water issues. Stimulated by the growing interest for research valorization in the Netherlands, AKWA wants to put her valuable scientific knowledge into practice.

Medewerkers
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Dr. Suzanne McGowan
- Functie
- Afdelingshoofd
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Prof. dr. ir. Dedmer Van de Waal
- Functie
- Senior Researcher
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Prof. dr. Liesbeth Bakker
- Functie
- Senior Researcher
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Prof. dr. Wolf M. Mooij
- Functie
- Senior Researcher
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Dr. Steven Declerck
- Functie
- Senior Researcher
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Prof. dr. Lisette de Senerpont Domis
- Functie
- Researcher
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Dr. ir. Tania V. Fernandes
- Functie
- Researcher
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Dr. Ellen Weerman
- Functie
- Honorary Fellow
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Dr. Carel Dieperink
- Functie
- Honorary Fellow
Laatste nieuws
Peer-reviewed publicaties
Impacts of inorganic nutrients on the physiology of a mixoplanktonic ciliate and its cryptophyte prey
What is the pollution limit? Comparing nutrient loads with thresholds to improve water quality in Lake Baiyangdian
Fish grazing enhanced by nutrient enrichment may limit invasive seagrass expansion
On a razor's edge
Disease-mediated nutrient dynamics
Phytoplankton functional composition determines limitation by nutrients and grazers across a lake productivity gradient
Impacts of shelter on the relative dominance of primary producers and trophic transfer efficiency in aquatic food webs
Reduced fertilization constitutes an important prezygotic reproductive barrier between two sibling species of the hybridizing Brachionus calyciflorus species complex
Experimental evidence of rapid heritable adaptation in the absence of initial standing genetic variation
Investing in Urban Blue–Green Infrastructure—Assessing the Costs and Benefits of Stormwater Management in a Peri-Urban Catchment in Oslo, Norway
Reply to “Marine abundance and its prehistoric past in the Baltic”
Towards climate-robust water quality management: Testing the efficacy of different eutrophication control measures during a heatwave in an urban canal
Phytoplankton responses to repeated pulse perturbations imposed on a trend of increasing eutrophication
Phytoplankton Growth and Nutrients
Large herbivore-palm interactions modulate the spatial structure of seedling communities and productivity in Neotropical forests
Photogranules for wastewater treatment
Environmental filtering drives assembly of diatom communities over evolutionary time-scales
Pollen-based reconstruction reveals the impact of the onset of agriculture on plant functional trait composition
Smart Nutrient Retention Networks
Diatom community responses to environmental change in Lake Ohrid (Balkan Peninsula) during the mid-Pleistocene Transition
Effects of ancient allochthonous and contemporary autochthonous organic carbon on the growth and reproduction of lake zooplankton
The coupling between irradiance, growth, photosynthesis and prymnesin cell quota and production in two strains of the bloom-forming haptophyte, Prymnesium parvum
A predatory waterbird as a vector of plant seeds and aquatic invertebrates
Intrinsic postzygotic barriers constrain cross-fertilisation between two hybridising sibling rotifer species of the Brachionus calyciflorus species complex
Monitoring biological water quality by volunteers complements professional assessments
High-frequency monitoring enables operational opportunities to reduce the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) load in Germany’s largest drinking water reservoir
An integrative paleolimnological approach for studying evolutionary processes
Differential effects of elevated pCO2 and warming on marine phytoplankton stoichiometry
Exploring desirable nature futures for Nationaal Park Hollandse Duinen
Herbivore exclusion and active planting stimulate reed marsh development on a newly constructed archipelago
Towards a good ecological status? The prospects for the third implementation cycle of the EU Water Framework Directive in the Netherlands
Serving many masters at once
Large mammalian herbivores modulate plant growth form diversity in a tropical rainforest
Impacts of sediment resuspension on phytoplankton biomass production and trophic transfer: Implications for shallow lake restoration
Large wild herbivores slow down the rapid decline of plant diversity in a tropical forest biodiversity hotspot
Measuring the contribution of evolution to community trait structure in freshwater zooplankton
Nature development in degraded landscapes: How pioneer bioturbators and water level control soil subsidence, nutrient chemistry and greenhouse gas emission
‘Floc and Sink’ Technique Removes Cyanobacteria and Microcystins from Tropical Reservoir Water
The value of novel ecosystems: disclosing the ecological quality of quarry lakes
Removal of cyanobacteria from a water supply reservoir by sedimentation using flocculants and suspended solids as ballast
Temperature affects carbon and nitrogen stable isotopic signatures of aquatic plants
Cyanotoxins in drinking water supply reservoir (Legedadi, Central Ethiopia)
Coccolithophore calcification studied by single-cell impedance cytometry: Towards single-cell PIC:POC measurements
Virtual Growing Pains: Initial Lessons Learned from Organizing Virtual Workshops, Summits, Conferences, and Networking Events during a Global Pandemic
Interannual and Spatial Variability of Cyanotoxins in the Prespa Lake Area, Greece
The role of microbiome and genotype in Daphnia magna upon parasite re-exposure
Grazing resistance in phytoplankton
Elements of disease in a changing world
Intraspecific variation in multiple trait responses of Alexandrium ostenfeldii towards elevated pCO2
Frugivory underpins the nitrogen cycle
Tracking temperate fish reveals their relevance for plant seed dispersal
Cyanobacterial blooms in oligotrophic lakes
Changing elemental cycles, stoichiometric mismatches, and consequences for pathogens of primary producers
Temporal dynamics of freshwater planktonic parasites inferred using a DNA metabarcoding time-series
Innovative Floating Bifacial Photovoltaic Solutions for Inland Water Areas
HABs under global change: Experimental conditions and approaches
Colonial nesting waterbirds as vectors of nutrients to Lake Lesser Prespa (Greece)
Ecological stoichiometry of functional traits in a colonial harmful cyanobacterium
Spatial patterns of weed dispersal by wintering gulls within and beyond an agricultural landscape
Shifting states, shifting services: Linking regime shifts to changes in ecosystem services of shallow lakes
Responses of the ecological characteristics and antioxidant enzyme activities in Rotaria rotatoria to UV-B radiation
Characterizing 19 Thousand Chinese Lakes, Ponds and Reservoirs by Morphometric, Climate and Sediment Characteristics
Mitigating elemental imbalance
Unraveling hidden biodiversity: An example of integrative taxonomy applied to the hybridizing Brachionus calyciflorus species complex
Stratification strength and light climate explain variation in chlorophyll a at the continental scale in a European multilake survey in a heatwave summer
Know your limits: Modelling consumer-resource interactions to derive nutrient thresholds for a sustainable Anthropocene
Securing Biodiversity, Functional Integrity, and Ecosystem Services in Drying River Networks (DRYvER)
Distribution patterns of epiphytic reed-associated macroinvertebrate communities across European shallow lakes
Effectiveness of phosphorus control under extreme heatwaves
Drivers of phytoplankton community structure change with ecosystem ontogeny during the Quaternary
Dietary expansion facilitates the persistence of a large frugivore in fragmented tropical forests
A critical assessment of the stoichiometric knife-edge: no evidence for artefacts caused by the experimental P-supplementation
Long-term cross-scale comparison of grazing and mowing on plant diversity and community composition in a salt-marsh system
On-site blackwater treatment fosters microbial groups and functions to efficiently and robustly recover carbon and nutrients
Spatial and Temporal Variability in Concentration-Discharge Relationships at the Event Scale
Restoring aquatic food webs bottom-up
In situ fatty acid production supports shrimp yields in diets lacking fish oil and fishmeal
Determining the optimal biomass of macrophytes during the ecological restoration process of eutrophic shallow lakes
Flipping Lakes: Explaining concepts of catchment-scale water management through a serious game
Safeguarding freshwater life beyond 2020
Enhancing ecological integrity while preserving ecosystem services: constructing soft-sediment islands in a shallow lake
Coagulation and precipitation of cyanobacterial blooms
Using freshwater bivalves (Corbicula fluminea) to alleviate harmful effects of small-sized crucian carp (carassius carassius) on growth of submerged macrophytes during lake restoration by biomanipulation
From toilet to agriculture: Fertilization with microalgal biomass from wastewater impacts the soil and rhizosphere active microbiomes, greenhouse gas emissions and plant growth
Food nutrient availability affects epibiont prevalence and richness in natural Daphnia populations
Deep drilling reveals massive shifts in evolutionary dynamics after formation of ancient ecosystem
Key management rules for agricultural alpine newt breeding ponds based on habitat suitability models
Seagrass coastal protection services reduced by invasive species expansion and megaherbivore grazing
Direct and indirect effects of native plants and herbivores on biotic resistance to alien aquatic plant invasions
Ectothermic omnivores increase herbivory in response to rising temperature
Temperature effects on egg and larval development rate in European smelt, Osmerus eperlanus, experiments and a 50 year hindcast
Storm impacts on phytoplankton community dynamics in lakes
Maternal effects in zooplankton consumers are not only mediated by direct but also by indirect effects of phosphorus limitation
Effects of Nutrient Limitation on the Synthesis of N-Rich Phytoplankton Toxins: A Meta-Analysis
Nutrient availability controls the impact of mammalian herbivores on soil carbon and nitrogen pools in grasslands
Effects of guanotrophication and warming on the abundance of green algae, cyanobacteria and microcystins in Lake Lesser Prespa, Greece
Tackling the chemical diversity of microbial nonulosonic acids–a universal large-scale survey approach
How the Neurotoxin β-N-Methylamino-l-Alanine Accumulates in Bivalves
A system of metrics for the assessment and improvement of aquatic ecosystem models
Interactive effects of rising temperature and nutrient enrichment on aquatic plant growth, stoichiometry and palatability
Serving many masters at once
Animal-Mediated Dispersal in Understudied Systems
Warming advances virus population dynamics in a temperate freshwater plankton community
Warming and CO2 effects under oligotrophication on temperate phytoplankton communities
Changing human-ecosystem interactions during COVID-19 pandemic: reflections from an urban aquatic ecology perspective
Phenotypic plasticity of carbon fixation stimulates cyanobacterial blooms at elevated CO2
Ocean acidification increases domoic acid contents during a spring to summer succession of coastal phytoplankton
Nutrient and pathogen removal from anaerobically treated black water by microalgae
Impact of hydraulic retention time on community assembly and function of photogranules for wastewater treatment
Lanthanum modified bentonite behaviour and efficiency in adsorbing phosphate in saline waters
Climate Extremes, Rewilding, and the Role of Microhabitats
Will legal international rhino horn trade save wild rhino populations?
On the move: New insights on the ecology and management of native and alien macrophytes
Functional connectivity network between terrestrial and aquatic habitats by a generalist waterbird, and implications for biovectoring