About us
Open and diverse: get to know IGB!
The Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) is Germany’s largest and one of the leading international research centres for freshwaters. Our vision is the understanding of all fundamental processes in freshwaters and their communities, including their biodiversity, ecosystem services and responses to global change. Our research findings help to tackle global environmental changes and to develop measures conductive to sustainable freshwater management – true to our guiding principle “Research for the future of our freshwaters”.
Profile
Our mission: research for the future of our freshwaters
IGB is Germany’s largest and one of the leading international centres for freshwater research. It is also one of the oldest institutions in this field. The roots of the predecessor institutions can be traced back to the end of the 19th century. Today, science at IGB covers a wide range of disciplines – from hydrology, physics, geography, ecology and evolution to socio-ecology, from molecular biology to the study of entire ecosystems and catchments, and from microbial ecology to fish behaviour.
Our findings and methods provide an excellent basis to train young scientists and to promote an open knowledge exchange with society. Thus, we contribute to coping with ecological and societal challenges, such as the adaptation to global change, the conservation of aquatic biodiversity and the sustainable use and management of inland waters. IGB is an institute of the Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. and Germany’s Leibniz Association. It closely collaborates with numerous national and international universities and other partners in science and society.
© Solvin Zankl
Freshwater systems host a fascinating diversity of life und provide important ecosystem services to our societies. But rivers, lakes, wetlands and small water bodies are also among the ecosytems most affected by human-induced environmental changes such as global warming, urbanisation, regulation, pollution and eutrophication. Better protecting und sustainably using them requires evidence-based knowledge on the dynamics and functioning of these systems and aquatic life.
“Research for the future of our freshwaters” is therefore our mission. We seek to improve the mechanistic and quantitative understanding of the fundamental processes that shape our freshwater ecosystems and of how they are embedded in a terrestrial and societal context. We investigate the ecological and evolutionary dynamics that aquatic organisms undergo, and the drivers and implications of changes in biodiversity. We develop holistic insights in ecosystem services provided by freshwaters, ranging from water security and natural flood protection to fisheries and implications for human health. The insights gained from our research help to better predict how these systems respond to global change and what mechanisms increase their resilience. This enables us to develop ecological sound concepts to manage, conserve and restore freshwater resources and ecosystems more sustainably.
