Biodiversity
Two lakes, seven whitefish species
Research
Eawag
In the journal ZooKeys, a group of scientists from Eawag and Bern University have described seven whitefish species endemic to the Bernese Oberland lakes – including four not previously described scientifically, two of which have only been identified as distinct species in the last few years. In Switzerland, the whitefish diversity of Lakes Thun and Brienz is possibly matched only by that found in Lake Lucerne; and in deep lakes of this kind further surprises cannot be ruled out.
Reduce post-disturbance Logging in Forests
Research
WSL
Please do not disturb: After forest fires, bark beetle infestations and other disurbances, the affected forests should not be cleared. Researchers report this in the journal Nature Communications.
SwissFEL: a perfect habitat for the black mortar bee
Teaching
PSI
For the construction of the SwissFEL facility in 2013, around five hectares of forest were cleared and transformed into a new habitat for flora and fauna. Biologists and forest engineers have now assessed the results of the renaturization project and are excited about the progress to date. The site is now home to several rare animal and plant species.
Unequal distribution of research into marine resources
Politics
Eawag
Exploration and utilisation of resources from the world’s oceans is not equally distributed across the globe. Although many of these resources originate in the Global South, they are mostly being researched by just a few countries from the North. Accordingly, this is also where most of the benefits and profits are flowing to, despite the Convention on Biological Diversity. This was the finding of an analysis of literature from the last 50 years.
Bacteria in sediment continue to show effects of over-fertilisation
Research
Eawag
Whether a lake was once polluted with excess nutrients is reflected even decades later in the community of bacteria living on these nutrients in the sediment. However, there is still surprisingly little research into how microbes in the sediment cooperate.
Corals, Cooperation and Cooking: meet Anders Meibom
Research
EPFL
Summer series: A calling for research. Initially, the dynamic, Danish-born Anders Meibom, a professor at EPFL’s Laboratory for Biological Geochemistry since 2012, was not the slightest bit interested in corals. Now he studies them, a loaf of homemade bread always close at hand.
Page 6 of 10