In 2022, we collected 27 kg of used PE and PP laboratory disposables at WasserCluster. The proceeds from the recycling will benefit children with special needs. We would also like to make special mention of the great care that was taken in collecting. There were virtually no misplaced items!

The picture shows the handover to Peter Machek from the association "Helping instead of throwing away”

You can find more details about the initiative here News - Helfen statt wegwerfen

For the project RESTORE4Cs (Modelling Restoration of wetlands for carbon pathways, climate change mitigation and adaptation, ecosystem services, and biodiversity co-benefits) a postdoc position is available at WasserCluster Lunz starting February 23. Please send applications to the working group leader This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  by December 16, 2022. More information can be found here.

We celebrate our 1 year sustainability initiative at WasserCluster Lunz with a self-made film about our sustainable initiatives at the institute so far. We value colorful ideas for a fulfilling, respectful and environmentally conscious interaction in research and among each other likewise. Be inspired by our three sustainability initiatives. You already know the film from our open day? Even better. Here's the link to stream it at home.

At this year's meeting of the Association of Limnologists in Austria (SIL-Austria) at the Biological Station Neusiedlersee in Illmitz, limnologists, geologists and hydrologists discussed the critical situation of Lake Neusiedl, which has lost a lot of its water this year. From 28 - 30 September 2022, participants of a panel discussion and of the scientific meeting explored the current lake situation and discussed "Steppe lakes under climatic change - past, present and future of Lake Neusiedl".

At the research festival in Lower Austria last week, WasserCluster Lunz was represented with two stations. At "What is tea doing in the brook?" you could get information about the metabolic balance of streams. The second station "What happens to leaves in the stream?" explored the connections between biodiversity and  stream organisms. We are already looking forward to the next event, where we can get you closer to our research.

Our inter-university center for the study of aquatic ecosystems will be at the Research Festival of Lower Austria on 30 September 22, alongside other 70 research stations at the Palais Niederösterreich, Vienna. Come to marvel, try and discover at our two booths around the topic of brooks starting at 2 pm at Herrengasse 13, in the foyer on the right.

What is tea doing in the brook?
Of course, there is no tea in the brook. But when leaves fall into the water, organic substances dissolve from the leaves in a similar way to tea boiling. These substances promote the growth of bacteria in the stream, which consumes oxygen and produces carbon dioxide. At WasserCluster Lunz, researchers are investigating how this affects the metabolic balance of streams.

What happens to the leaves in the stream?
Huge amounts of leaves enter our streams every year in autumn. But what happens to them? First, they are colonized by fungi and bacteria. Then water-living insect larvae and small crustaceans come and nibble on the leaves. At WasserCluster Lunz, research is being conducted into how all this is connected to the biodiversity of stream organisms.

In September 2022, Laura Coulson from the working group BIGER successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled "Impacts of intermittency on temperate stream biofilms and their role in the carbon cycle." under the supervision of Thomas Hein, and the co-supervision of Gabriele Weigelhofer from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna. Christian Griebler and Jakob Schelker were also cooperational partners for ther thesis from the University of Vienna.
 
Congratulations!

We're grateful for your interest in our research institute's open house program. At this year's two-day open (lab) day, where you listened to scientific lectures and discussed with our research group leaders on Friday evening and were active at our hands-on stations around water chemistry, water music, and aquatic animals on Saturday afternoon, we counted about 200 visitors in total. We are looking forward to presenting our new research results to you next year.