Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB)

The IGB is based in Berlin Friedrichshagen, and is one of Germany's centres for ecosystem research on limnic systems. It is Europe's only scientific research institute which unites hydrologists, chemists, microbiologists, limnologists, fish ecologists and fishing biologists for the purposes of ecosystem analysis. These analyses are primarily based on the processes (functions) and respective structures of ecosystems and secondarily on regional sites, which show specific structures and functions very clearly, for instance turbulence as a distinctive environmental variable for Berlin's shallow rivers and lakes. The IGB's work is a combination of fundamental and precautionary research as a basis for sustainable management of aquatic ecosystems.


Under the leadership of PD Dr. Franz Hölker, the IGB coordinates the research project "Loss of the Night".

The IGB is involved in the following subprojects:

SP01 Quantification of light pollution
SP02 Characzerisation of night-sky brightness
SP05 Costs of the loss of the night
SP08 Effects of light pollution on obligatory nocturnal mammals (bats)
SP09 Impact of light pollution on fish
SP10 Consequences of artificial light for mosquitoes and midges
SP13 Development of an integrative model