The Leibniz Association senate concluded the regular evaluation of the IOW with a very positive assessment and recommends that the federal and state governments continue their joint funding of the institute. It states that the IOW has successfully advanced its scientific profile, focusing both on the unique ecosystem of the Baltic Sea and on more global issues such as climate change impacts, marine litter and biodiversity. The senate strongly supports the plan to expand the institute's technical and methodological spectrum through an additional 2 million euros per year in order to conduct more research on shallow coastal waters.
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A comparative study in four sea regions (German Baltic Sea, German North Sea, Belgian part of the North Sea and Eastern Channel) identified the organisms behind these Latin names as the most important actors in wide areas of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea in terms of bioturbation. They ensure that the bottom is supplied with oxygen, which triggers a chain of other vital processes. In different environments, only the ranking within this group changes. An international team led by the Warnemünde biologists Mayya Gogina and Michael Zettler now published the results. Using maps of the bioturbation potential, they defined areas of high ecosystem service particularly worthy of protection.
For the first time, an IOW research team has been able to determine the efficiency with which methane-oxidising bacteria from the seafloor can travel with gas bubbles from submarine methane seeps into the open water column and influence biogeochemical processes there.
Today, microplastics can be detected in almost every ecosystem in the world. Despite intensive research into this massive environmental problem, it is still a challenge to identify and quantify these synthetic particles made of various types of plastic in environmental samples. A team of researchers at the IOW has now for the first time compiled a comprehensive overview of methods that enables the use of standardized microplastics extraction workflows optimized for samples with very different properties.
Biofouling is a major problem for any technical equipment that has to remain operational under water for long periods of time. Crusts of mussels and barnacles usually cause mechanical problems, but even thin biofilms of algae and bacteria can damage sensitive measuring equipment as well as interfere seriously with measurements. After about three years of development, an antifouling device designed at the IOW has now been licensed for commercial production. The new system for the first time uses lens optics to focus the UV light of energy-efficient LEDs and thus keeps irradiated surfaces free of fouling.
The IOW has been awarded the “Total E-Quality” (TEQ)-Certificate for its equal opportunities policy for the third time in a row. This time, the jury particularly acknowledged effective gender equality structures established in almost all areas of the Institute’s activities, which are underpinned by extensive measures. The TEQ certificate is awarded by the association TOTAL E-QUALITY e. V. for a period of three years.
Can effective marine management mitigate climate change impacts so that the Baltic Sea regains a good environmental status? Can record blue-green algae blooms and other extreme events with an impact on future tourism be averted? A team led by Markus Meier from the IOW now presents a study, in which various greenhouse gas and nutrient pollution scenarios are modelled up to the year 2100. Only in the most optimistic scenario – nutrient reduction according to a perfect implementation of the Baltic Sea Action Plan – a good environmental status is achievable and extreme algae blooms can be avoided despite increasingly frequent heat spells.
Burst Hope: No chance for environment-relieving plastic decomposition by bacteria
No, they won’t help us with this particular environmental problem: Bacteria are definitely not able to decompose plastic released into marine environments, and they are unlikely to acquire this ability through evolution. This is the conclusion reached by IOW microbiologists Sonja Oberbeckmann and Matthias Labrenz in a comprehensive review study concerning biofilms on microplastics.
On August 2, 2019, the German research vessel SONNE sets off from Singapore for the SO269-SOCLIS cruise to the South China Sea under the lead of IOW scientist Joanna Waniek. At more than 70 sampling stations, 24 German and 16 Chinese scientists will investigate, how natural materials and anthropogenic harmful substances are distributed in the shelf area and deeper oceanic regions, which physical processes are responsible for observed pattern, how far the pollution halo of industrial centres and large conurbations reaches into the sea, and how different climate conditions affect the relevant processes. The expedition ends on September 3 in Hong Kong.
Yes, they can! First proof of bacterial manganese(IV) oxide use for survival near H2S “dead zone”
The Black Sea, with its permanent stratification, large oxygen-free water masses and extensive zones of toxic H2S, is an excellent natural laboratory to study survival strategies of specialised organisms. IOW Microbiologist Jan Henkel and colleagues have investigated how bacteria are nevertheless able to grow there. They now for the first time present proof in the renowned scientific journal PNAS that a bacterium that frequently occurs near the “dead zone” specifically uses manganese(IV) oxide to gain metabolic energy from H2S and convert it into non-toxic sulphate.