Freshwater ecosystems are inland aquatic systems dominated by low-salinity water, encompassing rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, wetlands, and groundwater-dependent habitats. They are structured by hydrological regime, nutrient availability, light penetration, thermal stratification, and substrate characteristics, and support diverse communities of microorganisms, algae, macrophytes, invertebrates, fish, and amphibians. Biogeochemical processes in these systems, including primary production, decomposition, and nutrient cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, regulate water quality and contribute to regional and global elemental fluxes. Research on freshwater ecosystems examines food web dynamics, ecological resilience, responses to eutrophication, pollution, flow alteration, climate change, and their role in providing ecosystem services such as drinking water supply and biodiversity maintenance.
Rising stream temperatures may be weakening the foundation of river food webs by altering how carbon moves through these watery ecosystems. In a new study published in the journal Ecosphere, researchers from Northern Arizona ...
Ecology
11 hours ago
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Fish living downstream of wastewater treatment plants are accumulating antidepressants, opioids and other drugs of abuse in their bodies, according to a new study. Using a new analytical method they developed, a team of researchers ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 16, 2026
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Fish living downstream of wastewater treatment plants are accumulating antidepressants, opioids and other drugs of abuse in their bodies, according to a new study. Using a new analytical method they developed, a team of researchers ...
Ecology
Apr 16, 2026
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Research published in Nature Water found that widespread application of the common farm fertilizer, urea, severely degrades water quality in the Canadian Prairies. Researchers at the University of Manitoba and the University ...
Ecology
Apr 15, 2026
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Researchers at the University of Zurich have analyzed the genome of bacteria living in Lake Zurich to conclude that microbes employ two different strategies to colonize new habitats. Some acquire new traits, as expected—but ...
Evolution
Apr 14, 2026
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Beavers (Castor canadensis) are widely recognized as ecosystem engineers, building dams that reshape water flow and alter the physical structure of rivers and streams.
Environment
Apr 14, 2026
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Like a naughty pet Labrador, the Australian lungfish has little restraint when it comes to food. "We had 360 sqm of aquatic plants growing inside enclosures; but, once the fences were removed, lungfish and other aquatic animals ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 14, 2026
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290
After months of relentlessly miserable weather for most of the UK, spring brings renewed enthusiasm for spending time outdoors hiking, wild swimming, paddling, or on walks.
Environment
Apr 10, 2026
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Algae blooms make a pond's surface shine in mesmerizing green hues. But if the microorganisms responsible are cyanobacteria, they can also release toxins that harm humans and wildlife alike. A team reporting in ACS ES&T Water ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 5, 2026
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For over half a century, people in Central Africa have told tales of the fish seen climbing waterfalls, but these claims have never been officially confirmed. Now, these fish have finally been caught on camera, studied more ...
