DEPARTMENT

About Us

The Department of Limnology at the University of Vienna was created by the late Professor Heinz Löffler (1927-2006), renowned for his pioneering work on lake ecology, crustacean biology and paleolimnology. Professor Fritz Schiemer, now emeritus, shifted the focus of the Department to large river restoration and fish ecology. The new Department of Limnology, DeLi, headed by Professor Tom J. Battin, will cover a wide range of research in aquatic sciences with an emphasis on fluvial ecology and biogeochemistry.

Janauer1
Keckeis3
Nummer5
Schagerl2

At DeLi, students and researchers work together to increase our understanding of the community and ecosystem ecology of fluvial networks — ranging from headwater streams to large river floodplains. The diverse research groups that compose DeLi encompass a wide range of expertise including: viral (Peduzzi lab), algal (Schagerl lab) and macrophyte ecology (Janauer lab), microbial biofilms (Battin lab), and both invertebrate (Waringer lab) and fish (Keckeis lab) ecology. Together we address fundamental ecological questions, such as the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function, and the interactions between an organism’s biogeography and their physical and chemical environment. Ultimately, DeLi strives to improve understanding of the role of fluvial ecosystems in global biogeochemical cycles and to lay the foundation towards a new awareness to create and maintain healthy fluvial ecosystems.

The offices and labs of DeLi are located in the Vienna Ecology Center, Faculty of Life Sciences, where we participate in interdepartmental and multidisciplinary collaborations with access to cutting-edge scientific infrastructure. DeLi is also intimately associated with the Interuniversity Center for Aquatic Ecosystem Research, WasserKluster Lunz (www.wasserkluster-lunz.ac.at), which provides unique experimental and lab facilities with direct access do diverse aquatic ecosytems in a spectacular Alpine setting.



Facilities and infrastructure