The Max Planck Institute for Limnology consists of two departments (Physiological Ecology and Evolutionary Ecology) and two independent research groups (Tropical Ecology and the Limnological River Unit, Schlitz), which employ various methods and approaches to basic research in the fields of ecology and the evolutionary biology of aquatic systems. The goal is to understand ecological processes and adaptation as a result of natural selection. Communities and ecosystems are made up of populations of organisms, which are adapted to the predictability and seasonal cycles of environmental changes. The research group on tropical ecology investigates the consequences of the cyclical, long-term floods (flood pulse) on the adaptation of organisms in flooded areas of the Amazon and Orinoco rivers in Brazil and on the ecosystem as a whole. The Limnological River Unit (P. Zwick) based in the German city of Schlitz, focuses on the structure and function of the small stream ecosystem of Breitenbach. The Department of Ecophysiology (W. Lampert) works from an evolutionary ecological approach to investigate the processes leading to the formation and development of lake communities. Researchers seek to understand the importance of phenotypical and genotypical variability for short and long-term adaptation processes. The approach is experimental and includes methods from physiology, population biology, and population genetics. The twelve-meter plankton tower is an unusual experimental system that simulates the vertical structure of a water column.

The Department of Evolutionary Ecology was founded in 1999 (M. Milinski). It has set the course for future work at the institute and greatly strengthened the evolutionary biological approach. The Department of Physiological Ecology will investigate the role of genetic variability in adaptation within ecosystems during changing ecological conditions. A main topic of investigation is whether genotypes that adapt well to climate change originate from the existing genotype pool or migrate from other climatic locations.

The Department of Evolutionary Ecology is especially interested in sexual selection and coevolution in host-parasite systems. One hypothesis about the biological advantage of sexual reproduction, which is extremely uneconomical in comparison to parthenogenesis, is that it provides rapid possibilities for new combinations of genetically determined resistance to pathogens. The fitness consequences of mate choice for immunocompetence (host) and virulence (parasite) are being investigated using a model system consisting of the stickleback, copepod, and various other parasites. A further topic of research is the evolutionary ecology of competition and cooperation, which will be studied using game theory models and experiments on natural systems.


August-Thienemann-Str. 2, 24306 Plön; Tel: +49.4522.763.0; Fax: +49.4522.763.310;
E-mail: user@ mpil-ploen-mpg.de; Internet: www.mpil-ploen.mpg.de
1999: 67 employees, including 28 scientists; as well as 28 junior and guest scientists

Scientific Members and Departments

Prof. Dr. Winfried Lampert (Physiological Ecology), Prof. Dr. Manfred Milinski (Evolutionary Ecology