Scientist

Faculty of Biology
Aquatic Ecology
Universitätsstrasse 5
D-45141 Essen
Germany

Room S05T03B08

hannah-marie.stappert@stud.uni-due.de

Extreme weather events are expected to become more frequent as a result of climate change. It is therefore important to identify measures to reduce the impact of such extreme events on nature, and in this case on rivers. This is the focus of the KliMaWerk project, of which my PhD is part. A coupled surface and groundwater model is being calculated for the Lippe catchment area in order to map the entire landscape water balance. The end result will be the development of a toolbox of measures to reduce the impact of floods and low flows on people and nature.

As part of the project, I am investigating the effects of extreme weather events on different groups of organisms (macrozoobenthos, diatoms, riparian vegetation) and the degradation of cottonwood strips. In the case of macrozoobenthos, the focus is on extreme low water events. The influence of different environmental parameters (shading, water temperature, etc.) on macrozoobenthos under low water conditions will be analysed in order to derive measures to reduce the effects of drought on macrozoobenthos.