Department of wetland ecology

About

Team

Forschung

Publikationen

The Department of wetland ecology combines ecological research in river floodplains with applied projects in the fields of flood protection and floodplain development.

Floodplains and their significance for humans and nature are becoming a matter of public interest, especially as a result of extreme flood events. Founded in 1985, the former WWF Floodplain Institute has always regarded rivers and floodplains as a functional and ecological unit and has been an internationally recognised address for floodplain research and development for almost three decades. Since April 2004, the Department of wetland ecology has joined KIT, where it is part of the Institute of Geography and Geoecology.

Projects

Our group investigates the interrelation between flood protection, floodplain development and renaturation. Apart from our scientific interest in the interactions between floods, organisms, soils, relief, groundwater, land-use, etc., we develop and plan concrete management solutions for floodplain areas. This is done by an interdisciplinary team that is active in various river landscapes in Europe and beyond.