Contact / Impressum
Contact the research group
Reach Prof Dr Michael T Monaghan and the Molecular Ecology and Genomics Research Group at the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Berlin.
Email the group leaderGroup leader
Prof Dr Michael T Monaghan
Group leader, Molecular Ecology and Genomics Research Group, Leibniz-Institut für Gewässerökologie und Binnenfischerei im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V.
Institute of Biology
The group is based at the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) and at the Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin.
Postal address and direct lines
Address
- Recipient
- Prof Dr Michael T Monaghan
- Institute
- Leibniz-Institut für Gewässerökologie und Binnenfischerei im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V.
- Street and city
- Müggelseedamm 310
12587 Berlin
Deutschland
Telephone, fax and email
- Phone (T)
- +49 (0) 30 6418 1684
- Fax (F)
- +49 (0) 30 6418 1682
- Email (E)
- monaghan@igb-berlin.de
Group news and publications
Selected outputs from the group, as listed on the home page.
| Reference | Journal |
|---|---|
| Maasri et al. (in press) — A global agenda for advancing freshwater biodiversity research | Ecology Letters |
| Sire et al. (in press) — Climate-induced forest dieback | Communications Biology |
| Formenti et al. (in press) | Trends in Ecology and Evolution |
| Welti et al. (in press) — Temperature drives variation in flying insect biomass | Insect Conservation and Diversity |
| Rodriguez-Ezpeleta et al. (2021) | Molecular Ecology |
The Molecular Ecology and Genomics Research Group is part of the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries and the Institute of Biology at Freie Universität Berlin. By working across these two institutional homes, the group connects the long-term perspective of ecological field research with the tools and methods of modern molecular biology. The aim is to understand how genetic variation and genomic information shape the distribution, abundance and adaptation of aquatic organisms, and how those patterns can be used to inform practical conservation and management of freshwater systems.
Research within the group centres on DNA-based approaches to biodiversity, including mitochondrial and nuclear markers, whole genomes and gene expression studies. These tools are applied to questions about species identity, population structure, dispersal, evolutionary history and community composition. A recurring theme is how climate-induced environmental change, habitat modification and disease affect native and non-native species in rivers, lakes and other inland waters, with freshwater biodiversity and global conservation agendas providing an important framing for current projects.
The group also works on the biology of important and emerging freshwater taxa, including eels and their parasites, insect communities, aquatic fungi and other microbial groups. Combining field sampling with laboratory molecular work and computational analysis, studies examine host–parasite relationships, trophic interactions, seasonal variation and shifts in biomass and species composition. Insect and eel research illustrates how genomic and genomic-adjacent evidence can resolve life-history questions that traditional survey methods alone cannot address.
Alongside research, the group is active in teaching, publishing and public communication. Teaching activities cover molecular ecology, genomics, bioinformatics and computational biology for students at both partner institutions. The publication list spans international journals and includes work on freshwater biodiversity assessment, reference gene resources, evolutionary genomics and conservation genetics, and the group contributes to collaborative efforts such as a global agenda for advancing freshwater biodiversity research and conservation.
Affiliation with two Berlin institutions brings together ecologists, molecular biologists and computational researchers in a shared setting, along with access to experimental infrastructure, reference collections and field sites in the region. Through this combination the group supports students and early career researchers, collaborates with national and international partners, and contributes to evidence-based decisions about the protection of freshwater ecosystems and the organisms that depend on them.