In June 2008, a cooperation between the Laboratory for Ecological Risk Assessment of the National Institute for Public Health and Environment (RIVM-LER) and the department of Aquatic Ecology and Ecotoxicology of the University of Amsterdam (IBED-AEE) was established. The aim of this cooperation is to develop knowledge on ecological water and sediment quality assessment and to initiate and perform joint scientific (PhD)projects, increasing the scientific output of RIVM-LER and IBED-AEE.
Research questions of RIVM-LER focus on the ‘good ecological status' of waterbodies and the risk assessment of anthropogenic activities affecting environmental quality. Ecological quality of surface waters is nowadays being assessed by comparing the present species with a reference species compostion. This ignores however the interaction between species and between organisms and their environment. Hence the question about the relationship between structural biodiversity and ecosystem functioning remains unanswered. Therefore RIVM-LER and IBED-AEE started a joint PhD project, funded by RIVM, entitled: ‘Interacting consortia of detritus feeding invertebrates and micro-organisms: towards a linkage of species composition and functional parameters for aquatic communities'. The newly established cooperation between the Department of Aquatic Ecology and Ecotoxicology and the Laboratory for Ecological Risk Assessment is an important step to develop scientific knowledge on ecological water and sediment quality assessment, linking ecosystem structure and functioning.
