Video series for the dossier “Sustainability at Münster University”: The “MikroPlaTaS” research project
Plastic in the environment and in the oceans is a well-known problem – and now a lot of inland waters are also affected. Dams and reservoirs have hardly been looked at, though. And this is precisely where the “MikroPlaTaS” project kicks in: researchers from the University of Münster are examining microplastic in wastewater treatment farms in Münster. The team – consisting of landscape ecologists, headed by Dr. Friederike Gabel, and microbiologists, led by Prof. Bodo Philipp – aims to find out which microorganisms populate the minute pieces of plastic, and what the effects on invertebrate animals such as snails and crabs are when these creatures eat the plastic particles. The project – set to last for three years – is part of a joint project being financed by the German Ministry of Education and Science and entitled “Microplastics in Dams and Reservoirs: Sedimentation, Distribution, Effects (MikroPlaTaS)”. The project is being coordinated by researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research. Besides the Institute of Landscape Ecology and the Institute of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology at Münster University, the Universities of Potsdam and Bielefeld are also involved in the project.