#MeetTheProCleanLakesTeam: ProCleanLakes Partner, BC CAS (Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences)

#MeetTheProCleanLakesTeam: ProCleanLakes Partner, BC CAS (Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences)

Fish communities reflect the ecological state of our lakes and can therefore reveal the problems the lakes are facing.

The #MeetTheProCleanLakesTeam campaign aims to spotlight the people behind the ProCleanLakes project—researchers, innovators, and collaborators working across Europe to restore and protect our freshwater ecosystems. Through short interviews, we share personal insights, motivations, and the unique roles each team member plays in driving forward sustainable water management solutions.

Today, we are pleased to continue the #MeetTheProCleanLakesTeam campaign with an interview featuring Dr Jiří Peterka, Senior Scientist and Director of the Institute of Hydrobiology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

ProCleanLakes Team: Dear Jiří, welcome to the #MeetTheProCleanLakesTeam interview series. We are happy to have you with us today. Would you like to introduce yourself and your role in ProCleanLakes?

Jiří: I am a fish ecologist specializing in surveys of fish communities in large standing waters and in assessing their ecological status. Within the ProCleanLakes project, together with my team, I am responsible for the long-term monitoring of the Medard post-mining lake and for evaluating the status of fish communities in the demonstration lakes Langvatnet, Brates, and Trichonis. Fish, as the upper most trophic level of aquatic ecosystems, integrate influences across all trophic levels, thus clearly mirroring lake ecosystem condition and indicating pathways for ecosystem restoration.

ProCleanLakes Team: What excites you most about working on ProCleanLakes? Why is this work meaningful for you?

Jiří: What excites me most is that the project consortium brings together experts from different fields and focuses not only on identifying the problems of the demonstration lakes, but also on designing and implementing restoration measures, which will hopefully serve as a valuable inspiration for similar restoration efforts across European lakes.

ProCleanLakes Team: How does your work contribute to cleaner lakes and sustainable water management?

Jiří: Fish are a vital component of aquatic ecosystems. With an appropriate species and size composition, they can maintain ecosystems in desirable ecological states and thereby contribute to preserving high water quality in lakes. However, when their composition is unsuitable, they may instead accelerate shifts toward undesirable states, with corresponding impacts on the quality of lake ecosystems and their use.

ProCleanLakes Team: What are the key challenges in your area of the project?

Jiří: Redirecting unfavorable fish communities in large and deep lake ecosystems toward typologically appropriate states is undoubtedly a great challenge.

ProCleanLakes Team: What’s one thing you hope ProCleanLakes will achieve by the end?

Jiří: I hope that we will achieve results that will be positively regarded both by the scientific community and by local lake users and stakeholders, and that will serve as an inspiration for further similar restoration efforts in European lakes.

We would like to sincerely thank Jiří Peterka for this interview as part of the #MeetTheProCleanLakesTeam interview series.

Related publications from BC CAS on ProCleanLakes research:

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Together, we can contribute to the protection and restoration of Europe’s lakes. 🌊