The research in our groups has the aim to study (1) community assembly processes in microbial communities in space and time, (2) the role of dispersal of terrestrial microorganisms in freshwater ecosystems and (3) the ecological stability of microbial communities, i.e. their response to disturbances and environmental change. Our work focuses on eDNA barcoding of bacterial communities (16S rRNA sequences) and microbial eukaryotes (18S rRNA), with the focus on understanding stress responses of microbial communities as well as processes that are involved in the the degradation of organic matter in aquatic ecosystems.