Research team of the Department of Hydroecology and Water Protection works on ecology of aquatic biota ‒ phytoplankton, phytobenthos, aquatic vascular plants, macroinvertebrates, fish and amphibians. The activities of the Department also include research of biodiversity, taxonomy, endangered aquatic species, fish parasites, non-indigenous and invasive taxa, as well as monitoring of specific physiological, biochemical and molecular biomarkers in order develop new methods and to track and assess changes in environmental quality.

The team members and their activities contribute to the implementation of EU Water Framework Directive in Serbia, Balkan and the Danube River Basin. In order to design the system for ecological status assessment of water bodies, the team worked on the typology of surface water bodies, identification of reference sites and reference conditions. Relaying on biological quality elements, especially aquatic macroinvertebrates, the correction of original ecoregion boundaries was done as well as definition of hydro-faunistic subregions in Serbia.

Ichthyologic research comprises: an overview of ichthyofauna in terms of ecological and biogeographical characteristics. Beside ichthyo-parasitic studies contribute to the complexity of the research covering the infection extent and medical status of fish.

The team also works on the study of activity of antioxidant defence enzymes and expression of protein CYP1A, as the indicators of stress in aquatic ecosystems.

Since 2005, the Department successfully participates in Proficiency Testing Scheme for benthic macroinvertebrates in order to acquire the reference status of our Laboratory, for access in the TransNational Monitoring Network of the Danube basin.