Swiss Junior Water Prize 2019

Tardigrades Under the Influence of Acidic and Alkaline Solutions, and UV-C Radiation

By Zamir Borojevic

Tardigrades are very small animals who belong to the taxon of Ecdysozoa, and are found in most water bodies, sediment and moss. They have developed the unique ability to react to rapidly changing environmental conditions by changing their physical characteristics and taking on different stages of resistance. Climate change not only has an influence on temperatures around the world, but it also affects the physical characteristics of different waters, which results in need of adaptation for all organisms living in aquatic ecosystems. The aim is to investigate the tolerance and vitality of Hypsibius exemplaris under the influence of different pH values and different dosages of UV-C light and thereby create a diagram for their tolerance and vitality for each experiment.