Former projects
Andean Mountain Building - Bridging the gap between plate tectonics, landscape evolution, and biodiversity
On geological timescales, plate tectonic and mountain building processes play a major role in shaping landscapes, especially in regions of high tectonic activity such as plate boundary zones. This project focusses on the tectonic and landscape evolution of South America, and studies how changes in landscape through geological time shaped modern biodiversity patterns. Learn more
Calanda - Large-Scale Transplant Experiments
The Calanda project combines large-scale field experiments of alpine plant communities with mathematical models of dispersal and species-based and trait based interactions. To test how warming changes interactions between plant species and how fast these changes affect the community structure, alpine meadow communities will be transplanted to warmer sites downslope. Learn more
Chamois - The Determinants of the Population Genetic Structure of R. rupicapra in the Alps
We combined habitat suitability models with process-based models and compared them to an extensive genomic data set of 449 ddRADseq chamois across the Alps to investigate the historical and contemporary factors shaping the population genetic structure. Learn more
Community Models - Modelling the Species Pool Effect in Grasslands Response to Climate Extremes
Realistic biodiversity forecasting is important for developing conservation initatives. Currently correlative models are used to predict species assemblages along environmental gradients. These models are suitable to predict regional pools but are more limited to forecast community assembly. This project develops simple mechanistic models to improve the prediction of local community structure. Learn more
ClimHerb - Response of Alpine Plant Communities to Biotic and Abiotic Changes
Many herbivores are shifting their distribution poleward and to higher elevation in response to climate changes. This may lead to new interactions between herbivore and plant species that have never co-occured. The ClimHerb project investigates how alpine plant communities respond to increased herbivory pressure and changes in biotic and abiotic conditions. Learn more
FuncNet - Land-Use Effects on Functional Networks and Consequences for Ecosystem Processes
This projects aims to identify important insect traits responding to different filters such as historic and current landscape composition and local land use intensity and relate insect community composition to plant community composition using interactive networks and a trophic response-effect framework. A major focus is placed on insect herbivory, an important ecosystem process at the base of many food webs. Learn more
GEN3SIS - A Processed based Simulation Model
Biodiversity modelling is largely focused on contemporary ecological constrains on species diversity, while modelling the processes of diversification itself in a spatial context remains challenging. Dynamic simulation models may provide a better understanding of the way historical processes have shaped the distribution of biodiversity. For that, we are developing GEN3SIS (formely named GaSM), which is a processed based simulation model and infers biodiversity patterns from historical range dynamics taking into account eco-evolutionary feedbacks. Learn more
Insect Pests - Spatial Modelling of Insect Pests under Climate Change
Climate change is expected to affect the proliferation and spread of pests and pathogens since the abundance and generation time of insects depend primarily on ambient temperature. This project investigates the possible impact of harmful invasive insect pests on Swiss agriculture under future climate change scenarios. Learn more
Lif3web - Plant-Insect Interaction Networks
The Lif3web project investigates the ecological mechanisms shaping interactions between plants and insect herbivores along elevation gradients in the Alps. A better understanding of the structure of plant-insect interaction networks is important for a more realistic forecast of community responses to global changes. Learn more
Megafauna - Identify Refugia for Marine Megafauna
The megafauna project uses environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding to idenitify important habitats and biodiversity hotspots for marine megafauna. This should ultimately help to establish important protected areas in order to better protect the depleted populations of several marine species. Learn more
Orthosound - Using the Sound of Grasshoppers as Biodiversity Indicators
Soundscape ecology can be a powerful tool to monitor biodiversity. The goal of this project is to relate the sound properties of grasshoppers in grasslands to its biodiversity. Collecting biodiversity data is usually done by experts, which is both costly and only yields in limited amount of data. The development of a smartphone app allows to delegate the data collection to citizen to gather a larger amount of data. Learn more
ReeFISH - Discovering Coral Reef Fish Biodiversity
Through a combination of phylogenetic analyses, morphological measurements and population genetics, the ReeFISH project aims at understanding the ecological and evolutionary processes shaping fish biodiversity in coral reefs. Innovative methods will be used in this project, like an underwater stereo-camera system with extreme high quality to collect 3D morphological measurements of reef fishes. Learn more
Reef Futures - The future of reef services in the Anthropocene
Shallow-water reef ecosystems provide many services to coastal communities. The Reef Futures project aims to understand what environmental and socio-economic factors drives spatial variation in current day patterns of multiple ecosystem services provided by reef fishes. Furthermore, we will explore the dynamics of reef social-ecological systems in response to global environmental change, under different scenarios of climate, demographic and socio-economic futures. Learn more
Sihlwald - Biodiversity Patterns in a Natural Forest Reserve: Effect of Habitat Amount and Distribution on Saproxylic Species
To better understand biodiversity patterns and improve conservation patterns, detailed knowledge of the influencing environmental factors, such as habitat availability, is needed. This project focusses on dead wood availability in forests and investigates how saproxylic species interact with their habitat and how habitat availability influences biodiversity. Learn more
Spatial and temporal dynamics of the Alpine Rock Ptarmigan in Switzerland
The population of the Alpine Rock Ptarmigan has strongly declined over the last decades in Switzerland. Using spatial models and different datasets of Ptarmigan recordings, this project aims to identify environmental factors associated with population dynamics in this species. Learn more
Zackenberg - Effect of Climate Change on Arctic Vegetation
Climate change can shuffle terrestrial plant communities and therefore affect the structure and functioning of ecosystems. Studying both the distribution of arctic plant species and communities, as well as its drivers is necessary to predict changes in community composition in the future. Learn more