Ecology & Environment

Our ecology groups investigate several levels of environmental complexity - from reactions of individuals to biotic and abiotic factors to the effects of resources, mutualism, competition, predation and diseases on the structure and dynamics of populations and ecosystems. The studied species include micro-organisms, plants, invertebrates and vertebrates. Our methods comprise comparative field studies, experiments, genetic analyses and mathematical modelling. With this multi-disciplinary and integrated approach, we aim not only to understand intricate ecological interactions, but to provide relevant information for conservation and management plans.

Research groups

• Aquatic Ecology and Biodiversity (Prof. Dr. Florian Altermatt)
• Biodiversity and Species Interaction Networks (Prof. Dr. Jordi Bascompte)
• Modelling Spatial Processes in River Networks (Dr. Luca Carraro)
• Environmental History (PD Dr. Marcus Hall)
• Islands and Interactions (Dr. Dennis Hansen)
• Ecology and Evolution of Species Interactions (Prof. Dr. Anna-Liisa Laine)
• Soil Ecology & Global Change (Prof. Dr. Pascal Niklaus)
• Environmental Policy (Dr. Tamaki Ohmura)
• Population Ecology (Prof. Dr. Arpat Ozgul)
• Biotic Responses to Environmental Change (Dr. Frank Pennekamp)
• Predictive Ecology (Prof. Dr. Owen Petchey)
• Spatial Ecology & Remote Sensing (Prof. Dr. Gabriela Schaepman-Strub)
• Conservation Biology of Amphibians (Dr. Benedikt Schmidt)

Former research groups

• Environmental Microbiology & Biotechnology (Prof. Dr. Helmut Brandl)
• Wildlife Movement (Dr. Gabriele Cozzi)
• Biodiversity & Ecosystems (Prof. Dr. Andy Hector)
• Evolutionary Ecology (Prof. Dr. Hanna Kokko)
• Environmental Education & Perception (PD Dr. Petra Lindemann-Matthies)
• Animal Ecology (Prof. em. Dr. Heinz-Ulrich Reyer)
• Biology of Species Interactions (Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schmid)
• Plant Interactions (Dr. Christian Schöb)
• Plant Community Ecology (Dr. Lindsay Turnbull)
• Evolutionary Ecology of Environmental Change (PD Dr. Josh Van Buskirk)
• Disease Ecology of Amphibians (Dr. Douglas C. Woodhams)
• Ecological and Developmental Genetics (Dr. Samuel Wüst)