| Dr. Pascal Vonlanthen Fish Ecology and Evolution Eawag Seestrasse 79 6047 Kastanienbaum Switzerland | Phone +41 58 765 2194 Fax +41 58 765 2168 Office SL-B15 pascal.vonlanthen@eawag.ch |
Pascal Vonlanthen
Function
- Postdoc in the group biodiversity dynamics
Research interest
I am in the lucky position to be able to work intensively on my passion,
freshwater fish. It all started by fishing trout with my father and ended by working
on a variety of topics related to fish biodiversity dynamics, community
ecology, conservations genetics and evolutionary biology. Instead of focusing
on one field of research, I found it fascinating and rewarding to apply
methods, theory and concepts of different fields, which allows a better
understanding of how biodiversity in fish is related to the environment.
During my PhD, I worked intensively on the ecology and evolution of
adaptive radiations in whitefish. I investigated the mechanisms that allowed
whitefish to radiate into a set of unique endemic species in alpine lakes and how a large
fraction of this diversity has been lost over the last couple of decades. After
my PhD, I focused on two conservation genetics projects, that were developed in
close collaboration with stakeholders. In the grayling project, we used
molecular methods to identify ESU’s in alpine grayling populations. This
project allowed the stakeholders to apply a well-developed program to
efficiently manage this declining species. In the nose carp project, we bridged
concepts of evolutionary biology and conservation genetics to investigate
population substructure, local adaptation in shape and signs for natural
selection in nose carps. Nose carps are highly endangered in the alpine region
and well-grounded management plan was needed .
Currently, I am working on “Projet Lacs”. This project, initiated in collaborations with Guy Périat and Ole Seehausen, aims at understanding biodiversity dynamics in fish communities of large and deep alpine lakes. Fish communities in lakes around the Alps are of major ecological, commercial and recreational value. They are however exposed to many anthropogenic stressors and change rapidly. To identify driving forces, quantitative fish community data was crucially needed. We designed a sampling strategy and applied it to many lakes. Fish, genetic and isotope samples are long term stored at the Natural History Museum in Bern. We will now assess the biodiversity at all its levels, from adaptive and genetic diversity within a species to alpha diversity of entire lake communities to gamma diversity measured across ecosystems. This covers phenotypic and modern genetic and genomic analysis within species within lakes and the phylogenetic history of species across lakes. The key part will be to investigate how the environment shapes species communities and their adaptation to different environments, which will involve collaborations with Eawag researchers in other research groups. This project also tries to build bridges between stakeholders and fundamental research. We work in close collaboration with cantonal and federal authorities.
Project
- Projet Lacs
- Nose carp conservation genetics
- Grayling conservation genetics
- Whitefish speciation and diversity loss
Curriculum vitae
2009-today PostDoc at
EAWAG, Group of Fish ecology and evolution
2004-2009, PhD at the
Zoological Institute, University of Bern / EAWAG Kastanienbaum
2004, Aqua-Sana: Collaborator of Dr. Matthias Escher, bureau for aquatic
ecology
2003-2004, M.Sc. Population Genetics (CMPG), Zoology Department,
University of Bern
2002-2003, FIWI: Centre for Fish and Wildlife Health. Assistant in
Ecotoxicology. EROD Measurements
Publications
- Eawag Publications