Willkommen

Wir sind dem Institut für Integrative Biologie (IBZ) zugeordnet und im Departement der Umweltsystemwissenschaften (D-USYS) an der ETH Zürich angesiedelt. Unsere Gruppe ist an der Eawag in Dübendorf, wo sich unsere Büros und Labors befinden.

Our research group focuses on two main topics and their interaction: i) the mechanisms that promote and inhibit biodiversity in natural phytoplankton communities at different temporal and spatial scales, and ii) the effects that anthropogenic pollutants and natural toxins have on biodiversity and community dynamics. We study the relative importance of environmental heterogeneity, chemical stressors, natural selection, and stochastic population dynamics on the composition and diversity of phytoplankton communities, using an individual trait-based approach.

Individual level variability in traits and small-scale spatial and temporal environmental changes are a common feature of all natural systems, but they are among the least-understood and hardest-to-measure aspects that influence biodiversity of natural communities, or biodiversity responses to stress. We are interested in linking environmental heterogeneity and chemical pollution to responses at individual and population levels, and effects at community level. We study individual, population and community traits and how they relate to sensitivity, resistance, and adaptation to the environment. We approach our research by high-frequency monitoring of lake natural communities, by small scale mesocosm experiments in the field and with laboratory experiments. We aim at the detection and interpretation of patterns in natural communities, at experimentally testing theories and hypotheses, and at advancing current tools and methods for aquatic ecosystem monitoring and risk assessment.

M.Sc. students and undergraduates are welcome.

For further information please contact Francesco Pomati.