Department Aquatic Ecology

Stream Ecology

Welcome to the Stream Ecology Group. We are part of the Institute of Integrative Biology (IBZ) and the Department of Environmental System Sciences (D-USYS) at ETH Zürich. Our group is hosted by Eawag in Dübendorf, where our offices and labs are based.

Our group focuses on basic and applied questions in the ecology of running waters. A primary research interest is the ecology of alpine waters with a current emphasis on the effects of glacial recession on colonization dynamics and evolutionary dynamics of aquatic insects. Specific applied research topics include dispersal dynamics in river restoration, the use of experimental flows for improving river integrity, and long-term monitoring of alpine waters. Current research topics range from the biodiversity and functioning of alpine microbes, the effects of multiple stressors on stream flora and fauna, the functional characteristics of riverine floodplains, and population genetic structure of various stream macroinvertebrates.

M.Sc. students and undergraduates are welcomed.

Group Leader

Current Projects

An ecological longterm study of the Spöl River, Swiss National Park, to experimental high flows since 1999, including redd counts of brown trout, macroinvertebrates, periphyton and water physico-chemistry at periodic times during each year.
Understanding and measuring how flow intermittency drives biodiversity and river functions in an alpine environment