Department Fish Ecology and Evolution

Projects in progress

Establishing a framework for conservation genomics of freshwater biodiversity
We study the biodiversity of Swiss freshwaters and design data-driven conservation strategies that take climate change and human impacts into account.
We investigate the mechanisms of speciation and adaptive radiation
In this project we are interested in which traits govern the efficiency of stickleback foraging in different ecological contexts.
We work to combat what we consider the largest stumbling block on the way to successful biodiversity management and conservation in aquatic ecosystems: the lack of quantitative baseline data
Almost two-thirds of the native fish species of Switzerland are threatened by extinction. To preserve or specifically enhance aquatic biodiversity and habitats ...
This project contributes to the Blue Green Biodiversity Research Initiative
Genome evolution and genomic divergence across the Swiss Alpine whitefish radiation
Population genomics following experimental host parasite evolution of Chlorella algae and viruses
Investigating the interactions between migration ecology, local adaptation and diversification
Watercourses are among earth's most biodiverse ecosystems. However, they are also under severe pressure from construction work and hydropower generation, among other things.
Do fish and invertebrates like the Rolling Stones?
Understand the mechanisms how adaptive evolution shapes reciprocal interactions between organisms and their environment, leading to either new opportunities or new constraints for further adaptation.

Feedbacks between ecosystem dynamics and genomics

how does the spatio-temporal variation in the availability and quality of prey affect predators foraging on aquatic and terrestrial resources?
New tools to monitor changes in ecosystem conditions and to quantify genetic changes of populations in (semi-)natural environments to predict how human mediated environmental change will influence stability and resilience of ecosystems.
Myvatn threespine stickleback as a model
Interactive effects of diet and nutrition on phenotypic plasticity and adaptation
20,000 years of evolution and ecosystem dynamics in the world’s largest tropical lake reconstructed from sediment cores, fossils, and ancient DNA.
In this large-scale study we investigate the effects of climate change on fish movement patterns in the Swiss Rhine-Aare River network

Completed projects

Assessing biodiversity from genes to communities in Swiss river fish