Department Fish Ecology and Evolution

Preventing biodiversity loss in waterbodies despite climate change

Barbatula sp.nov.
Barbatula sp.nov.
Cottus sp.
Cottus sp.
Phoxinus csickii
Phoxinus lumaireul
Phoxinus septimaniae
Phoxinus sp.nov.
The Sense is as one of the last natural and unspoiled watercourses an absolute exception in the entire Alpine region. (Photo: Conor Waldock)
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For a long time, it went unrecognized that stone loaches (Barbatula), sculpins (Cottus), and minnows (Phoxinus) are so-called species complexes, each comprising several species with different habitat requirements.

Swiss waters harbor exceptionally high biological diversity. However, increasing societal pressure on the climate and natural ecosystems is driving an unprecedented loss of biodiversity, particularly in lakes and rivers. The ecological consequences of this decline remain largely underestimated, while the implementation of conservation measures faces significant challenges due to the need to align with social, economic, and political constraints. The LANAT-3 project aims to advance knowledge of aquatic biodiversity and stakeholder practices to support its preservation and restoration, while enhancing its resilience to climate change through evidence-based, efficient, and effective conservation strategies and recommendations. To achieve these goals the project focuses on five key priorities:

1. Assessing and documenting fish diversity, mapping species distribution, and describing new species

Capturing aquatic biodiversity (Photo: Bárbara B. Calegari)
Fish species from the Aare catchment area (Photo: Bárbara B. Calegari)

The ability to halt biodiversity loss and effectively protect habitats fundamentally depends on correctly identifying species and comprehensively describing biological diversity. Taxonomy plays a crucial role in this effort, as it focuses on the recognition, classification, and understanding of biodiversity. Until now, approximately one-fifth of the more than 120 fish species known to occur in Switzerland are still awaiting formal description. Understanding fish diversity, defining their geographical boundaries and habitat requirements, and assessing current threats are essential for their protection. As part of the LANAT-3 project, target fish groups such as stone loaches (Barbatula spp.), minnows (Phoxinus spp.), sculpins (Cottus spp.), gudgeons (Gobio spp.) and others are being studied, their identification resolved, and new species described (Calegari et al. accepted). Accurate identification and classification of these species are key to legal protection and enable appropriate conservation planning and efforts (Josi et al. 2024a).

2. Identifying environmental constraints that drive species distribution

Models help to determine where species could occur without human influence

Both natural factors, like climate and food availability, and human activities affect the distribution of species. Here, ecological niche models are used to predict where species are likely to be found, but these models don’t explain why certain areas are suitable or not (Josi et al. 2024b). Therefore, a new approach has been developed in this project using Explainable AI to help identify which environmental factors make a habitat good or bad for a species at a given location. This makes it possible to quantify the extent of human activity on a species’ natural habitat and identify the key factors driving loss of species in a given area (Waldock et al. 2024). These insights help designing targeted conservation measures to protect aquatic biodiversity (Wegscheider et al. 2024).

3. Identifying priority areas for conservation or restoration, considering climate change

The Sense is an ideal habitat for many fish species. (Photo: Dres Hubacher)

Building on the above insights, a systematic conservation planning approach is being developed to identify priority areas for protection, future climate refugia, and regions requiring urgent restoration. Based on this evidence-based planning and prioritization, the Saane-Sense catchment has been identified as one of many key regions in Switzerland with high conservation needs. Within this pilot region the project aims to bridge science and practice to develop evidence-based effective and efficient recommendations.

The Sense is being renaturalized at Oberflamatt. The varied banks make it possible for fish to settle. (Photo: Dres Hubacher)

4. Analysing stakeholders’ practices and perspectives

There are diverse laws and regulations, related enforcement areas and stakeholders directly or indirectly linked to aquatic biodiversity and climate change in Switzerland. To be able to provide targeted and meaningful contributions to the conservation and restoration of aquatic biodiversity, it is important to know what is already going on, what are the perspectives of stakeholders, how they interact and where there might be deficits and opportunities. To this end, the project conducts a context analysis and a social-ecological network analysis in the test region Lower Emme (Zinn et al. 2024) and in the pilot region Saane-Sense.

5. Co-developing and incubating evidence-based, practicable strategies

Sampling at the Urtene followed by an exchange of practical experience (Photo: Conor Waldock / Adrian Aeschlimann)

Although Switzerland has legal and strategic frameworks for aquatic biodiversity conservation, their implementation faces numerous challenges, including limited resources, opportunistic rather than evidence-based approaches, conflicting objectives, and insufficient collaboration among key stakeholders. To overcome these issues, close cooperation between science and practice is essential, along with the implementation of adaptive and integrated management. Socio-ecological network analysis help the project to assess how well institutions collaborate internally and with each other, identifying areas for improvement (Zinn et al. 2024). Additionally, participatory processes bring together relevant stakeholders to jointly identify evidence-based, practicable strategies and measures for the effective and efficient conservation and restoration of aquatic biodiversity in Switzerland. Initial insights were gained from the test region (Aeschlimann et al. 2024a; Aeschlimann et al. 2024b) and are further elaborated in the pilot region, where conservation and restoration needs are particularly high, to ultimately generate learning for entire Switzerland.

Publications

Scientist Spotlight Bárbara B. Calegari, Ph.D. (2025), Journal of Ichthyology & Herpetology 112, No. 3, 2025.605-607

Scientific publications

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      authors => protected'Calegari, B. B.; Freyhof, J.; Waldock, C.; Wegscheider,&
         nbsp;B.; Josi, D.; Rüber, L.; Seehausen, O.' (135 chars)
      title => protected'Two new species of stone loaches of the genus <em>Barbatula </em>(Cyprinifor
         mes: Nemacheilidae) from Europe with a neotype designation of <em>B. barbatu
         la</em> (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae)' (186 chars)
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      categories => protected'biodiversity; Danube river; European fishes; freshwater; lakes; Rhine river;
          systematics' (88 chars)
      description => protected'Ten species of <em>Barbatula </em>are recognised in Europe, west of the Ural
         s: <em>B. barbatula, B. caucasica, B. hispanica, B. leoparda, B. pironae, B.
          quignardi, B. sturanyi, B. taurica, B. vardarensis</em> and <em>B. zetensis
         </em>, with <em>B. caucasica</em> and<em> B. taurica</em> formerly considere
         d subspecies of <em>B. barbatula</em>. A comprehensive dataset of the DNA ba
         rcoding gene coI recovered four major clades within Europe: three in Eastern
          Europe including <em>B. caucasica, B. pironae, B. sturanyi, B. taurica, B. 
         vardarensis</em> and <em>B. zetensis</em>, and one in Western Europe includi
         ng <em>B. barbatula, B. hispanica</em> and <em>B. leoparda</em>. The results
          further indicated several genetic lineages, representing potentially new sp
         ecies. Recent surveys in Switzerland revealed two new species of <em>Barbatu
         la</em>, within the Western clade, which are herein described. <em>Barbatula
          fluvicola</em>, a new species, inhabits streams and rivers in the upper and
          middle Rhine drainage in Switzerland and Germany, as well as the upper Danu
         be drainage in Germany and Austria. <em>Barbatula ommata</em>, a new species
         , is mostly confined to lakes of the Aare-Rhine system. The two new species 
         overlap geographically in Switzerland, where they occupy different habitats.
          Morphological differences, species delimitation analyses, phylogenetic reco
         nstruction and genetic distances based on the coI gene corroborates the reco
         gnition of the two new species. To stabilise the nomenclatural status and th
         e consequent use of the nomen <em>B. barbatula</em>, we are herein designati
         ng an unambiguously identifiable neotype from the Lez River population, prev
         iously recognised as <em>B. quignardi</em>, to clarify the identity of the n
         ominal species <em>Cobitis barbatula Linnaeus</em>, 1758.' (1805 chars)
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      authors => protected'Waldock,&nbsp;C.; Wegscheider,&nbsp;B.; Josi,&nbsp;D.; Borges Calegari,&nbsp
         ;B.&nbsp;B.; Brodersen,&nbsp;J.; Jardim de Queiroz,&nbsp;L.; Seehausen,&nbsp
         ;O.' (155 chars)
      title => protected'Deconstructing the geography of human impacts on species' natural distributi
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      startpage => protected'8852 (15 pp.)' (13 chars)
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      description => protected'It remains unknown how species' populations across their geographic range ar
         e constrained by multiple coincident natural and anthropogenic environmental
          gradients. Conservation actions are likely undermined without this knowledg
         e because the relative importance of the multiple anthropogenic threats is n
         ot set within the context of the natural determinants of species' distributi
         ons. We introduce the concept of a species 'shadow distribution' to address 
         this knowledge gap, using explainable artificial intelligence to deconstruct
          the environmental building blocks of current species distributions. We asse
         ss shadow distributions for multiple threatened freshwater fishes in Switzer
         land which indicated how and where species respond negatively to threats —
          with negative threat impacts covering 88% of locations inside species' envi
         ronmental niches leading to a 25% reduction in environmental suitability. Ou
         r findings highlight that conservation of species' geographic distributions 
         is likely insufficient when biodiversity mapping is based on species distrib
         ution models, or threat mapping, without also quantifying species' expected 
         or shadow distributions. Overall, we show how priority actions for nature's 
         recovery can be identified and contextualised within the multiple natural co
         nstraints on biodiversity to better meet national and international biodiver
         sity targets.' (1381 chars)
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      authors => protected'Wegscheider,&nbsp;B.; Waldock,&nbsp;C.; Calegari,&nbsp;B.B.; Josi,&nbsp;D.; 
         Brodersen,&nbsp;J.; Seehausen,&nbsp;O.' (114 chars)
      title => protected'Neglecting biodiversity baselines in longitudinal river connectivity restora
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      categories => protected'barrier prioritization; species distribution models; fish habitat; explainab
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      description => protected'River habitats are fragmented by barriers which impede the movement and disp
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         store connectivity at local, regional, and global scales. However, current a
         pproaches to prioritize connectivity restoration do not typically consider h
         ow barriers spatially fragment species' populations. Additionally, we lack k
         nowledge on biodiversity baselines to predict which species would find suita
         ble habitat after restoring connectivity. In this paper, we asked how neglec
         ting these biodiversity baselines in river barrier removals impacts priority
          setting for conservation planning. We applied a novel modelling approach co
         mbining predictions of species distributions with network connectivity model
         s to prioritize conservation actions in rivers of the Rhine-Aare system in S
         witzerland. Our results show that the high number and density of barriers ha
         s reduced structural and functional connectivity across representative catch
         ments within the system. We show that fragmentation decreases habitat suitab
         ility for species and that using expected distributions as biodiversity base
         lines significantly affects priority settings for connectivity restorations 
         compared to species-agnostic metrics based on river length. This indicates t
         hat priorities for barrier removals are ranked higher within the expected di
         stributions of species to maximize functional connectivity while barriers in
          unsuitable regions are given lower importance scores. Our work highlights t
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         t distributions are critical for restoration plans to ensure the recovery an
         d persistence of riverine fish diversity.' (1789 chars)
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Two new species of stone loaches of the genus Barbatula (Cypriniformes: Nemacheilidae) from Europe with a neotype designation of B. barbatula (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae)

Ten species of Barbatula are recognised in Europe, west of the Urals: B. barbatula, B. caucasica, B. hispanica, B. leoparda, B. pironae, B. quignardi, B. sturanyi, B. taurica, B. vardarensis and B. zetensis, with B. caucasica and B. taurica formerly considered subspecies of B. barbatula. A comprehensive dataset of the DNA barcoding gene coI recovered four major clades within Europe: three in Eastern Europe including B. caucasica, B. pironae, B. sturanyi, B. taurica, B. vardarensis and B. zetensis, and one in Western Europe including B. barbatula, B. hispanica and B. leoparda. The results further indicated several genetic lineages, representing potentially new species. Recent surveys in Switzerland revealed two new species of Barbatula, within the Western clade, which are herein described. Barbatula fluvicola, a new species, inhabits streams and rivers in the upper and middle Rhine drainage in Switzerland and Germany, as well as the upper Danube drainage in Germany and Austria. Barbatula ommata, a new species, is mostly confined to lakes of the Aare-Rhine system. The two new species overlap geographically in Switzerland, where they occupy different habitats. Morphological differences, species delimitation analyses, phylogenetic reconstruction and genetic distances based on the coI gene corroborates the recognition of the two new species. To stabilise the nomenclatural status and the consequent use of the nomen B. barbatula, we are herein designating an unambiguously identifiable neotype from the Lez River population, previously recognised as B. quignardi, to clarify the identity of the nominal species Cobitis barbatula Linnaeus, 1758.
Calegari, B. B.; Freyhof, J.; Waldock, C.; Wegscheider, B.; Josi, D.; Rüber, L.; Seehausen, O. (2025) Two new species of stone loaches of the genus Barbatula (Cypriniformes: Nemacheilidae) from Europe with a neotype designation of B. barbatula (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae), Journal of Fish Biology, 107(4), 1364-1397, doi:10.1111/jfb.70108, Institutional Repository

Deconstructing the geography of human impacts on species' natural distribution

It remains unknown how species' populations across their geographic range are constrained by multiple coincident natural and anthropogenic environmental gradients. Conservation actions are likely undermined without this knowledge because the relative importance of the multiple anthropogenic threats is not set within the context of the natural determinants of species' distributions. We introduce the concept of a species 'shadow distribution' to address this knowledge gap, using explainable artificial intelligence to deconstruct the environmental building blocks of current species distributions. We assess shadow distributions for multiple threatened freshwater fishes in Switzerland which indicated how and where species respond negatively to threats — with negative threat impacts covering 88% of locations inside species' environmental niches leading to a 25% reduction in environmental suitability. Our findings highlight that conservation of species' geographic distributions is likely insufficient when biodiversity mapping is based on species distribution models, or threat mapping, without also quantifying species' expected or shadow distributions. Overall, we show how priority actions for nature's recovery can be identified and contextualised within the multiple natural constraints on biodiversity to better meet national and international biodiversity targets.
Waldock, C.; Wegscheider, B.; Josi, D.; Borges Calegari, B. B.; Brodersen, J.; Jardim de Queiroz, L.; Seehausen, O. (2024) Deconstructing the geography of human impacts on species' natural distribution, Nature Communications, 15, 8852 (15 pp.), doi:10.1038/s41467-024-52993-0, Institutional Repository

Neglecting biodiversity baselines in longitudinal river connectivity restoration impacts priority setting

River habitats are fragmented by barriers which impede the movement and dispersal of aquatic organisms. Restoring habitat connectivity is a primary objective of nature conservation plans with multiple efforts to strategically restore connectivity at local, regional, and global scales. However, current approaches to prioritize connectivity restoration do not typically consider how barriers spatially fragment species' populations. Additionally, we lack knowledge on biodiversity baselines to predict which species would find suitable habitat after restoring connectivity. In this paper, we asked how neglecting these biodiversity baselines in river barrier removals impacts priority setting for conservation planning. We applied a novel modelling approach combining predictions of species distributions with network connectivity models to prioritize conservation actions in rivers of the Rhine-Aare system in Switzerland. Our results show that the high number and density of barriers has reduced structural and functional connectivity across representative catchments within the system. We show that fragmentation decreases habitat suitability for species and that using expected distributions as biodiversity baselines significantly affects priority settings for connectivity restorations compared to species-agnostic metrics based on river length. This indicates that priorities for barrier removals are ranked higher within the expected distributions of species to maximize functional connectivity while barriers in unsuitable regions are given lower importance scores. Our work highlights that the joint consideration of existing barriers and species past and current distributions are critical for restoration plans to ensure the recovery and persistence of riverine fish diversity.
Wegscheider, B.; Waldock, C.; Calegari, B.B.; Josi, D.; Brodersen, J.; Seehausen, O. (2024) Neglecting biodiversity baselines in longitudinal river connectivity restoration impacts priority setting, Science of the Total Environment, 954, 175167 (12 pp.), doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.175167, Institutional Repository

Other publications

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      authors => protected'Aeschlimann,&nbsp;A.; Fehle,&nbsp;P.; Neuhaus,&nbsp;M.; Ingold,&nbsp;K.; Fis
         cher,&nbsp;M.; Zinn,&nbsp;N.; Dario,&nbsp;J.; Wegscheider,&nbsp;B.; Calegari
         ,&nbsp;B.&nbsp;B.; Waldock,&nbsp;C.; Seehausen,&nbsp;O.' (207 chars)
      title => protected'Den Biodiversitätsverlust der Gewässer stoppen – trotz Klimawandel. Zwis
         chenbericht Phase I (2020 - 2023): Projekt LANAT-3, Wyss Academy for Nature 
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      description => protected'Die Schweizer Gewässerbiodiversität ist stark gefährdet und der Klimawand
         el sowie andere direkte und indirekte Treiber des Biodiversitätsverlustes v
         erstärken sich zunehmend. Während gesetzliche und strategische Grundlagen 
         zum Schutz der Schweizer Gewässerbiodiversität vorhanden sind, steht deren
          Vollzug vor vielen Herausforderungen wie beispielsweise fehlenden Datengrun
         dlagen, mangelnden Ressourcen, Zielkonflikten und ungenügendem Austausch zw
         ischen relevanten Akteuren. Das Projekt LANAT-3 der Wyss Academy for Nature 
         hat sich zum Ziel gesetzt, Lösungen für diese Herausforderungen zu erarbei
         ten. Dieser Bericht fasst die Erkenntnisse der ersten Projektphase (2020-202
         3) zusammen. [...]<br /><br />La biodiversité aquatique suisse est gravemen
         t menacée et le changement climatique ainsi que d'autres facteurs directs e
         t indirects de perte de biodiversité augmentent de plus en plus. Bien qu'il
          existe des fondements juridiques et stratégiques pour protéger la biodive
         rsité aquatique suisse, leur mise en oeuvre se heurte à de nombreux défis
          tels que par exemple l'absence de données, manque de ressources, les confl
         its d'objectifs et des échanges insuffisants entre les acteurs pertinents. 
         Le projet LANAT-3 de la Wyss Academy for Nature vise à développer des solu
         tions à ces défis. Ce rapport résume les conclusions de la première phas
         e du projet (2020-2023). [...]<br /><br />La biodiversità acquatica svizzer
         a è in grave pericolo, poiché i cambiamenti climatici, in concomitanza con
          altri fattori diretti e indiretti di perdita di biodiversità, sono in cres
         cente aumento. Sebbene esistano basi giuridiche e strategiche per proteggere
          la biodiversità acquatica svizzera, la loro attuazione deve far fronte a n
         umerose sfide, tra cui la mancanza di dati, la scarsità di risorse, gli obi
         ettivi contrastanti e uno scambio insufficiente tra gli attori rilevanti. Il
          progetto LANAT-3 della Wyss Academy for Nature mira a sviluppare soluzioni 
         a queste sfide. Il prese...' (2666 chars)
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      authors => protected'Aeschlimann,&nbsp;A.; Fehle,&nbsp;P.; Neuhaus,&nbsp;M.; Seehausen,&nbsp;O.; 
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         p;B.; Ingold,&nbsp;K.; Fischer,&nbsp;M.; Zinn,&nbsp;N.' (206 chars)
      title => protected'Fünf Stossrichtungen zur Förderung der Gewässerbiodiversität. Erste Impu
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      journal => protected'Aqua & Gas' (10 chars)
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      description => protected'In einer Artikelreihe werden die Erkenntnisse der ersten Phase des Wyss Acad
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         imawandel» (LANAT-3) vorgestellt. Der erste Artikel fokussiert auf den part
         izipativen Prozess in der Testregion «Untere Emme», der der Identifikation
          von Herausforderungen und Lösungsansätzen rund um den Schutz der Gewässe
         rbiodiversität diente. Die resultierenden «5 Stossrichtungen zur Förderun
         g der Gewässerbiodiversität» sind ein Zwischenergebnis. Sie dienen als Gr
         undlage für die Weiterarbeit und liefern erste Impulse.' (588 chars)
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      title => protected'Biodiversitätsverlust der Gewässer stoppen' (44 chars)
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      description => protected'Im Rahmen des Projekts LANAT-3 wollen Forschende der Universität Bern und d
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         p;B.; Seehausen,&nbsp;O.' (100 chars)
      title => protected'Artenkenntnis stärkt den Gewässerschutz. LANAT-3: Bedeutung der Erkennung 
         unbeschriebener arten für Erhalt/Wiederaufbau von Lebensräumen' (140 chars)
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      description => protected'Gerade in Seen und Gewässern nimmt die Biodiversität mit einer beispiellos
         en Geschwindigkeit ab. Bei den Bemühungen, diesen Verlust zu stoppen, werde
         n die Wichtigkeit fundierter Artenkenntnisse und die Beschreibung unbekannte
         r Arten häufig unterschätzt. Dies, obwohl sie die Grundlage sind für das 
         Verständnis der vorhandenen Biodiversität, ihrer geografischen Verteilung 
         und zeitlichen Veränderung. Die fehlende Grundlage hat Konsequenzen für de
         n Gewässerschutz: Effektive und effiziente Massnahmen zu entwerfen, umzuset
         zen und zu bewerten, wird dadurch erschwert.' (576 chars)
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Den Biodiversitätsverlust der Gewässer stoppen – trotz Klimawandel. Zwischenbericht Phase I (2020 - 2023): Projekt LANAT-3, Wyss Academy for Nature Hub Bern

Die Schweizer Gewässerbiodiversität ist stark gefährdet und der Klimawandel sowie andere direkte und indirekte Treiber des Biodiversitätsverlustes verstärken sich zunehmend. Während gesetzliche und strategische Grundlagen zum Schutz der Schweizer Gewässerbiodiversität vorhanden sind, steht deren Vollzug vor vielen Herausforderungen wie beispielsweise fehlenden Datengrundlagen, mangelnden Ressourcen, Zielkonflikten und ungenügendem Austausch zwischen relevanten Akteuren. Das Projekt LANAT-3 der Wyss Academy for Nature hat sich zum Ziel gesetzt, Lösungen für diese Herausforderungen zu erarbeiten. Dieser Bericht fasst die Erkenntnisse der ersten Projektphase (2020-2023) zusammen. [...]

La biodiversité aquatique suisse est gravement menacée et le changement climatique ainsi que d'autres facteurs directs et indirects de perte de biodiversité augmentent de plus en plus. Bien qu'il existe des fondements juridiques et stratégiques pour protéger la biodiversité aquatique suisse, leur mise en oeuvre se heurte à de nombreux défis tels que par exemple l'absence de données, manque de ressources, les conflits d'objectifs et des échanges insuffisants entre les acteurs pertinents. Le projet LANAT-3 de la Wyss Academy for Nature vise à développer des solutions à ces défis. Ce rapport résume les conclusions de la première phase du projet (2020-2023). [...]

La biodiversità acquatica svizzera è in grave pericolo, poiché i cambiamenti climatici, in concomitanza con altri fattori diretti e indiretti di perdita di biodiversità, sono in crescente aumento. Sebbene esistano basi giuridiche e strategiche per proteggere la biodiversità acquatica svizzera, la loro attuazione deve far fronte a numerose sfide, tra cui la mancanza di dati, la scarsità di risorse, gli obiettivi contrastanti e uno scambio insufficiente tra gli attori rilevanti. Il progetto LANAT-3 della Wyss Academy for Nature mira a sviluppare soluzioni a queste sfide. Il presente rapporto riassume i risultati della prima fase del progetto (2020-2023). [...]

Swiss aquatic biodiversity is under great risk, with climate change and other direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity loss increasing. While there exist legal and strategic foundations for protecting Swiss aquatic biodiversity, their implementation faces many challenges such as a lack of data and resources, as well as conflicting objectives and insufficient exchange between relevant actors. The Wyss Academy for Nature's LANAT-3 project aims to develop solutions to these challenges. This report summarizes the findings of the first project phase (2020-2023). [...]
Aeschlimann, A.; Fehle, P.; Neuhaus, M.; Ingold, K.; Fischer, M.; Zinn, N.; Dario, J.; Wegscheider, B.; Calegari, B. B.; Waldock, C.; Seehausen, O. (2024) Den Biodiversitätsverlust der Gewässer stoppen – trotz Klimawandel. Zwischenbericht Phase I (2020 - 2023): Projekt LANAT-3, Wyss Academy for Nature Hub Bern, 103 p, Institutional Repository

Fünf Stossrichtungen zur Förderung der Gewässerbiodiversität. Erste Impulse des Wyss Academy-Projekts Lanat-3

In einer Artikelreihe werden die Erkenntnisse der ersten Phase des Wyss Academy-Projekts «Den Biodiversitätsverlust der Gewässer stoppen – trotz Klimawandel» (LANAT-3) vorgestellt. Der erste Artikel fokussiert auf den partizipativen Prozess in der Testregion «Untere Emme», der der Identifikation von Herausforderungen und Lösungsansätzen rund um den Schutz der Gewässerbiodiversität diente. Die resultierenden «5 Stossrichtungen zur Förderung der Gewässerbiodiversität» sind ein Zwischenergebnis. Sie dienen als Grundlage für die Weiterarbeit und liefern erste Impulse.
Aeschlimann, A.; Fehle, P.; Neuhaus, M.; Seehausen, O.; Josi, D.; Wegscheider, B.; Waldock, C.; Calegari, B. B.; Ingold, K.; Fischer, M.; Zinn, N. (2024) Fünf Stossrichtungen zur Förderung der Gewässerbiodiversität. Erste Impulse des Wyss Academy-Projekts Lanat-3, Aqua & Gas, 104(6), 50-54, Institutional Repository

Biodiversitätsverlust der Gewässer stoppen

Im Rahmen des Projekts LANAT-3 wollen Forschende der Universität Bern und der Eawag zusammen mit dem Schweizerischen Kompetenzzentrum Fischerei evidenz-basierte Ansätze für ein integrales Gewässermanagement entwickeln mit dem Ziel, die Biodiversität der Gewässer zu erhalten, wiederherzustellen und deren Resilienz gegenüber Klimaveränderungen zu stärken.
Josi, D.; Seehausen, O.; Wegscheider, B.; Waldock, C.; Calegari, B.; Zinn, N.; Ingold, K.; Neuhaus, M.; Aeschlimann, A.; Fischer, M. (2023) Biodiversitätsverlust der Gewässer stoppen, Aqua & Gas, 103(9), 66-67, Institutional Repository

Artenkenntnis stärkt den Gewässerschutz. LANAT-3: Bedeutung der Erkennung unbeschriebener arten für Erhalt/Wiederaufbau von Lebensräumen

Gerade in Seen und Gewässern nimmt die Biodiversität mit einer beispiellosen Geschwindigkeit ab. Bei den Bemühungen, diesen Verlust zu stoppen, werden die Wichtigkeit fundierter Artenkenntnisse und die Beschreibung unbekannter Arten häufig unterschätzt. Dies, obwohl sie die Grundlage sind für das Verständnis der vorhandenen Biodiversität, ihrer geografischen Verteilung und zeitlichen Veränderung. Die fehlende Grundlage hat Konsequenzen für den Gewässerschutz: Effektive und effiziente Massnahmen zu entwerfen, umzusetzen und zu bewerten, wird dadurch erschwert.
Josi, D.; Calegari, B. B.; Waldock, C.; Wegscheider, B.; Seehausen, O. (2024) Artenkenntnis stärkt den Gewässerschutz. LANAT-3: Bedeutung der Erkennung unbeschriebener arten für Erhalt/Wiederaufbau von Lebensräumen, Aqua & Gas, 104(9), 78-76, Institutional Repository

Von Daten zu Taten

Die Schweizer Gewässer beherbergen eine aussergewöhnlich hohe biologische Vielfalt. Der fortschreitende Verlust an Arten mitsamt dessen ökologischen Konsequenzen wird jedoch nach wie vor unterschätzt. Modelle können helfen, räumliche Muster der Artenvielfalt zu verstehen, den Einfluss von Umweltveränderungen abzuschätzen und aufzuzeigen, in welchen Regionen Gewässerschutzmassnahmen besonders dringend sind.
Josi, D.; Wegscheider, B.; Waldock, C.; Calegari, B. B.; Seehausen, O. (2024) Von Daten zu Taten, Aqua Viva, 66(1), 32-35, Institutional Repository

La modélisation de la biodiversité au service de la protection des eaux

Les eaux suisses abritent une biodiversité exceptionnelle. Toutefois, la disparition progressive des espèces et ses conséquences écologiques restent largement sous-estimées. Les modèles numériques peuvent aider à comprendre la répartition spatiale de la biodiversité, à évaluer l'impact des modifications environnementales et à identifier les régions dans lesquelles des mesures de protection des eaux s'imposent particulièrement.
Josi, D.; Wegscheider, B.; Waldock, C.; Calegari, B. B.; Seehausen, O. (2024) La modélisation de la biodiversité au service de la protection des eaux, Aqua Viva, 66(1), 32-35, Institutional Repository

LANAT-3: Klimawandel U. Biodiversitätsverlust im unteren Emmental. Im Fokus: Akteure, Akteurinnen und ihr Netzwerk

In einer Artikelreihe werden die Erkenntnisse der ersten Phase des Wyss Academy-Projekts «Den Biodiversitätsverlust der Gewässer stoppen – trotz Klimawandel» (LANAT-3) vorgestellt. Der erste Artikel handelte vom partizipativen Prozess in der Region «Untere Emme», dieser Artikel analysiert sämtliche beteiligten Personen und deren Netzwerk sowie die Wahrnehmung der Ziele und Herausforderungen. Das Flussgebietsmanagement erfordert viel Zusammenarbeit und wird durch Konflikte und Umweltprobleme beeinflusst. Ein sektorübergreifender Ansatz ist nötig, um diese Herausforderungen zu bewältigen.
Zinn, N.; Archbold, J.; Fischer, M.; Ingold, K.; Aeschlimann, A.; Fehle, P.; Seehausen, O.; Josi, D.; Wegscheider, B.; Waldock, C.; Calegari, B. (2024) LANAT-3: Klimawandel U. Biodiversitätsverlust im unteren Emmental. Im Fokus: Akteure, Akteurinnen und ihr Netzwerk, Aqua & Gas, 104(7+8), 46-50, Institutional Repository

Media

Articles:

Fisch des Jahres 2026 - Elritze

Hier lohnt es sich, den Fluss zu beleben 

Neue Fischarten in Schweizer Gewässern entdeckt

Zwei neue Fischarten in Schweizer Gewässern entdeckt

Human impact on fish habitats detected with AI

Eine Prioritätenliste für den Schutz der Artenvielfalt

Talks:

WSL Biodiversity seminar series: Between disciplines and government offices - climate change and biodiversity loss

TV:

RSI: Nuove specie nelle acque svizzere

TeleBielingue: Deux nouvelles espèces de poisson découvertes en Suisse

Radio:

RTN: Deux  nouvelles espèces de poissons découvertes en Suisse

Collaboration

Eawag, Department of Environmental Social Sciences / Institute of Political Science (IPW) at the University of Bern

Prof. Dr. Karin Ingold Group Leader, Group: PEGO Tel. +41 58 765 5676 Send Mail
Dr. Manuel Fischer Department Head & Group Leader, Group: PEGO Tel. +41 58 765 5676 Send Mail
Jahmaira Archbold Research Assistant, Group: PEGO Tel. +41 58 765 5384 Send Mail

Swiss Competence Centre for Fisheries (SKF)

Adrian Aeschlimann
Managing Director SKF

Website Swiss Competence Centre for Fisheries

Pia Fehle
Research Assistant SKF

Maïva Brunnberg
research assistant SKF

Eawag, Department of Fish Ecology and Evolution, River fish ecology group

Dr. Jakob Brodersen Tel. +41 58 765 2204 Send Mail

Natural History Museum Bern (NMBE)

Lukas Rüber
Kurator Ichthyologie
send E-mail

Funding

Forschungsteam

Dr. Bernhard Wegscheider Tel. +41 58 765 2194 Send Mail
Dr. Bárbara Calegari Tel. +41 58 765 2194 Send Mail
Dr. Luiz Jardim De Queiroz Tel. Send Mail
Dr. Dario Josi Tel. +41 58 765 2194 Send Mail
Prof. Dr. Ole Seehausen Tel. +41 58 765 2121 Send Mail

Dr. Conor Waldock
School of Natural Sciences
Trinity College Dublin

Send Mail

 

Bachelor students

  Pascal Graber
Bachelor student
Send Mail
  Zoe Schuler
Bachelor student
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  Celeida Kauz
Bachelor student
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  Sarah Zimmermann
Bachelor student
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Alumni

  • Lena Witschi, Bachelorarbeit mit dem Titel "Morphological Shape Variation in Cottus Populations in Switzerland", 2025

  • Joelle Pfäffli, Bachelorarbeit mit dem Titel "Comparative feeding ecology in Cottus populations from profundal and littoral lake and riverine habitats in Switzerland", 2025

  • Milena de Haan, MSc thesis entitled "Disentangling Drivers of Community Structure in Lotic Freshwater Fish Communities in Switzerland", 2024

  • Sophie Moreau, MSc thesis entitled "Eutrophication-induced loss of endemic species reduces thermal response diversity in Swiss lake fish communities", 2024

  • Anita Schmid, MSc thesis entitled "Intraspecific morphological trait variation of riverine fishes in Switzerland", 2024