Selected publications

The authors investigated the recovery of a small, temperate shallow lake from a strong flooding-induced browning and nutrient loading event. Concentrations of dissolved organic carbon and phosphorus remained elevated and affected primary production despite water levels dropping to pre-flood levels indicating consequences of extreme precipitation for lake water quality and aquatic food webs.

In the Lake Stechlin Lake Lab facility, the researchers tested whether dissolved molecules retain information about past and present alterations of lakes. They found that UV or microbial activities left measurable imprints on dissolved compounds, emphasising the relevance of the "ecosystem metabolome" to monitor the functioning and quality of lakes.

Alien birds can have severe impacts on native birds. The authors wanted to find out whether there are certain factors that make some native bird species more vulnerable to such impacts than others. They identified several factors that increase vulnerability, as well as specific orders of native birds that may require protection, and locations where impacts may be particularly damaging.

Microcosm experiments were performed to disentangle the direct and indirect effects of agricultural runoff (ARO) combined with warming on primary producers and their consumers in freshwaters. Negative effects of ARO on snail grazers affected the balance between functional groups of primary producers leading to a dominance of periphyton.The effect was enhanced when ARO arrived in multiple pulses.

Using a dataset of 979 introductions of 173 mammal species worldwide, the authors investigated the hypothesis that the establishment success of alien species depends on the match between environmental conditions in the exotic and native range. The study results support this hypothesis. They are based on the Niche Margin Index, which is presented as a new analysis tool in the paper.

The authors investigated thermal adaptation of Daphnia from lakes that had been exposed to artificially elevated temperatures for six decades, in comparison to Daphnia that lived in control sites at ambient temperature. Daphnia from heated lakes evolved larger body size, which is contradictory to general expectations and theory. They suggest that large size is adaptive during active overwintering.

In the current era of Big Data, synthesis tools are critical means to handle the deluge of information. The hierarchy-of-hypotheses (HoH) approach is such a tool that helps to (a) organize evidence, (b) organize theory and (c) closely connect evidence to theory. In this paper, the authors outline the HoH approach and offer guidance on how to apply it, using examples from ecology and evolution.

Freshwater megafauna are vulnerable to extinction, with over 50% of all classified species considered as threatened on the IUCN Red List. The authors found that human impact and traits related to species’ recovery potential including life span, age at maturity, and fecundity jointly determine their extinction risk. In addition, 17 out of 49 unclassified species were predicted to be threatened.