Selected publications

The authors investigated the introductions of freshwater megafish on a global scale and assessed their environmental impacts. Of the 134 extant freshwater megafish species, 46% have been introduced to new environments, and of these, 69% have established self-sustaining alien populations and posed negative impacts on native species through nine different mechanisms.

Based on a combination of (historical) empirical data and model simulations the authors investigated how size-selective adaptive behaviour under warmer conditions in demersal marine fishes might affect their long-term population stability. Under warmer conditions the fish species studied tend to consume less efficiently by choosing smaller and more abundant prey increasing their extinction risk.

This data paper presents a multi-year database containing information about diets and traits for demersal fish species from the Western Baltic Sea, as well as on resource abundances and environmental conditions. These historical data are unique as they provide detailed descriptions of quantitative and trait-based consumer-resource interactions enabling various ways of innovative food-web analyses.

The authors identified potential challenges and ambiguities in the EU-NRL for restoring free-flowing rivers. They propose clear definitions of critical terms and the development of integrated assessment methods for prioritising actions to improve river connectivity as novel solutions to these challenges, contributing to the success of habitat restoration and biodiversity protection.

The authors created a database of lost and rediscovered tetrapod species (amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals), identified patterns in their distribution and factors influencing rediscovery. Tetrapod species are being lost at a faster rate than they are being rediscovered, due to slowing rates of rediscovery for amphibians, birds and mammals, and rapid rates of loss for reptiles

The authors show that fish have been particularly sensitive to changes in flow regimes in the past, while higher temperatures will pose the greatest threat in the future. The threat assessment will remain at least as high in the future. However, it could probably be mitigated by reconnecting former floodplains and improving river connectivity. 

By altering essential environmental cues Artificial Light at Night (ALAN) is restructuring if, how and when animals interact. In this publication the authors explored the role of ALAN on ecological interactions and reviewed research studies that addressed this issue, most of whom were just published during the last three to five years.

Freshwater ecosystems across the world are biodiversity hotspots but also disproportionately threatened by light pollution. In this review the authors provide a synthesis of current knowledge on light characteristics and the ecological consequences of artificial light in inland waters and coupled adjacent ecosystems. The focus is on recent insights into effects and on ways to mitigate them.