ORCID Profile
0000-0002-4831-6958
Current Organisations
ETH Zurich
,
Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology
,
University of Zurich
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Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-10-2017
DOI: 10.1111/FWB.13037
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 07-11-2017
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-04-2018
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-06-2018
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 10-2019
DOI: 10.1029/2019GB006276
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-12-2022
DOI: 10.1111/ELE.14153
Abstract: Human impacts such as habitat loss, climate change and biological invasions are radically altering bio ersity, with greater effects projected into the future. Evidence suggests human impacts may differ substantially between terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, but the reasons for these differences are poorly understood. We propose an integrative approach to explain these differences by linking impacts to four fundamental processes that structure communities: dispersal, speciation, species‐level selection and ecological drift. Our goal is to provide process‐based insights into why human impacts, and responses to impacts, may differ across ecosystem types using a mechanistic, eco‐evolutionary comparative framework. To enable these insights, we review and synthesise (i) how the four processes influence ersity and dynamics in terrestrial versus freshwater communities, specifically whether the relative importance of each process differs among ecosystems, and (ii) the pathways by which human impacts can produce ergent responses across ecosystems, due to differences in the strength of processes among ecosystems we identify. Finally, we highlight research gaps and next steps, and discuss how this approach can provide new insights for conservation. By focusing on the processes that shape ersity in communities, we aim to mechanistically link human impacts to ongoing and future changes in ecosystems.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-03-2023
DOI: 10.1111/GEB.13648
Abstract: Aquatic insects comprise 64% of freshwater animal ersity and are widely used as bioindicators to assess water quality impairment and freshwater ecosystem health, as well as to test ecological hypotheses. Despite their importance, a comprehensive, global database of aquatic insect occurrences for mapping freshwater bio ersity in macroecological studies and applied freshwater research is missing. We aim to fill this gap and present the Global EPTO Database , which includes worldwide geo‐referenced aquatic insect occurrence records for four major taxa groups: Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera and Odonata (EPTO). A total of 8,368,467 occurrence records globally, of which 8,319,689 (99%) are publicly available. The records are attributed to the corresponding drainage basin and sub‐catchment based on the Hydrography90m dataset and are accompanied by the elevation value, the freshwater ecoregion and the protection status of their location. The database covers the global extent, with 86% of the observation records having coordinates with at least four decimal digits (11.1 m precision at the equator) in the World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) coordinate reference system. S ling years span from 1951 to 2021. Ninety‐nine percent of the records have information on the year of the observation, 95% on the year and month, while 94% have a complete date. In the case of seven sub‐datasets, exact dates can be retrieved upon communication with the data contributors. Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera and Odonata, standardized at the genus taxonomic level. We provide species names for 7,727,980 (93%) records without further taxonomic verification. The entire tab‐separated value (.csv) database can be downloaded and visualized at roject/epto_database/ . Fifty in idual datasets are also available at fred.igb‐berlin.de , while six datasets have restricted access. For the latter, we share metadata and the contact details of the authors.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-02-2019
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.14537
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-09-2022
DOI: 10.1111/DDI.13622
Abstract: Biological invasions are a major threat to bio ersity in aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Insects represent an important group of species in freshwater and terrestrial habitats, and they constitute a large proportion of non‐native species. However, while many non‐native insects are known from terrestrial ecosystems, they appear to be less represented in freshwater habitats. Comparisons between freshwater and terrestrial habitats of invader richness relative to native species richness are scarce, which hinders syntheses of invasion processes. Here, we used data from three regions on different continents to determine whether non‐native insects are indeed under‐represented in freshwater compared with terrestrial assemblages. Europe, North America, New Zealand. We compiled a comprehensive inventory of native and non‐native insect species established in freshwater and terrestrial habitats of the three study regions. We then contrasted the richness of non‐native and native species among freshwater and terrestrial insects for all insect orders in each region. Using binomial regression, we analysed the proportions of non‐native species in freshwater and terrestrial habitats. Marine insect species were excluded from our analysis, and insects in low‐salinity brackish water were considered as freshwater insects. In most insect orders living in freshwater, non‐native species were under‐represented, while they were over‐represented in a number of terrestrial orders. This pattern occurred in purely aquatic orders and in orders with both freshwater and terrestrial species. Overall, the proportion of non‐native species was significantly lower in freshwater than in terrestrial species. Despite the numerical and ecological importance of insects among all non‐native species, non‐native insect species are surprisingly rare in freshwater habitats. This is consistent across the three investigated regions. We review hypotheses concerning species traits and invasion pathways that are most likely to explain these patterns. Our findings contribute to a growing appreciation of drivers and impacts of biological invasions.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 25-03-2022
DOI: 10.1101/2022.03.22.485042
Abstract: Biological invasions are a major threat to bio ersity in both aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Insects represent an important group of species in freshwater and terrestrial habitats, and they constitute a large proportion of non-native species. However, while many non-native insects are known from terrestrial ecosystems, it remains unclear how they are represented in freshwater habitats. Comparisons of the richness of invaders relative to the richness of native species between freshwater and terrestrial habitats are scarce, which hinders syntheses of invasion processes. Here, we used data from three regions on different continents to determine whether non-native insects are under- or overrepresented in freshwater compared to terrestrial assemblages. Europe, North America, New Zealand We compiled a comprehensive inventory of the native and non-native insect species established in freshwater and terrestrial habitats of the three study regions. We then contrasted the richness of non-native and native species among freshwater and terrestrial insects for all insect orders in each region. Using binomial regression, we analysed the proportions of non-native species in freshwater and terrestrial habitats across the three regions. In most insect orders living in freshwater, non-native species were under-represented, while they were over-represented in a number of terrestrial orders. This pattern occurred in purely aquatic orders as well as in orders with both freshwater and terrestrial species. Overall, the proportion of non-native species was significantly lower in freshwater than in terrestrial species. Despite the numerical and ecological importance of insects among all non-native species, non-native insect species are surprisingly rare in freshwater habitats, and this pattern is consistent across the three investigated study regions. We briefly review hypotheses concerning species traits and invasion pathways that are most likely to explain these patterns. Our findings contribute to a growing appreciation of drivers and impacts of biological invasions.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-05-2018
Publisher: Oekom Publishers GmbH
Date: 20-10-2022
DOI: 10.14512/GAIA.31.3.3
Abstract: Games as a didactic tool (e. g., puzzles) are gaining recognition in environmental education to promote skill development, but also to develop a specific understanding of the natural world. However, a children’s puzzle containing representations of nature may unwillingly lead to “misconceptions” of bio ersity themes and processes, and an over-simplification of the relationship between people and nature. To solve this problem, positive connotations of bio ersity may prompt a conceptual change to a more nuanced, multifaceted conception of bio ersity.
Publisher: Research Square Platform LLC
Date: 19-09-2023
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 31-12-2020
DOI: 10.1002/WAT2.1506
Location: Switzerland
No related grants have been discovered for Florian Altermatt.