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Ecology and Evolution

The aim of the Department of Ecology and Evolution is to understand ecology and evolution at different scales and with different approaches and study systems. 

Our research focuses on studying how species interact and how this determines the stability, functioning and evolution of populations and communities. These studies range from the detailed analysis of ecological interactions between plants, microbes and animals, to their role in micro- and macroevolutionary processes affecting population dynamics and speciation.

We focus on diverse study systems such as vertebrates (in particular amphibians, bats and birds), plants, pollinators, seed dispersers and host-symbiont interactions. Our work combines the development of theoretical models with detailed fieldwork, molecular genetics and epigenetics, using both traditional genetics and new omics tools and chemical and microbiological analyses.

Principal Investigators

Department Chief
Ecology and evolution of plant-animal interactions; Plant ecological epigenetics

Evolutionary Ecology and Behavioural Ecology of nocturnal organisms

Evolutionary Ecology, behavioural ecology, sexual selection and sexual conflict, global change and transgenerational effects.

Evolutionary biology and systematics of bats; Virus and bats coevolution; Zoonosis

Population genetics; Evolutionary biogeography; Conservation genetics

Conservation of temporary ponds in the face of global change; Biodiversity patterns of aquatic invertebrates

Behavioural ecology: acoustic communication, developmental plasticity, eco-physiology, impact of global change

Biodiversity; biotic interactions; community ecology; ecological theory; functional ecology

Evolutionary ecology; Ecological interactions; Natural history

Department Chief
Behavioural ecology; Ecology and evolution of feather mites

Insect decline; palaeontology; palaeoecology; synchrothrone imaging; historical biogeography.
Ad honorem

Ecology and evolution of plant-animal interactions; Ecological genetics and epigenetics of plants; Plant mating systems and reproductive biology