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Introduction
I'm a Research Group Leader at IGB, Germany, working on global freshwater biodiversity, biogeography and conservation (https://glowabio.org/).
Additional affiliations
Education
April 2006 - October 2008
October 2001 - April 2005
Publications
Publications (97)
Freshwater ecosystems are characterized by their unique longitudinal and lateral habitat connectivity. As a result, spatial units in freshwater-specific analyses can often not be considered independent of each other. Accounting for this connectivity in modelling analyses requires advanced skills in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for adequatel...
Freshwater macroinvertebrates are a diverse group and play key ecological roles, including accelerating nutrient cycling, filtering water, controlling primary producers, and providing food for predators. Their differences in tolerances and short generation times manifest in rapid community responses to change. Macroinvertebrate community compositio...
Context
Global change, including land-use change and habitat degradation, has led to a decline in biodiversity, more so in freshwater than in terrestrial ecosystems. However, the research on freshwaters lags behind terrestrial and marine studies, highlighting the need for innovative approaches to comprehend freshwater biodiversity.
Objectives
We i...
Aim
Rivers belong to the most threatened ecosystems on Earth. Historical anthropogenic alterations have, and future climate change will further affect rivers and the species therein. While many studies have projected climate change effects on species, little is known about the severity of these changes compared to historical alterations. Here, we u...
Freshwater ecosystems are considered biodiversity hotspots, but assessing the spatial distribution of species remains challenging. One major obstacle lies in the complex geospatial processing of large amounts of data, such as stream network, sub‐catchment and basin data, that are necessary for addressing the longitudinal connectivity among water bo...
A multidisciplinary use-case for integrating research data involves data, software and methods across research disciplines to address research questions that cannot be effectively addressed by a single discipline or method alone. They thus contribute to NFDI’s goal to make a significant contribution to answering novel interdisciplinary research que...
Owing to a long history of anthropogenic pressures, freshwater ecosystems are among the most vulnerable to biodiversity loss¹. Mitigation measures, including wastewater treatment and hydromorphological restoration, have aimed to improve environmental quality and foster the recovery of freshwater biodiversity². Here, using 1,816 time series of fresh...
Europe has experienced a substantial increase in non-indigenous crayfish species (NICS) since the mid-20th century
due to their extensive use in fisheries, aquaculture and, more recently, pet trade. Despite relatively long invasion histories
of some NICS and negative impacts on biodiversity and ecosystemfunctioning, large spatio-temporal analyses o...
In light of the ongoing freshwater biodiversity crisis, detailed knowledge regarding the spatial distribution of freshwater species is urgently required, especially in biodiversity hotspots. Here we present a database of georeferenced occurrence records of four freshwater invertebrate taxa groups across Cuba, namely flatworms (Platyhelminthes: Tric...
Motivation
Aquatic insects comprise 64% of freshwater animal diversity 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 biodiversity in macr...
Motivation: Aquatic insects comprise 64% of freshwater animal diversity and are
Motivation: Aquatic insects comprise 64% of freshwater animal diversity 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 biodiversity in mac...
Aim
Invasive alien species are a growing problem worldwide due to their ecological, economic and human health impacts. The “killer shrimp” Dikerogammarus villosus is a notorious invasive alien amphipod from the Ponto‐Caspian region that has invaded many fresh and brackish waters across Europe. Understandings of large‐scale population dynamics of hi...
The geographic distribution of streams and rivers drives a multitude of patterns and processes in hydrology, geomorphology, geography, and ecology. Therefore, a hydrographic network that accurately delineates both small streams and large rivers, along with their topographic and topological properties, with equal precision would be indispensable in...
The Working Group II contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provides a comprehensive assessment of the scientific literature relevant to climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. The report recognizes the interactions of climate, ecosystems and biodiversity, and human societie...
Freshwater ecosystems are characterized by complex and highly dynamic microbial communities that are strongly structured by their local environment and biota. Accelerating urbanization and growing city populations detrimentally alter freshwater environments. To determine differences in freshwater microbial communities associated with urbanization,...
Globalization has led to the introduction of thousands of alien species worldwide. With growing impacts by invasive species, understanding the invasion process remains critical for predicting adverse effects and informing efficient management. Theoretically, invasion dynamics have been assumed to follow an “invasion curve” (S-shaped curve of availa...
The geographic distribution of streams and rivers drives a multitude of patterns and processes in hy-drology, geomorphology, geography and ecology. Therefore, a hydrographic network that accurately delineatesboth small streams and large rivers with equal precision, along with their topographic and topological proper-ties, would be indispensable in...
The cover image is based on the Viewpoint A global agenda for advancing freshwater biodiversity research by Alain Maasri et al., https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13931. Image Credit: Solvin Zankl. image
Global freshwater biodiversity is declining dramatically, and meeting the challenges of this crisis requires bold goals and the mobilisation of substantial resources. While the reasons are varied, investments in both research and conservation of freshwater biodiversity lag far behind those in the terrestrial and marine realms.
Inspired by a global...
Species delimitation is fundamental to deciphering the mechanisms that generate and maintain biodiversity. Alpha taxonomy historically relied on expert knowledge to describe new species using phenotypic and biogeographic evidence, which has the appearance of investigator subjectivity. In contrast, DNA-based methods using the multispecies coalescent...
• Freshwater biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate. Freshwater conservationists and environmental managers have enough evidence to demonstrate that action must not be delayed but have insufficient evidence to identify those actions that will be most effective in reversing the current trend.
• Here, the focus is on identifying essential...
River ecosystems belong to the most threatened ecosystems on Earth. Historical anthropogenic alterations have, and future climate change will further affect river ecosystems and the species therein. While many studies assess the potential effects of expected future changes on species, little is known about the severity of these changes compared to...
Freshwater ecosystems are among the most biodiverse and the most important providers of services to humans globally. Unfortunately, these ecosystems are also among the most threatened in the world due to human induced land use/land cover change and climate change. Protected areas constitute a worldwide established tool to preserve biodiversity. How...
Freshwater biodiversity is declining dramatically, and the current biodiversity crisis requires defining bold goals and mobilizing substantial resources to meet the challenges. While the reasons are varied, both research and conservation of freshwater biodiversity lag far behind efforts in the terrestrial and marine realms. We identify fifteen pres...
Since the early phase of the artificial-intelligence (AI) era expectations towards AI are high, with experts believing that AI paves the way for managing and handling various global challenges. However, the significant enabling and inhibiting influence of AI for sustainable development needs to be assessed carefully, given that the technology diffu...
Global declines in biodiversity highlight the need to effectively monitor density and distribution of threatened species. In recent years, molecular survey methods detecting DNA released by target-species into their environment (eDNA) have been rapidly on the rise. Despite providing new, cost-effective tools for conservation, eDNA-based methods are...
Freshwater biodiversity is declining dramatically, and the current biodiversity crisis requires defining bold goals and mobilizing substantial resources to meet the challenges. While the reasons are varied, both research and conservation of freshwater biodiversity lag far behind efforts in the terrestrial and marine realms. We identify fifteen pres...
A recent global meta‐analysis reported a decrease in terrestrial but increase in freshwater insect abundance and biomass (van Klink et al., Science 368, p. 417). The authors suggested that water quality has been improving, thereby challenging recent reports documenting drastic global declines in freshwater biodiversity. We raise two major concerns...
Plans are currently being drafted for the next decade of action on biodiversity—
both the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework of the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD) and Biodiversity Strategy of the European Union (EU).
Freshwater biodiversity is disproportionately threatened and underprioritized
relative to the marine and terrestrial b...
Topographical relief comprises the vertical and horizontal variations of the Earth’s terrain and drives processes in geomorphology, biogeography, climatology, hydrology and ecology. Its characterisation and assessment, through geomorphometry and feature extraction, is fundamental to numerous environmental modelling and simulation analyses. We, ther...
Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P) are essential nutritional elements for life processes in water bodies. However, in excessive quantities, they may represent a significant source of aquatic pollution. Eutrophication has become a widespread issue rising from a chemical nutrient imbalance and is largely attributed to anthropogenic activities. In view o...
Statistische Art-Areal-Modelle werden zunehmend für Fließgewässerökosysteme angewendet. Um der Herausforderung der Konnektivität in diesen Ökosystemen gerecht zu werden, dienen häufig unregelmäßige Teileinzugsgebiete als Modellierungseinheiten. Eine Veränderung der Größe dieser Einheiten kann zu veränderten statistischen Beziehungen zwischen Umwelt...
Abstract
Species distribution models (SDMs) are statistical tools to identify potentially suitable habitats for species. For SDMs in river ecosystems, species occurrences and predictor data are often aggregated across subcatchments that serve as modeling units. The level of aggregation (i.e., model resolution) influences the statistical relationsh...
Climate change has the potential to alter the flow regimes of rivers and consequently affect the taxonomic and functional diversity of freshwater organisms. We modeled future flow regimes for the 2050 and 2090 time horizons and tested how flow regimes impact the abundance of 150 macroinvertebrate species and their functional trait compositions in o...
The drafting of a new Global Biodiversity Framework for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and Biodiversity Strategy for the European Union (EU) render 2020 a critical crossroad for biodiversity conservation. Freshwater biodiversity is disproportionately threatened and poorly studied relative to marine and terrestrial biota, despite provi...
The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and its progressively wider impact on many sectors requires an assessment of its effect on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Using a consensus-based expert elicitation process, we find that AI can enable the accomplishment of 134 targets across all the goals, but it may also inhibit...
Understanding and predicting the ecological consequences of different management alternatives is becoming increasingly important to support environmental management decisions. Ecological models could contribute to such predictions, but in the past this was often not the case. Ecological models are often developed within research projects but are ra...
The development of AI will shape all aspects of our future. Our novel analysis shows that AI can support the achievement of all the UN Sustainable Development Goals. However, it is essential to reinforce the global debate regarding the use of AI and to develop the necessary regulatory insight and oversight for AI-based technologies.
* With: Max Te...
The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and its progressively wider impact on many sectors across the society requires an assessment of its effect on sustainable development. Here we analyze published evidence of positive or negative impacts of AI on the achievement of each of the 17 goals and 169 targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable De...
T he interdisciplinary research project AQUACROSS supports European efforts to protect biodiversity in Europe’s lakes, rivers, coasts and oceans. The case study at the IBRM Andalusia (Spain) and Morocco contains nine different realms and five biotic groups. In addition, fifteen ecosystem services have been assessed, including provisioning, regulati...
Topographical relief is composed of the vertical and horizontal variations of the Earth's terrain and drives processes in geography, climatology, hydrology, and ecology. Its assessment and characterisation is fundamental for various types of modelling and simulation analyses. In this regard, the Multi-Error-Removed Improved Terrain (MERIT) Digital...
Topographical relief is composed of the vertical and horizontal variations of the Earth's terrain and drives processes in geography, climatology, hydrology, and ecology. Its assessment and characterisation is fundamental for various types of modelling and simulation analyses. In this regard, the Multi-Error-Removed Improved Terrain (MERIT) Digital...
Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P) are essential nutrients for life processes in water bodies but in excessive quantities, they are a significant source of aquatic pollution. Eutrophication has now become widespread due to such an imbalance, and is largely attributed to anthropogenic activity. In view of this phenomenon, we present a new dataset and s...
Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P) are essential nutrients for life processes in water bodies but in excessive quantities, they are a significant source of aquatic pollution. Eutrophication has now become widespread due to such an imbalance, and is largely attributed to anthropogenic activity. In view of this phenomenon, we present a new dataset and s...
Aim
Systematic conservation planning is vital for allocating protected areas given the spatial distribution of conservation features, such as species. Due to incomplete species inventories, species distribution models (SDMs) are often used for predicting species’ habitat suitability and species’ probability of occurrence. Currently, SDMs mostly ign...
• Freshwater ecosystems are under a constant risk of being irreversibly damaged by human pressures that threaten their biodiversity, the sustainability of ecosystem services (ESs), and human well‐being. Despite the implementation of various environmental regulations, the challenges of safeguarding freshwater assets have so far not been tackled succ...
Hydrological variables are among the most influential when analyzing or modeling stream ecosystems. However, available hydrological data are often limited in their spatiotemporal scale and resolution for use in ecological applications such as predictive modeling of species distributions. To overcome this limitation, a regression model was applied t...
Green and Blue Infrastructure (GBI) is a network designed and planned to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services and to protect biodiversity. Existing GBI designs lacked a systematic method to allocate restoration zones. This study proposes a novel approach for systematically selecting cost-effective areas for restoration on the basis of biodive...
Freshwater biodiversity is declining, despite national and international efforts to manage and protect freshwater ecosystems. Ecosystem-based management (EBM) has been proposed as an approach that could more efficiently and adaptively balance ecological and societal needs. However, this raises the question of how social and ecological objectives ca...
Aim: Understanding variation in biodiversity typically requires consideration of factors
operating at different spatial scales. Recently, ecologists and biogeographers
have recognized the need of analysing ecological communities in the light of multiple
facets including not only species‐level information but also functional and phylogenetic
approac...
We used the hydrologically corrected Multi-Error- Removed Improved-Terrain Digital Elevation Model at a 3 arc- second (90 m) spatial resolution to derive a seamless, standardized stream network by using GRASS-GIS hydrological modules. We compared the spatial accuracy of the derived stream network with the NHDPlusV2 dataset across the conterminous U...
We used the hydrologically corrected Multi-Error- Removed Improved-Terrain Digital Elevation Model at a 3 arc- second (90 m) spatial resolution to derive a seamless, standardized stream network by using GRASS-GIS hydrological modules. We compared the spatial accuracy of the derived stream network with the NHDPlusV2 dataset across the conterminous U...
Topographic variation underpins a myriad of patterns and processes in hydrology, climatology, geography and ecology and is key to understanding the variation of life on the planet. A fully standardized and global multivariate product of different terrain features has the potential to support many large-scale research applications, however to date,...
Global change has the potential to affect river flow conditions which are fundamental determinants of physical habitats. Predictions of the effects of flow alterations on aquatic biota have mostly been assessed based on species ecological traits (e.g., current preferences), which are difficult to link to quantitative discharge data. Alternatively,...
Identifying patterns in the effects of temperature on species' population abundances could help develop a general framework for predicting the consequences of climate change across different communities and realms. We used long-term population time series data from terrestrial, freshwater, and marine species communitieswithin central Europe to comp...
We review recent literature on participatory scenario development and analysis within the context of ecosystem services (ESS) and biodiversity research. Beyond direct
use for AQUACROSS, this deliverable exemplifies how ecosystem-based management
(EBM) in aquatic ecosystems can be supported by participatory scenarios. Following the AQUACROSS Asses...
Understanding the drivers of stream macroinvertebrate distribution patterns – the most diverse animal group in freshwater ecosystems – is a major goal in freshwater biogeography. Climate and topography have been shown to explain species' distributions at continental scales, but the contribution of natural and anthropogenically altered streamflow is...
Given the scientific consensus that climate change is impacting biodiversity, estimates of future climate change effects on stream communities and assessments of potential biases are necessary. Here, we propose a simple technique to approximate changes in invertebrate and fish biomonitoring results. Taxa lists for 60 (invertebrate) and 52 (fish) si...