Florian Altermatt
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florianaltermatt.bsky.social
Florian Altermatt
@florianaltermatt.bsky.social

Full Professor of Aquatic Ecology University Zurich & @eawag.bsky.social | Kuratorium Forum Biodiversity | Founding Director https://biodiversitaet.uzh.ch/en.html | all & beyond #biodiversity, #eDNA & #AquaticEcology | Like=interesting
www.altermattlab.ch .. more

Environmental science 59%
Biology 16%
Pinned
Our study ‘The #global #human impact on #biodiversity’ is out in @nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🌍🌐🐟🌿🪲

Unprecedented synthesis of >2000 studies led by @francoiskeck.bsky.social shows humans are not only shrinking species numbers—but reshaping entire communities across the planet.
🧵1/5

Dear Julie
apologies... to quick in copy-paste... hope it works now, otherwise DM!

thx for your interest

Utilizing aquatic #eDNA 🧬 to address global 🌍🌐 #biodiversity targets 🎯

Our #article @natrevbiodiv.nature.com is now freely available (upon registration) till Feb 16th: ➡️ www.nature.com/articles/s44... part of special collection 📚 on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework #GBF 🌍 🦐 🐟 🧬

Study #Biodiversity 🐟 🍃 🦐 🧬 🌍 🔬 🦠

📽️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERdy...

BSc & MSc #study #program @ University #Zürich 👩‍🎓 teaching students giving students the foundation on patterns, processes and functions of biological diversity with a high interdisciplinary focus 🎯📈 📚
Discover the Biodiversity degree program at UZH!
YouTube video by Universität Zürich
www.youtube.com

#Biodiversität studieren! 🐟 🍃 🦐 🧬 🌍 🔬 🦠

📽️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERdy...

BSc & MSc Studienprogramme "Biodiversität" @UZH 👩‍🎓 vermitteln umfassendes wissenschaftliches Verständnis der Muster, Prozesse & Funktionen der biologischen Vielfalt.

Starker interdisziplinären Fokus 🎯📈 📚
Discover the Biodiversity degree program at UZH!
YouTube video by Universität Zürich
www.youtube.com
Vibe coding kills open source.
Our most direct title yet. @koren.mk @julianhi.nz @aaron-lohmann.bsky.social
Theory paper with numbers and policy recs. First at arxiv.org/abs/2601.15494
Comments welcome.

@ceu-economics.bsky.social @kiel.institute

🌐

Shifting leaf fall duration and order of arrival thus has the potential to impact carbon cycling, even when the combined resource quantity remains constant.

by #LukeIreland @tiannapeller.bsky.social & myself #UZH @eawag.bsky.social

➡️ Exposure duration and arrival order of leaf species strongly influenced combined leaf litter consumption. Earlier arrival of high-quality leaves enhanced feeding on low-quality leaves.

↔️ These subsidies are highly seasonally structured, yet their phenologies ⏰ are shifting with climate change 📈 .

We experimentally demonstrated how order of arrival and exposition duration of different leaf species 🍂 🍃 affect decomposition by amphipods 🦐 as a key aquatic ecosystem function.

Shifting leaf fall #phenology disrupts #ecosystem #function.

Out now @currentbiology.bsky.social: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

➡️ Leaf litter fall 🍂 and processing in temperate streams is one of the most pervasive resource subsidies and ecosystem functions globally 🌍 .
🌱 #Biodiversität in der #Schweiz: Der Zustand bleibt ungenügend. Trotz verlangsamtem Rückgang besteht grosser Handlungsbedarf. Unser neuer datenbasierter #Report zeigt #Fakten, Entwicklungen und Lösungsansätze 👉 biodiversitaet2026.ch #Wissenschaft #Forschung

Reposted by Florian Altermatt

New paper in Oikos! 🎉

Ecosystems are connected by resource flows, and ecosystem size can mediate their effects. But how does size mediate the effects of resource flows between autotrophic and heterotrophic ecosystems—one of nature's most ubiquitous linkages?
Ecosystem size reverses the effect of the spatial coupling between autotrophic and heterotrophic ecosystems
The flow of non-living resources between autotrophic and heterotrophic ecosystems can impact their ecosystem function. However, ecosystem size is similarly known to influence ecological properties an...
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

A quiet start to the Holidays🎄: a bit of #birding with my son around Lake Pfäffikon. Kingfisher, kestrel, merganser 🐦‍⬛🦉🦆🦅🪶. No particular spectacular observation, yet wonderful foggy scenery. Spending time in nature nearby is among the best things one can do—pure happiness and relaxation.

indeed magic! its one of these enigmatic ecosystems/species that you here in lectures & books, would feel exactly the same!
2-years #postdoc #position: #eDNA 🧬🔬for integrated #ecosystem and #biodiversity assessment

apply.refline.ch/673277/1297/...

In the new Eawag/WSL Biodiversity Monitoring Initiative we will strengthen & advance effective and scalable #biodiversity #monitoring methods & implement into practice. 🌐🌳🐟📈
apply.refline.ch

Reposted by Florian Altermatt

🎉 Excited to share the 2nd chapter of my PhD!

From 270 eDNA samples across Shark Bay (🇦🇺), we identified 106 fish species and mapped their diversity with remote sensing — all non-invasively! 🌊🐠

A scalable framework for characterising marine biodiversity

🔗 doi.org/10.1111/ddi.70074
Integrating Environmental DNA Metabarcoding and Remote Sensing Reveals Known and Novel Fish Diversity Hotspots in a World Heritage Area
Aim Shark Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Western Australia, is highly vulnerable to climate change, yet its fish biodiversity remains poorly understood at fine spatial scales. We integrated en...
doi.org
Out now by Zhang et al:

Hyperspectral imagery 🛰️, LiDAR point clouds 🛩️, and #eDNA 🧬 to assess land-water linkage of #biodiversity across #aquatic functional feeding groups.🐟🪰🦠🔬🌐🌍

zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

@eawag.bsky.social #UZH
"Humans aren’t very efficient movers—until you put us on a bicycle, when we become some of the most energy-efficient land travelers in the animal kingdom."
www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-hu...

What a gem! the Death's Head #Hawkmoth. 💀🦋Excited each time I find one!

5/6 Species richness, functional, and genetic sequence diversity exhibited stronger negative responses to human activities in larger catchments. In contrast, phylogenetic diversity showed the strongest negative effects in smaller catchments.
Full story: 🗞️ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

4/6 ➡️ 2nd #paper quantified #species #richness, functional #redundancy, #phylogenetic #diversity, and genetic sequence diversity, and related them to drainage characteristics and human activities📉 .

3/6 Contrastingly, congruence of species identity varied more extensively. Restricting taxonomic assignment to basin-specific species pools improved accuracy, as did year of sampling 📈 , reflecting improved reference database coverage over time.

Full story: 🗞️ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

2/6 ➡️ 1st #paper evaluated robustness of eDNA-derived biodiversity patterns, using original results & re-analysis w/ common bioinformatic workflow.

Species richness estimates were overall consistent with original analyses, despite high variability in bioinformatic approaches in original studies.
In massive #collaborative #effort, we assembled published & unpublished #fish 🐟 #eDNA 🧬 metabarcoding datasets, covering ~2000 sampling sites/>100 river systems globally. 🐟 🐠 🐡 🌐 🌍

Now results out in 2 #parallel #preprints @biorxiv-ecology.bsky.social

#aquatic #biodiversity #meta-analysis
1/6🧵

thanks for your interest, but credits should go especially to @merinrejichacko.bsky.social

Auch im Spätsommer/Frühherbst lohnt sich das Tössstockgebiet für botanische Wanderungen (das Gute liegt so nah...): Gefranster Enzian, Frühlingsenzian, Deutscher Enzian, Scheuchzers Glockenblume, Stängellose Kratzdistel, Wiesen-Augentrost u.v.m. #Schnebelhorn #TopOfZurich

Reposted by Florian Altermatt

ETH Zurich @ethz.ch · Sep 19
"What makes food healthy?" Assistant Professor Patrick Rühs talks in an interview with ETH Zurich’s #Globe magazine about plant-based diets, food processing – and why blue corn tortillas are his favourite dish.

Read more:
Plant-based foods for a healthy future
Patrick Rühs reveals why processed foods are crucial to global nutrition – and why blue corn tortillas are his favourite dish.
ethz.ch