Plant population biology (Heinz Müller-Schärer) 

Our research interests are ecological and evolutionary aspects of plant-antagonist interactions, especially in the context of plant invasion and biological control ; organisms : Centaurea maculosa, Senecio vulgaris, S. jacobaea and Veratrum album, with their associated insect herbivores and pathogens. more

Multi-species interactions (Sven Bacher) 

We are interested in factors contributing to population regulation and conditions under which populations escape regulation. We experimentally study ecological relationships between herbivorous insects and their host plants, their natural enemies (predators, parasitoids, pathogens), and other organisms (competitors, mutualists). However, some questions need to be addressed at the landscape or even global scale (landscape ecology, macroecology). We are particularly interested in applied questions (biological control, invasion biology, nature conservation). more

Population genetics (Christoph Haag)

The group is interested in the genetic consequences of habitat fragmentation and finite population size. We focus on questions such as; how is genetic variation in fitness maintained in natural populations; why do the majority of organisms reproduce sexually; how does dispersal evolve. A combination of experimental, molecular, and theoretical approaches are used. Our main study organisms are water fleas (Daphnia), butterflies, and a critically endangered bird, the Northern bald ibis. more

Community ecology (Louis-Felix Bersier) 

The interest of the group is the study of the organization and functioning of communities. This is achieved through studies at the level of whole communities (food-webs, describing who eats whom), of groups of taxonomically related species (e.g. communities of passerine birds), and of simple tritrophic systems (plant-herbivore-predator). The approaches include modelling, meta-analyses, experiments and empirical research. The main systems studied are ecological compensation zones in agricultural landscape. more

Molecular ecology & evolutionary genetics group (Christian Lexer)

We are interested in the origin and maintenance of functionally and ecologically important biodiversity at the above- and below-species level. This includes the genetics of adaptation, speciation, of variation in mating systems, and of traits involved in range shifts. We explore these topics using a combination of ecological, molecular, and statistical approaches including novel genomic and post-genomic tools with a focus on plants. more

Conservation biology and biogeography (Gregor Kozlowski) 

Our main research interests are causes and consequences of the biodiversity loss. We are interested both in theoretical and applied questions of conservation biology and conservation biogeography. Our main study organisms are threatened aquatic and wetland plants. more