River Ecology and Management


Biology – Karlstad University

12

MAY 2022

New paper out: Constraints in the restoration of mountain meadows invaded by the Garden lupine

Posted by Louis Addo | Invasive species, Karlstads universitet

Lutz Eckstein, professor at Karlstad University, is involved in a recently published paper, studying techniques for control of the invasive Garden Lupine (Lupinus polyphyllus) and the introduction of target species in mountain meadow plant communities.

This paper with Wiebke Hansen as the lead author, published in the journal Restoration Ecology (https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.13682), tested the restoration techniques “seed bank activation” and “green hay transfer” in combination with “manual removal of the invasive L. polyphyllus” on three types of grassland (Nardus grassland, mesic and wet mountain hay meadows) in the Rhön UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in Central Germany.

The main implications for restoration practice are the following:

  • Green hay application might not be a suitable tool for restoring Nardus grassland since small species might not be able to grow through the plant material layer.
  • Lupinus polyphyllus cover on restoration sites can be reduced by manual removal of all parts of the plants, but a lasting reduction requires at least repeated applications
  • Reinvasion of Lupinus polyphyllus into restoration sites must be prevented with an appropriate management, e.g. early and/or repeated mowing.
  • Active restoration through seed bank activation failed to promote mountain meadow target species and reduced the cover of wet mountain hay meadow target species.

8

MAY 2022

Seminar: Coastal seascapes and seagrass ecosystems

Posted by Louis Addo | Seminar
  • Tom Staveley

Dr. Tom Staveley, an aquatic ecologist and a researcher from SLU Aqua, Sweden will be giving a talk entitled Coastal seascapes and seagrass ecosystems on Tuesday 10 May at 13.15 CET over zoom. Tom’s research interest is in marine landscape ecology concepts and applications, particularly fish ecological connectivity using methods such as acoustic telemetry. You can visit Tom’s page to read more about his research interest and publications.

You are welcome to join this seminar free of charge via https://kau-se.zoom.us/my/kaubiology.

22

APR 2022

Seminar: Evidence-based control and monitoring of Garden Lupine for the conservation of species-rich road verges.

Posted by Louis Addo | Invasive species, Seminar
  • Elin Blomqvist in a Garden Lupin field

Road verges act as important refuges for grassland species since the areas of semi-natural grassland have declined during the last century. However, as linear habitats, road verges increase connectivity in fragmented landscapes, which also makes them prone to colonization by non-native species. This is currently seen as the greatest threat to species-rich road verges. The invasive Garden Lupine is commonly found in road verges where it alters competitive interactions, reduces native populations, and even causes extinctions of native species. 

This project is funded by The Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) and the aim is to improve ecosystem functions and services of species-rich road verges and green infrastructure through evidence-based control and monitoring of Garden Lupine at the landscape scale.

During this seminar, I’m going to introduce the background for the project, and talk about what has been done and what I am planning to do in the next years.

The seminar will be streamed live over zoom on Tuesday 26th April at 13.15 CET. The zoom link for the seminar is https://kau-se.zoom.us/my/kaubiology. You are welcome

11

APR 2022

Seminar!!! Movement ecology (Canceled)

Posted by Louis Addo | ecology, Seminar

Dr. Navinder Singh, a researcher at SLU Silva will be giving a talk about Movement ecology on Tuesday XX th April at 13.15 CET over zoom. Navinder’s research focuses on Moose and how spatio-temporal variation in environment, human influence and life history interact to influence the demography and population dynamics of moose and their movement ecology. Navinder’s seminar is entitled “Movement ecology”. You can visit Navinder’s page to read more about her research interest. You are welcome to join this seminar free of charge via https://kau-se.zoom.us/my/kaubiology.

31

MAR 2022

Seminar: Wastewater effluents and salmonid migration in freshwaters

Posted by Louis Addo | Fish migration, Seminar, Wastewater

Dr. Erin McCallum, a researcher at (Forskare) at SLU in Umeå will be giving a talk about waterwater effluents and salmonid migration in freshwaters on Tuesday 5th April at 13.15 CET over zoom. Erin is a behavioral ecologist and ecotoxicologist interested in understanding the causes and consequences of anthropogenic stressors for aquatic wildlife. Erin’s seminar is entitled “A tale of two research programs: Wastewater effluents and salmonid migration in freshwaters”. She will present her current research on wastewater effects on fish communities and the migratory success of anadromous brown trout smolt. You can visit Erin’s page to read more about her research interest.

You are welcome to join this seminar free of charge via https://kau-se.zoom.us/my/kaubiology.

28

MAR 2022

Seminar by Dr. Hein van Kleef

Posted by Louis Addo | Invasive species, Seminar
  • Dr. Hein van Kleef

Dr. Hein van Kleef from the Bargerveen Foundation in The Netherlands will give a seminar entitled Sailing mostly uncharted waters when applying concepts of ecosystem resilience to enhance invasive resistance. This seminar will be streamed live over zoom on Tuesday 29th March at 13.15 CET through https://kau-se.zoom.us/my/kaubiology

23

MAR 2022

Successful Ph.D. defense by Dr. Kalle Filipssion

Posted by Louis Addo | RivEM
Ph.D. defense of Kalle Filipsson with Prof. Lutz Eckstein as Chair

Congratulations to Kalle Filipsson for a successful Ph.D. defense held last Friday (18th March 2022) at Karlstad University. Thanks to External Reviewer Professor Neil Metcalfe (Glasgow University) and Examination Committee members Professor Gunilla Rosenqvist (Uppsala University), Professor Per Larsson (Linneuniversitet) and Professor Anders Finstad, (NTNU).

3

MAR 2022

Seminar: Richness and redundancy: Functional diversity in riparian spiders and plants

Posted by Louis Addo | Seminar
  • Jeff Marker
  • Riparian spider

On March 8th at 13.15 (CET), KAU Biology doctoral candidate Jeff Marker will present his seminar on riparian functional diversity. Measuring biodiversity in an ecosystem is more than just counting species, it is essential that we understand exactly what effects those species have on their habitats and how they shape ecosystem processes. By looking at a combination of indices and pinpointing functional traits, Jeff will walk us through the effects of forested riparian buffer and forestry management on the functional diversity of riparian spiders and plants. Join the meeting on zoom via https://kau-se.zoom.us/my/kaubiology

3

MAR 2022

Seminar: Bending the curve in biodiversity decline in the European landscape

Posted by Louis Addo | Seminar
Professor Hans de Kroon

On 15 March, Professor Hans de Kroon will be giving a talk on his work on Living Labs: innovative projects that have been set up for nature restoration research. With his colleagues from Radboud University (NL) and many societal partners, he looks into ways in which nature and agriculture can be integrated to ensure livelihood for farmers while conserving and restoring landscape elements that contribute to the local and regional biodiversity.

  • A view over the Ooijpolder, where one of the Living Labs is situated
  • PhD student Robin Lexmond on an insect monitoring site

Read a bit more information on the project here, and attend the seminar via Zoom: https://kau-se.zoom.us/my/kaubiology, at 13:15 CET on 15 March.

25

FEB 2022

Doctoral thesis defense: Early life stages of brown trout: Anti-predator responses under warming winters

Posted by Louis Addo | Okategoriserad

Kalle Filipsson, RivEm Ph.D. student, nailed his Ph.D. thesis entitled “Early life stages of brown trout: Anti-predator responses under warming winters” today (25th February 2022), both at the main entrance and the biology department at Karlstad University.

Kalle’s thesis nailed at Karlstad University

On Tuesday 1 March Kalle will give a pre-dissertation talk, where he will present a preliminary version of his Ph.D. presentation. The seminar starts at 13:15 and will be held both on the second floor at the biology department and on Zoom (https://kause.zoom.us/my/kaubiology)

Kalle’s Ph.D. defense will be held on Friday 18 March. The defense will take place at 10:00 in room 1B309 (Sjöströmsalen) at Karlstad University. The defense is public and anyone is welcome to attend.

Neil Metcalfe (University of Glasgow, Scotland) will be the opponent and will participate on Zoom. Gunilla Rosenqvist (Uppsala University, Sweden), Per Larsson (Linnaeus University, Sweden) and Anders Finstad (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway) are the grading committee.