Functional and Evolutionary Ecology
Functional and Evolutionary Ecology encompasses the study of how organisms interact with their environment and how these interactions influence adaptation, performance, and evolutionary trajectories. Research in this area addresses ecological and evolutionary processes at multiple levels, extending from individual traits and physiological mechanisms to populations, communities and ecosystems.
Empirical and experimental approaches are combined with comparative and theoretical frameworks to investigate how functional traits mediate responses to environmental conditions. This includes the study of resource use, life-history strategies, species interactions, and the effects of environmental change on ecological systems.
The integration of functional biology with evolutionary theory provides a framework for understanding the mechanisms by which organisms adapt to their environments, and the structural and maintenance mechanisms of ecological systems. Furthermore, it contributes to the prediction of how biodiversity will respond to ongoing environmental challenges.
Research Groups
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Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics
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Molecular Systems Biology
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Limnology
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Bio-Oceanography and Marine Biology
Supervisors
Christian Griebler
Head of the Groundwater Ecology Working Group
Member of the Limnology Research Group
Research Areas
- Groundwater ecosystem ecology & biodiversity
- Biogeochemical cycles & climate impacts
- Microbial–invertebrate functional roles
- Molecular & hydrochemical methods
- Monitoring, health assessment & human impacts
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Monika Bright
Head of the Marine Benthic Ecology Working Group
Member of the Bio-Oceanography and Marine Biology Research Group
Research Areas
- Chemosynthetic symbioses in marine benthic ecosystems
- Mutualism between sulfur-oxidizing bacteria and hosts
- Model systems: Riftia (vents) & Zoothamnium (wood falls)
- Transmission modes, dependency, and symbiont location
- Ecology and evolution of interspecies cooperation
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Christa Schleper
Head of the Archaea Ecology and Evolution Working Group
Member of the Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics Research Group
Research Areas
- Evolution and ecology of Archaea
- Nitrifying microorganisms
- Cell biology of Asgard archaea
- Metagenomics
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Maria Filipa de Sousa
PhD
Head of the Genome Evolution and Ecology Working Group
Member of the Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics Research Group
Research Areas
- Bioenergetic evolution & comparative genomics
- Protein complex evolution & large-scale phylogenetics
- Archaeal physiology, metabolism & diversity
- Evolutionary innovations in Archaea
- Automated metabolic classification (meta)genomics
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Silvia Bulgheresi
Privatdoz.
Head of the Environmental Cell Biology Working Group
Member of the Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics Research Group
Research Areas
- Microbial symbioses
- Microbial epigenetics
- Symbiont cell biology
- Immune homeostasis
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Simon Rittmann
Privatdoz. Bakk.
Head of the Archaea Physiology & Biotechnology Working Group
Member of the Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics Research Group
Research Areas
- Microbiology
- Biotechnology
- Synthetic Biology
- Bioprocess
- Archaea
- Anaerobes
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Wolfram Weckwerth
Head of the Systems Theory in Ecology and Biology Working Group
Member of the Molecular Systems Biology Research Group
Research Areas
- Systems theory in genome-scale & ecosystem research
- Multi-omics & high-throughput profiling
- Data integration, statistics & metabolic modeling
- Plant genotype–phenotype & physiology
- Biomedical applications & personalized medicine
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Ingeborg Lang
Privatdoz.
Head of the Structural and functional plant cell biology Working Group
Member of the Molecular Systems Biology Research Group
Research Areas
- Structure and function of plant cells
- Bryophytes
- Drought – desiccation - osmotic stress
- Heavy metals - bioindication
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Stefanie Wienkoop
Privatdoz.
Head of the Plant-Microsymbiont Interaction Working Group
Member of the Molecular Systems Biology Research Group
Research Areas
- Plant-Microsymbiont Interaction (PMInt)
- Rhizobiome induced plants defence mechanisms.
- Abiotic and biotic stress responses (drought, salinity, pathogen defense) of plants
- Integrative systems biology using mass spectrometry based proteomics and metabolomics
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Steffen Waldherr
Head of the Computational methods for systems biology Working Group
Member of the Molecular Systems Biology Research Group
Research Areas
- Dynamic flux balance & resource allocation modeling
- Bioprocess optimization with constraint-based models
- Modeling heterogeneous cell populations
- State estimation & parameter inference from high-throughput data
- Machine learning for biological data and process prediction
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Markus Teige
Head of the Plant signaling Working Group
Member of the Molecular Systems Biology Research Group
Research Areas
- Plant stress adaptation & environmental signal processing
- Calcium signaling pathways & CDPK function
- Chloroplast signaling & subcellular localization
- Proteomics & identification of signaling components
- Transcriptional regulation & metabolic reprogramming
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Gerhard Herndl
Head of the Microbial Oceanography Working Group
Member of the Bio-Oceanography and Marine Biology Research Group
Research Areas
- Marine Microbial and Molecular Ecology with emphasis on structure and function relationships in microbial communities using rate measurements and -omics approached
- Microbial Oceanography (linking the thermohaline circulation to the biogeography of prokaryotes and to biogeochemical cycling of organic matter particularly in the meso- and bathypelagic realm)
- Biotic and abiotic transformation of organic matter in the sea
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Stephan Glatzel
Department of Geography and Regional Research
Research Areas
- Peatlands
- Wetlands
- Greenhouse gas exchange
- Carbon dynamics
- Rewetting and restoration
Supervisors at affiliated Institutes
Matrin Kainz
Head of the LIPTOX Working Group
Member of the WasserCluster Lunz
Research Areas
- Aquatic food webs
- Aquatic ecotoxicology
- Meta-ecosystem ecology
- Lipidomics
- Trophic biomarkers
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WasserCluster Lunz
Katrin Attermeyer
Head of the Carbocrobe Working Group
Member of the Limnology Research Group
Research Areas
- Carbon cycling in inland waters from source to sea
- Microbial processing of organic matter
- Greenhouse gas production and emissions from inland waters
- Responses of aquatic carbon dynamics to environmental change
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WasserCluster Lunz
PhD Students
Isha Joshi
Project: Analysing the interrelation of the DNA damage and pathogen signaling pathways in plants
Supervisor: Peter Schlögelhofer
Filip-Paul Boanca
Project: Can microbes inform about vulnerability of spring waters — Assessment of microbial communities and water quality in Austrian springs
Supervisors: Christian Griebler & Clemens Karwautz
Angela Cukusic
Project: The microbiome of Urban Aquifers - Case Studies: Berlin and Vienna
Supervisors: Christian Griebler & Clemens Karwautz
Helena Cvetkovic
Project: Deciphering methane emission dynamics from streams' sediments: a microbial perspective
Supervisors: Christian Griebler & Clemens Karwautz
Charlotte Margarethe Doebke
Project: Spatiotemporal variability and mechanisms of sediment methane production and ebullition in streams
Supervisors: Christian Griebler & Katrin Attermeyer
Constanze Englisch
Project: Heat below the City - How increased temperature influences urban groundwater ecosystems
Supervisor: Christian Griebler
ResearchGateORCID
u:cris URL
Susanna Maria Catherine Findlay
Project: Tracking Zooplankton Biodiversity across the Alps (ZAB)
Supervisor: Christian Griebler
Sonja Hoxha
Project: Characterization of biogeochemical self-purification processes in the Vjosa River network with a focus on different spatial and temporal scales
Supervisors: Christian Griebler & Clemens Karwautz
Ayac Iuan Jiminez Salvador
Project: Advancing Groundwater Ecosystem Assessment: From Ecological Baselines to Management Practice
Supervisor: Christian Griebler
Christoph Novotny
Project: Hidden Life Below: Unearthing the secrets of Groundwater Biodiversity
Supervisors: Christian Griebler & Simon Vitecek
John Lester Viscara Pide
Project: Intrinsic potential and activity of nitrate turnover examined for different hydrogeological aquifer settings
Supervisor: Christian Griebler
Thea Schwingshackl
Project: City-invading mosquitoes of medical im- portance: habitat preferences and molecu- lar detection in Vienna (City Invaders; WWTF ESR24-005)
Supervisors: Christian Griebler & Carina Zittra
Kaijie Liang
Project: Genome Prediction and Functional Analysis in Large Germplasm Resources Based on omics Data and GWAS
Supervisors: Wolfram Weckwerth & Steffen Waldherr
Yuhang Meng
Project: Forecasting and Regression of environmental, clinical, and translational large-scale OMICS data sets with deep learning and biomathematical modelling
Supervisors: Wolfram Weckwerth & Steffen Waldherr
Iro Pierides
Project: Data-driven dynamic tools for multi-omics integration and control
Supervisors: Wolfram Weckwerth & Steffen Waldherr
Pablo Rolle Concha
Project: Metabolic Modeling and Dynamic Simulation of Plant-Microbe Ecology
Supervisor: Steffen Waldherr
Dries Oome
Project: Steering the dynamics of engineered phages in bacterial bioreactor processes
Supervisor: Steffen Waldherr
Guillem Coll García
Project: Bacterial Adaptation to High Salinity
Supervisor: Gerhard Herndl
Marilena Heitger
Project: Shedding light on dark ocean’s detrital particles: origin, composition, and age
Supervisor: Gerhard Herndl
ResearchGateORCID
u:cris URL
Google Scholar
Dmytro Spriahailo
Project: Diversity and metabolic activity of bacteria in the sea-surface microlayer
Supervisors: Gerhard Herndl & Thomas Reinthaler
Teresa Maria Rosa Winter
Project: Ecology of Zoothamnium assemblages on experimental shallow water wood falls
Supervisor: Gerhard Herndl
ResearchGateORCID
Yovita Astuti Djohan
Project: Defense mechanism of Pisum sativum towards Didymella pinodes infection with and without heat
Supervisors: Stefanie Wienkoop & Andreas Bachmair
Carlos Antonio Perez Rizquez
Project: Underlying mechanism(s) of the symbioprotein ferritin on legume root nodule formation and drought stress
Supervisor: Stefanie Wienkoop
Lena Fragner
Project: Eco-metabolomics From Moderate to Tropical Climate - Molecular Insights to Colonization Strategies of Ecological Niches
Supervisors: Stefanie Wienkoop & Wolfram Weckwerth
Ines Fuchs
Project: Stable Isotopes of Fatty Acids as Tracers of Bioconversion in Consumers of Freshwater Foodwebs
Supervisor: Martin Kainz & Christian Griebler
Stefano Mari
Project: The importance of dietary omega 3 fatty acids for development of cognitive skills in wild fishes through the lens of Tingbergen’s four
Supervisor: Martin Kainz & Hubert Keckeis
Francine Mathieu
Project: Temporal dynamics of plankton food webs and sediments of young gravel pit lakes.
Supervisor: Martin Kainz
Angus Samuel Hilts
Project: Metabolic networks in Methanothemobacter marburgensis for cell factory development
Supervisor: Simon Rittmann
Walter Hofmann
Project: Physiological and biotechnological characteristics of archaea for methane or bioplastics production
Supervisor: Simon Rittmann
Hayk Palabikyan
Project: Converting carbon dioxide into bioplastics
Supervisor: Simon Rittmann
Barbara Reischl
Project: Physiological characteristics and biotechnological application potential of archaeal pure- and artificial co-cultures
Supervisor: Simon Rittmann
Bushra Ijaz
Project: Targets of Ca2+-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) in regulatory stress response networks
Supervisors: Markus Teige & Andreas Bachmair
Elisa Montrucchio
Project: The role of a GSK3 protein kinases in acclimation to drought and waterlogging
Supervisors: Markus Teige & Claudia Jonak (BOKU)
Caroline Ivesic
Project: Austrian carnivorous plants-roles of different glands
Supervisor: Ingeborg Lang
Luigi Schillaci
Project: Toxic or just a nuisance - How mosses cope with heavy metals
Supervisors: Ingeborg Lang & Harald Zechmeister
Tim Eutin
Project: Uptake and distribution of nanoplastics in plants
Supervisors: Verena Ibl & Ingeborg Lang
Val Karavaeva
Project: Rings of life and where to find them: evolution of tetrapyrroles
Supervisors: Maria Filipa de Sousa
ResearchGateORCID
u:cris URL
Google Scholar
Hannes Kramml
Project: Long-term implications of ancient polyploids: CAM as a key evolutionary innovation in Clusia spp.
Supervisors: Wolfram Weckwerth
Stefan Plott
Project: ESCRT-Proteins and TOR as regulators of protein turnover in barley grains
Supervisors: Wolfram Weckwerth
ORCIDu:cris URL
Nicole Krause
Project: Chromosome organization and segregation in oral cavity symbionts
Supervisor: Silvia Bulgheresi
Arnau Sabater i Mezquita
Project: Characterisation of Nucleoid-Associated Proteins and SMC Complexes in Candidatus Lokiarchaeum ossiferum
Supervisor: Silvia Bulgheresi
Mengke Li
Project: The Holobiont for improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and establishing sustainable agricultural production system
Supervisor: Wolfram Weckwerth
Marina Monserrat Díez
Project: Exploring the effects of biological nitrification inhibitors in the soil microbial communities
Supervisor: Christa Schleper
Anna-Maria Sabine Salgado Gschwandner
Project: Remoteness and size as determinants of Lake Ecosystem stability (RemoLake)
Supervisor: Robert Ptacnik (extern)
Katarína Franková
Project: Functional Characterisation of Proteins Involved in Root Nodule Symbiosis in Lotus japonicus
Supervisor: Stefanie Wienkoop