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Epigenetic modifications, particularly DNA methylation, offer valuable insights for biodiversity conservation across multiple biological levels. This approach can help identify biomarkers for individual health status, detect epigenetic signatures of rapid adaptation to environmental stress, and assess population adaptive potential. By incorporating epigenetic tools into conservation strategies, researchers can gain a more comprehensive understanding of species' resilience and adaptability, ultimately improving conservation management efforts.

During this talk, I’ll present my past work on the molecular epigenetic mechanisms of transgenerational transmission of immunity in stickleback fish, my current work in the Hellenthal lab at UCL Genetic Institute, developing statistical models to detect and characterise loci for which methylation marks likely are established in the early embryo and can influence long term health, and discuss more globally the importance of epigenetics in the context of conservation biology.

While a rapid decline of the garden dormouse (Eliomys quercinus) has been observed in many parts of its distribution, the reasons for the shrinking range remained unclear. A six-year project in Germany aimed to identify threats to the species, resulting in the development and implementation of targeted conservation measures. The talk will summarise the results of the project with special focus on the multiple factors that contributed to the decline, and the conservation strategies for the species.

While a rapid decline of the garden dormouse (Eliomys quercinus) has been observed in many parts of its distribution, the reasons for the shrinking range remained unclear. A six-year project in Germany aimed to identify threats to the species, resulting in the development and implementation of targeted conservation measures. The talk will summarise the results of the project with special focus on the multiple factors that contributed to the decline, and the conservation strategies for the species.

The Institute of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine at the Medical University of Vienna is the national reference centre for parasitology and is committed to providing effective diagnosis and surveillance of major parasitic diseases in humans. The research group Molecular Parasitology aims to understand the diversity, infection routes and pathomechanisms of parasites at the molecular level. In intensive national and international collaborations, the group seeks to elucidate virulence factors and their genetic regulation, understand the infection biology and evaluate (new) active compounds for prophylaxis and treatment. The main research focus lies on Acanthamoeba spp. and their role as human pathogens and vectors for bacteria and fungi. Another interest is in vector-borne parasitic pathogens and their distribution, particularly on Leishmania spp. and vector-borne helminths.

Great apes are our closest living relatives. Studying their phylogenetic relationships to humans and amongst each other has been an important field of genetic and genomic research over the past few decades, fostering investigations into human uniqueness and understanding evolution and disease. However, genomic data has been published across multiple studies with different scope and quality assessment. Unlike in humans, no comprehensive dataset on great ape diversity hass been available. Here, we provide such a dataset of 203 high coverage (>12-fold) whole genomes of chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans. We discovered numerous issues, including duplicate individuals, human contamination, and mising data. By integrating data from captive individuals, we contextualize them with data from wild individuals, leading to an improved understanding of the genetic diversity of great apes. Furthermore, we show how such a dataset can be leveraged as the context for studies on museum specimens of great apes which have been collected over the past 200 years.


 

All over the globe, anthropogenic activities release a variety of pollutants into ecosystems. Mercury (Hg) is one of the most concerning contaminants as it originates from both natural and anthropogenic sources, with artisanal small-scale gold mining being responsible for more than one third of atmospheric Hg emission. While being well documented in mammals and birds, the deleterious effects of Hg on reptiles remain understudied, even more in crocodylians. Being top predators, crocodylians accumulate high levels of mercury and can be used as bioindicators of environmental Hg contamination. In addition, knowledge on the impact of mercury on the taxon is extremely limited, and highlights the need to further investigate the threat that mercury contamination represents to them, considering that many crocodylids overlap with elevated mercury concentrations in their ecosystems. During this talk I will present the monitoring of mercury contamination in caimans from French Guiana and the effects of Hg on the physiology of the Smooth-fronted caiman Paleosuchus trigonatus, the Spectacled caiman Caiman crocodilus and the Black caiman Melanosuchus niger.

Human land modifications are profoundly altering the natural movements of animals, with significant implications for ecosystems and biodiversity. This talk explores how these changes impact terrestrial mammals, starting with regional examples such as the long-distance nomadic movements of ungulates in Mongolia. It then expands to global comparative studies, examining how anthropogenic changes influence animal movement patterns worldwide. Additionally, I will highlight ongoing efforts and initiatives aimed at enhancing the impact of movement data on environmental monitoring and conservation policy. This includes making movement data more accessible through standardized metrics and recent initiatives focused on elevating the role of animal movement in biodiversity monitoring and conservation. By bridging the gap between scientific knowledge and practical application, this talk underscores the critical importance of understanding and preserving animal mobility in an increasingly human-dominated world.

Movement is the behavioral mechanism that links the multiscale process of resource selection. Understanding what factors determine movement behavior has been the focus of much theoretical and empirical research in ungulate ecology. Due to the large spectrum of spatio-temporal resource variability, movement behaviors can take on many different forms. I will address several concepts of spatial ecology and touch on applied questions and their results, aiming to fuel data-driven discussions and ultimately lead to informed wildlife management decisions. I will first focus on habitat selection of Alpine chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra). Specifically, I will discuss relationships of seasonal habitat selection and spatio-temporally varying factors such as vegetation, weather and human impact using GPS-collar data. Next, I will present results on a transboundary population (Czech-Germany) of European red deer (Cervus elaphus). In particular, ongoing climatic changes and increasing forest disturbances alter red deer space use, and local managers on both sides of the border have been seeking information about the status of the population. Both examples touch on migratory plasticity that is best explained as complex adaptive behavioral gradient in response to abiotic and biotic resources that comprise the environmental niche of a species, population, and individual.

My research group is generally interested in the molecular and physiological mechanisms of life-history trade-offs. We work on a variety of animal models, including birds, mammals, and small marine invertebrates, both in the lab and in the field. For this seminar, I will share some ongoing work on the role of endoplasmic reticulum stress in mediating steroid hormone production and animal energetics and performance. I will also talk about the group’s recent venture into the aquatic world, where we study how stressors associated with climate change and anthropogenic activities affect oxidative status, bioenergetics, and life-history performance of a ubiquitous small marine invertebrate.

The Alpine habitats are amongst the most fast-changing in the world due to a more-than-average effects of climate change, cascading on availability of resources. Further, some regional effects due to landuse and socio-economic variables, such as abandonment of traditional activities and urbanisation, as well as increase in outdoor activities, influence the interaction between animals and their habitat.  Specifically, the mammal community has substantially changed in species occurrence and distribution, outlining the potential for new (or returning) inter-specific interactions and a new complexity into Alpine ecosystems. From plastic roe deer to cold-climate adapted Ibex, current abiotic, biotic and anthropogenic variations affect wildlife species in terms of behaviour, distribution, and density, with theoretical and applied consequences, including wildlife management and conservation.

The lek of the Black Grouse illustrates the central conundrum of sexual selection at its starkest: why are females so selective when males vary so little and contribute so little to rearing offspring? Charles Darwin suggested that mate choice could be a powerful force in evolution, distinct from natural selection: reproduction of the sexiest rather than (and sometimes opposed to) survival of the fittest. He seemed to suspect that it could generate "beauty" for its own sake, namely extravagant features of plumage and song that have no other purpose than to "charm" the other sex. After nearly two centuries of disagreement, is it time to confirm that he was right? Selective female black grouse may partly be seeking healthy offspring but the greater prize is attractive offspring - in a vicious circle that leads to extravagant exaggeration of plumage and song. The science writer Matt Ridley will argue that we may have underestimated the power of mate choice to generate unusual features of animal and even human behaviour.

Early-life conditions shapes individual’s life history traits including metabolic phenotype with potential long-term effects on individuals’ life and future generations. Yet, in the context of global change and increasing frequency of unpredictable climate events, there is growing interest in determining what physiological and behavioral strategies will help individuals to buffer environmental fluctuations. Among the major energy-saving strategies, torpor, or heterothermy, allows individuals to save energy via metabolic depression, and social thermoregulation, or huddling, enables individuals to minimize heat losses, hence their energy use. In this talk, I will present evidence of lifelong effects, and their associated mechanisms, of the use of such metabolic strategies during early-life on the seasonal metabolic phenotype and somatic maintenance of heterothermic individuals as well as those from the subsequent generation.

Join us for a fascinating talk on the impact of the Roman conquest of the northern Alpine foreland in 15 BCE on local horse populations. This presentation will share new genetic insights into the diversity and traits of ancient horses north of the Alps, offering a fresh perspective on equid management in the Roman frontier provinces.