Florian Altermatt

@florianaltermatt.bsky.social

4.3K followers 1K following 270 posts

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

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Environmental science 59%

Biology 16%

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Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Mar 26

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

Reposted by Ingolf Kühn, Elena Litchman, Billur Bektaş , and 1 more Ingolf Kühn, Elena Litchman, Billur Bektaş, Benjamin Wildermuth

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · 7d

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

Manuela Bizzozzero @mbizzozzero.bsky.social · 8d

🎉 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

Reposted by Doerthe Tetzlaff, Allan D. McDevitt

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · 10d

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

Reposted by Florian Altermatt, Caroline Krafft

Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 27d

"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...

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Oct 6

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

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Sep 29

6/6 Thanks to #YanZhang for leading analysis, & @leeselab.bsky.social, @loicpellissier.bsky.social, @wenyuanzhang.com, @tschenekar.bsky.social, @robinschuetz.bsky.social, @kamilhupalo.bsky.social, @mattleray.bsky.social and many more for contributing @eawag.bsky.social @bes-aquaticgroup.bsky.social

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Sep 29

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...

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Sep 29

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

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Sep 29

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...

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Sep 29

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.

Reposted by Florian Leese, Julie L. Lockwood

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Sep 29

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🧵

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Sep 22

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

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Sep 21

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

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Sep 14

it's Saga pedo, one of the #largest and #rarest #insects of #Europe. tip to toe its close to 15 cm. almost exclusively females that reproduce parthenogenetically.

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Sep 14

yes indeed, but not just any grasshopper!

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Sep 14

My Sunday #riddle! (instead of crossword puzzle)

Can you spot it? 🐛 🪲 🐜 🪳

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Sep 12

Big congratulations congrats to @kperrelet.bsky.social for an excellent thesis and defense! Very well done.

Kilian Perrelet @kperrelet.bsky.social · Sep 12

Last week, I defended my PhD thesis! 🎉

4 years diving into blue-green infrastructure, biodiversity, food webs, eDNA, and above all, amazing collaboration between engineers and ecologists 🏣🌱🐞🧬

Big thanks to @laurenmcook.bsky.social, Marco Moretti, and @florianaltermatt.bsky.social!

Reposted by Florian Altermatt

Kilian Perrelet @kperrelet.bsky.social · Sep 12

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Sep 9

happy to be speaking about "Utilising aquatic environmental DNA to address local to global biodiversity targets"

@eawag.bsky.social

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Sep 9

Upcoming at #UN #ScienceSummit in NY/online (24.9.2025):
Harnessing Environmental DNA: Advancing #SDGs and the Global #Biodiversity Framework. 🧬🛰️🐟🌍🌐
sciencesummitnyc.org/science-summ...
#eDNA #Biomonitoring #Biodiversity #GBF

REGISTER HERE: event.sciencesummitnyc.org/list-of-sess...

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Sep 6

What a joy to find 4 🐛🐛🐛🐛 of the spurge hawk-moth in our garden! We just have a few m2, yet keep it diverse, with native plants and extensive maintenance (and no pesticides nor short cut lawn). Starts to pay off😊 #BiodiversityRocks

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Sep 4

@eawag.bsky.social @rosiecblackman.bsky.social @berndhae.bsky.social #ReinhardFurrer #MaslinOsathanunkul #JeanineBranthscnen #ChristinaDiMuri @lynseyrharper.bsky.social #PascalNiklaus @loicpellissier.bsky.social #MichaelSchaepman #ShuoZong @bes-aquaticgroup.bsky.social @sednasociety.bsky.social

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Sep 4

4/4 Integrating spatial range & magnitude of LULC effects is needed to predict fish species richness, and allows to showcase future gains/losses across the river network as a scalable basis for biodiversity conservation, needed for highly diverse yet data-deficient (sub-)tropical riverine habitats.

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Sep 4

3/4 We estimated a spatial range of #LULC effects extending up to about 20 km upstream ↗️ from sampling sites, and explained nearly 60% of the variance in the observed species richness, associated with cropland🌾, forest🌳, and urban 🏙️ area LULC categories.

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Sep 4

2/4 In a truly interdisciplinary effort led by #HengZhang , we compiled fish #biodiversity 🐠 🐟 🐡 data using 🧬 #eDNA across 160,000-km2 river catchment in Thailand 🇹🇭 characterized by high biodiversity yet intense anthropogenic alterations & attributed fish diversity to terrestrial LULC 🏭 🌾 🌳 🏙️.

Reposted by Doerthe Tetzlaff

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Sep 4

Happy to see this published:
#Terrestrial #land #cover shapes #fish 🐠 🐟 🐡 #diversity in a major subtropical #river catchment.

www.nature.com/articles/s42...

#eDNA 🧬 #RS 🛰️ 🌐 🌍 @commsbio.nature.com

1/4🧵

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Sep 3

@eawag.bsky.social @romanalther.bsky.social

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Sep 3

5/5 This identifies karstic ecosystems as targets for conservation programmes & indicates they could have been possible refugia of #Pleistocene persistence. Being epicentres of genetic diversity, their protection is eminent in context of contemporary climatic changes.

Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · Sep 3

4/5 We found a significantly higher diversity in karstic aquifers and a correlation between the genetic diversity of a species and the proportion of its distribution in the karst.

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