VDSEE Symposium 2025

The VDSEE Symposium 2025, organized by the Vienna Doctoral School of Ecology and Evolution, took place on 21 February 2025 at the University of Vienna’s Biology Building (Hörsaal 1). Now in its second year, the symposium serves as a platform for PhD candidates to present their work, exchange ideas, and build networks across diverse research fields in ecology and evolution. The event featured oral and poster presentations, two keynote lectures, and networking opportunities with fellow researchers, faculty members, and invited experts.

Symposium Highlights

The day began with a welcome address and registration, followed by two keynote talks. Annika Guse from LMU Munich presented on symbiosis as a mechanism for adaptation, using Aiptasia as a model organism, while Hassan Salem from the MPI for Biology in Tübingen explored mutualistic interactions and how symbiosis facilitates adaptation in insects. Oral presentation sessions covered a wide range of topics, including species evolution, plant ecology, microbial interactions, and conservation biology, showcasing ongoing research across different disciplines. The poster sessions in the foyer behind Hörsaal 1 provided an interactive space for discussing research findings, with attendees exchanging ideas and feedback directly with presenters. 

Research Contributions from Our Group

Our group was well represented at the symposium, contributing to discussions on species interactions, plant community dynamics, and invasion ecology. Ekin Kaplan presented his literature review on local plant community change, in which he analyzed re‐surveyed vegetation plots from diverse habitats to assess how factors like climate change and land-use alterations drive shifts in species richness and composition at the local scale. His work provided a detailed synthesis of existing studies and highlighted key trends and gaps in our understanding of local biodiversity dynamics.

Ekin Kaplan presenting a literature review on local plant community changes

Pablo Aycart-Lazo presenting his research on bat conservation

Pablo Aycart-Lazo presented research on landscape effects on bat conservation in Amazonian agricultural areas. His study investigated how variables such as landscape tree cover, edge density, and habitat fragmentation in cacao agroforests influence bat community composition, functional diversity, and phylogenetic diversity, using both field measurements and model projections to assess future scenarios under land-use change.

Krystof Chytry held a talk on the future of alpine plants with his presentation "Will alpine plants make it into the next century?" He examined how changing climatic conditions and microclimate heterogeneity in the Austrian Alps affect elevational distribution and niche availability, addressing the challenges alpine species face in adapting to rapid environmental changes and the potential risks of mountaintop extinction.

Krystof Chytry presenting his research of austrian alpine plants

My Presentation: Ninety Years of Alien Species Accumulation

I presented my work as a poster titled “Ninety Years of Alien Species Accumulation in Arable Fields in Central Europe”. This study, based on the AgriWeedClim database, analyzed 21,747 vegetation plots collected from 1930 to 2019 to track how alien plant species have spread over time.

Me (Gilles Colling) presenting a poster at VDSEE Symposium 2025

Using generalized linear mixed-effect models, I examined trends in the percentage of invaded plots, the proportion of alien species, and their relative abundance. The findings showed a significant increase in neophytes, while archaeophytes exhibited only minor changes.

During the poster session, I had the chance to discuss these results with colleagues and receive valuable feedback on refining the modeling framework. The symposium provided an excellent opportunity to engage with researchers working on similar topics and explore how historical datasets like AgriWeedClim can be used to understand long-term ecological changes.

For more details about the symposium, visit the official program.