Research groups

Biodiversity and Metacommunity Ecology Research Group

Head of the research group:

Horváth, Zsófia, PhD

senior research fellow

Members of the research group:

Main profile:

Habitat loss and fragmentation are among the major threats to biodiversity in the era of Anthropocene. By applying modern tools of metacommunity ecology, we aim to understand how habitat quality and the spatial configuration of habitat patches in a network jointly shape community composition and sustain biodiversity. At the local scale, we focus on the most relevant stressors, constraints imposed by the environment, and trophic relationships, together with their changes through climate change and other human influences. Our goal is to understand their interaction with spatial processes: connectivity through the dispersal of local biota and the spatial insurance provided by habitat networks. To this end, we combine empirical observations with experimental studies by using island-like habitats such as ponds (or in experiments, micro- and mesocosms), and their aquatic communities as models.

Selected publications

Hamer Andrew J.; Barta Barbara; Márton Zsuzsanna; Vad Csaba F.; Szabó Beáta; Tornero Irene; Horváth Zsófia.: Patterns and correlates in the distribution, design and management of garden ponds along an urban–rural gradient URBAN ECOSYSTEMS (2024)
2024

Barta Barbara; Szabó Attila; Szabó Beáta; Ptacnik Robert; Vad Csaba; Horváth Zsófia.: How pondscapes function: connectivity matters for biodiversity even across small spatial scales in aquatic metacommunities ECOGRAPHY, 2024 (2), Paper: e06960 (2024)
2024

Szabó, Beáta; Szabó, Attila; Vad, Csaba F.; Boros, Emil; Lukić, Dunja; Ptacnik, Robert; Márton, Zsuzsanna; Horváth, Zsófia.: Microbial stowaways: Waterbirds as dispersal vectors of aquatic pro‐ and microeukaryotic communities JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY. 49: 1286, JBI14381-
2022

Cunillera-Montcusí, David; Beklioğlu, Meryem; Cañedo-Argüelles, Miguel; Jeppesen, Erik; Ptacnik, Robert; Amorim, Cihelio A.; Arnott, Shelley E.; Berger, Stella A.; Brucet, Sandra; Dugan, Hilary A.; Gerhard, Miriam; Horváth, Zsófia; Langenheder, Silke; Nejstgaard, Jens C.; Reinikainen, Marko; Striebel, Maren; Urrutia-Cordero, Pablo; Vad, Csaba F.; Zadereev, Egor; Matias, Miguel.: Freshwater salinisation: a research agenda for a saltier world TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION. 37: 440-453
2022

Guzman, Laura Melissa; Thompson, Patrick L.; Viana, Duarte S.; Vanschoenwinkel, Bram; Horváth, Zsófia; Ptacnik, Robert; Jeliazkov, Alienor; Gascón, Stéphanie; Lemmens, Pieter; Anton‐Pardo, Maria; Langenheder, Silke; De Meester, Luc; Chase, Jonathan M.: Accounting for temporal change in multiple biodiversity patterns improves the inference of metacommunity processes ECOLOGY. 103: Paper e3683-
2022

Hamer, Andrew J.; Barta, Barbara; Bohus, Attila; Gál, Blanka; Schmera, Dénes.: Roads reduce amphibian abundance in ponds across a fragmented landscape GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION. 28: -
2021

Hamer Andrew J.; Barta Barbara; Márton Zsuzsanna; Vad Csaba F.; Szabó Beáta; Tornero Irene; Horváth Zsófia.: Patterns and correlates in the distribution, design and management of garden ponds along an urban–rural gradient URBAN ECOSYSTEMS (2024)
2024

Barta Barbara; Szabó Attila; Szabó Beáta; Ptacnik Robert; Vad Csaba; Horváth Zsófia.: How pondscapes function: connectivity matters for biodiversity even across small spatial scales in aquatic metacommunities ECOGRAPHY, 2024 (2), Paper: e06960 (2024)
2024

Szabó, Beáta; Szabó, Attila; Vad, Csaba F.; Boros, Emil; Lukić, Dunja; Ptacnik, Robert; Márton, Zsuzsanna; Horváth, Zsófia.: Microbial stowaways: Waterbirds as dispersal vectors of aquatic pro‐ and microeukaryotic communities JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY. 49: 1286, JBI14381-
2022

Cunillera-Montcusí, David; Beklioğlu, Meryem; Cañedo-Argüelles, Miguel; Jeppesen, Erik; Ptacnik, Robert; Amorim, Cihelio A.; Arnott, Shelley E.; Berger, Stella A.; Brucet, Sandra; Dugan, Hilary A.; Gerhard, Miriam; Horváth, Zsófia; Langenheder, Silke; Nejstgaard, Jens C.; Reinikainen, Marko; Striebel, Maren; Urrutia-Cordero, Pablo; Vad, Csaba F.; Zadereev, Egor; Matias, Miguel.: Freshwater salinisation: a research agenda for a saltier world TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION. 37: 440-453
2022

Guzman, Laura Melissa; Thompson, Patrick L.; Viana, Duarte S.; Vanschoenwinkel, Bram; Horváth, Zsófia; Ptacnik, Robert; Jeliazkov, Alienor; Gascón, Stéphanie; Lemmens, Pieter; Anton‐Pardo, Maria; Langenheder, Silke; De Meester, Luc; Chase, Jonathan M.: Accounting for temporal change in multiple biodiversity patterns improves the inference of metacommunity processes ECOLOGY. 103: Paper e3683-
2022

Hamer, Andrew J.; Barta, Barbara; Bohus, Attila; Gál, Blanka; Schmera, Dénes.: Roads reduce amphibian abundance in ponds across a fragmented landscape GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION. 28: -
2021

Márton Zsuzsanna; Szabó Beáta; Vad Csaba F.; Pálffy Károly; Horváth Zsófia.: Environmental changes associated with drying climate are expected to affect functional groups of pro- and microeukaryotes differently in temporary saline waters SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 13 : 1 Paper: 3243 (2023)
2023

Gallery

Projects

A konnektivitásvesztés hatása a biodiverzitásra kísérletes metaközösségekben

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Planned duration: 2019-2024
Amount of support: 39.204.000 Ft
Read more

AQUACOSM-Plus: Network of Leading Ecosystem Scale Experimental AQUAtic MesoCOSM Facilities Connecting Rivers, Lakes, Estuaries and Oceans in Europe and beyond

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Vad, Csaba
Planned duration: 2020-2024
Amount of support: 244.750 EUR
Read more

National Multidisciplinary Laboratory for Climate Change

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Horváth, Zsófia
Planned duration: 2022-2026
Amount of support: 268 920 000 Ft
Read more