Seminar: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Insect Ecology (Group) * But Were Afraid to Ask

This a joint seminar co-organized by the Forest Entomology group and the WSL Biodiversity Center.

The Insect Ecology Group at the Department of Ecology, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, will present their research activities and conservation measures they conduct to disentangle the mystery of insect lives and support insect biodiversity in Central Europe.

Insects represent the most dominant part of biodiversity both in terrestrial and fresh water environments. They frequently interact with other organisms in complicated ways, resulting in spectacular as well as obscure relationships. Being ectotherms, insects are seriously affected by ambient temperature, but their survival is even more seriously affected by human activities. Habitat loss and degradation are considered one of the main causes of insect decline and local extinctions. Therefore, it is meaningful to focus on habitats that are heavy influenced by human activities (e.g., agricultural landscapes and urban environments), where developing efficient measures to support insect biodiversity can make a difference. In this talk, we will introduce you diverse research activities (both published and the freshest pieces of work) and conservation measures that the Insect Ecology Group conducted to disentangle the mystery of insect lives and support insect biodiversity in Central Europe. In addition, we will provide an overview of our ongoing as well as planned research projects that can benefit from international collaboration, including optimization of agricultural landscapes, wildflower strips, regenerative agriculture, light pollution, urban parks, creation of novel habitats, species reintroductions, biodiverse solar parks, biodiverse green roofs and transport infrastructure, support of ground-nesting bees, among others.

Our public seminars are hybrid, with the option to attend in-person or online.

Zoom webinar: link (ID: 650 3334 2319, Password: 348826)

The Biodiversity Seminar Series are organized by the WSL Biodiversity Center. Every two weeks, we aim to host a seminar speaker who presents research or outreach on topics relevant to the biodiversity community at WSL. The seminars are public and are usually broadcast online.

To find out more about the WSL Biodiversity Center and a complete list of events, please visit our website. 

Please send an email to events-biodiversity(at)wsl.ch if you would like to be updated on the activities of the WSL Biodiversity Center.