Department of Ecology and Vertebrate Zoology

Head: Prof. Andrzej Kruk

Research Topics

• The role of fish as indicators of environmental degradation and as regulators of biological processes; assessment of long-term changes in fish assemblages
• Monitoring of ichthyofauna in river systems and oxbow lakes
• Monitoring, ecology and biology of selected European species of lampreys, fish, amphibians, reptiles and birds
• Biology of tropical species of fish, amphibians and reptiles
• Ecology and impact of invasive fish species
• Fish foraging strategies; partitioning of their trophic niches based on habitat preferences of prey
• Ecological niche modelling and climate-based distribution projections of fish species
• Assessment of water quality based on physico-chemical parameters and assemblages of invertebrates and fish
• Composition, structure and productivity of Chironomidae insect assemblages in lowland rivers
• Morphological deformities in insect larvae as an indicator of water quality
• Ecology of caddisflies (Trichoptera) and their adaptive abilities in response to anthropogenic transformations of aquatic environments
• Genomics of fish, amphibian and bird populations
• Aging – its origin and evolution in fish
• Behavior of dogs and primates
• Impact of biotic and abiotic factors on the occurrence and distribution of protected species
• Interspecies interactions
• Mathematical modeling in ecology and biology

Teaching

The department’s staff participate in teaching programs (lectures, seminars, discussions, laboratory and field exercises, specialized workshops, e-learning courses) in undergraduate and graduate studies, covering a broad range of topics in ecology, vertebrate zoology, hydrobiology and environmental protection in the following fields of study:

• Biology
• Environmental protection
• Biotechnology
• Biomonitoring and ecological biotechnologies
• EcoCity

The department also supervises M.Sc. and Ph.D. theses across the above research areas.

Honorary Staff

• Prof. Marina Piria

Journal Editors

• Journal of Vertebrate Biology – Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Carl Smith

Scientific projects:

• NCN – OPUS – UMO-2024/53/B/NZ8/00210 – The eco-evolutionary dynamics of an adaptive radiation; Principal Investigator: Prof. Carl Smith; Researchers: Dr hab. Grzegorz Zięba, Dr Eliza Szczerkowska-Majchrzak (project duration: 2025-2028)
• NCN – OPUS – UMO- 2024/55/B/NZ8/02767 – PIERISADAPT: The influences of local evolutionary history and ecology on diversification and adaptation to a changing environment in a young, hybridizing butterfly species complex; Principal Investigator: Dr Richard Bailey (project duration: 2025-2028)
• ROPME (Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment, Kuwait) – Non-native invasive species in the ROPME Sea Area – screening tools and assessment methodology;  Principal Investigator: Prof. Lorenzo Vilizzi  (project duration: 2025-2026)
• KE – Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions – HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01, Project 101105250 – PROSPER – Predicting the ecological and evolutionary consequences of barriers and fish passes in Europe’s rivers; Fellow: Dr Dagmara Błońska (project duration: 2023-2025)
• NCN – SONATA – UMO-2021/43/D/NZ8/01704 – The role of symbiotic bacteria in chemical signaling in reptilian host species; Principal Investigator: Dr hab. Alejandro Ibáñez Ricomá (project duration: 2022-2026)
• NCN – OPUS – UMO-2021/41/B/NZ8/02567 – Does coevolutionary dynamics generate population-specific responses to invasive species? Principal Investigator: Prof. Martin Reichard (project duration: 2022-2026)
• NCN – SONATA – UMO-2020/39/D/NZ8/02399 – EXILE – EXobIoLogy on Earth; Principal Investigator: Prof. Philippe Kok (project duration: 2021-2025)
• NCN – POLONEZ – UMO-2016/21/P/NZ8/03919 – Convergent evolution in the threespine stickleback; Project co-funded by the Horizon 2020 program under Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (COFUND); Principal Investigator: Prof. Carl Smith; Researcher: Prof. Mirosław Przybylski (project duration: 2017-2019)
• NCN – OPUS – UMO-2015/19/B/ST10/02167 – Application of artificial neural networks and image recognition methods for a comprehensive catchment analysis of the impact of anthropogenic chemical and microbiological pollution on water resource quality; Principal Investigator: Dr hab. Edyta Kiedrzyńska; Researcher: Prof. Andrzej Kruk (project duration: 2016-2019)
• Development and implementation of risk assessment tools for non-native aquatic taxa (International project); UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, CEFAS – Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Sciences, Lowestoft, UK; Researcher: Prof. Lorenzo Vilizzi (2004-2022)
• NCN – SONATA – UMO-2011/01/D/NZ8/01807 – Biology traits of pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus favouring its invasion in the context of predictable climate change; Principal Investigator: Dr hab. Grzegorz Zięba (project duration: 2011-2016)
• NCN/MNiSW – N N 304 023 240 – Assessment of bioaccumulation of selected metals in benthic invertebrates (Chironomidae ) with various environmental adaptations; Principal Investigator: Prof. Małgorzata Dukowska (project duration: 2011-2016)
• NCN/MNiSW – N304 305 140 – Threats and long-term changes (1963-2013) in the fish fauna of the Warta River due to anthropogenic stressors and the impact of invasive species; Principal Investigator: Prof. Andrzej Kruk (project duration: 2011-2016)
  
  

Collaboration with international and national partners

• Croatia, Zagreb, University of Zagreb
• Czechia, Brno, Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the Czech Academy of Sciences
• China, Kunming, Yunnan University
• China, Shanghai, Shanghai Natural History Museum
• China, Wuhan/Pekin, Chinese Academy of Sciences / University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
• Finland, Helsinki, University of Helsinki
• France, Toulouse, Université Paul Sabatier
• Germany, Giessen, Justus Liebig University
• Germany, Munich, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU)
• Japan, Mie, Mie University
• Japan, Tokio, University of Tokyo, University Museum
• Latvia, Daugavpils, Daugavpils University
• Norway, Oslo, University of Oslo
• Romania, Sibiu, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu
• Slovakia, Bratislava, Comenius University in Bratislava
• Türkiye, Muğla, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University
• UK, Bournemouth, Bournemouth University
• UK, Edinburgh, University of Edinburgh
  
• UK, London, The Natural History Museum
• UK, Lowestoft, Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS)
• UK, Nottingham, Nottingham Trent University
• UK, Nottingham, University of Nottingham
• UK, Wallingford, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
• Ukraine, Odesa, Institute of Marine Biology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
• Ukraine, Kyiv, Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
• Ukraine, Kyiv, Institute of Hydrobiology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
• Ukraine, Kyiv, Institute of Fisheries, Marine Ecology and Oceanography
• Ukraine, Ostroh, Derman-Ostroh National Nature Park
• USA, Delaware, Ohio Weseyan University
• USA, Tallahassee, Florida State University
  
  
• National Marine Fisheries Research Institute
• Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Faculty of Biology
• Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Institute of Biology
• University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Faculty of Animal Bioengineering
• University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology
• University of Wrocław, Museum of Natural History, Faculty of Biological Sciences