| Josef Wanzenböck | |||||||||
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Senior Research Fellow and head of the Fish Ecology Group at the Institute for Limnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Mondsee, Austria (since 1999) |
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| Research | |||||||||
My research interests cover a broad spectrum of the ecology of freshwater fish in temperate lakes: Behavioural ecology:
Functional ecology:
Evolutionary ecology:
To achieve our tasks we are combining laboratory studies (behavioural, physiological and genetic analyses) with field observations on distribution, habitat use, population dynamics, trophic relationships, growth and reproduction. We use various methods like behavioural analysis, respirometry, DNA analysis, hydroacoustics and diverse netting methods to collect data on the mentioned aspects of fish ecology. |
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| Staff | |||||||||
Harald Ficker (PhD candidate): “Demographic modeling of whitefish with reference to toxins from cyanobacteria and climate change”(Project: RADICAL). Florian Keil - (MSc candidate): "Comparing two hydroacoustic analysis methods for fish abundance and biomass: Sv/TS scaling vs. fish tracking" Thomas Mario Oberlercher - (MSc candidate): "Elektrischer Laichfischfang auf Salmoniden-Auswirkungen auf die Reproduktion bei Coregonen" Stefan Mayr (lab technician) – Fish keeping, morphometry, embryonic mortality experiments. |
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| Projects | |||||||||
Organisation of the "11th Symposium on the Biology and Management of Coregonid fishes", September 26 - 30, 2011
In cooperation with: Rainer Kurmayer, Institute for Limnology and Britta Grillitsch, Aquatic Ecotoxicology Section, Department for Biomedical Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna. Population models will be generated for whitefish (Coregonus sp.) and cyanobacteria (Planktothrix rubescens) as key biota in Austrian Pre-Alpine lakes and calibrated with contemporary field data. Ecotoxicological experiments will be performed to assess the effects of cyanotoxins on demographic parameters of whitefish focusing on reproductive aspects. These models will be integrated using RAMAS (Risk Assessment and Management Alternatives Software) to assess risks of cyanobacterial blooms under future climate scenarios associated with increased production of toxins, effects on various components of the plankton community and especially on future whitefish population development considering ecotoxicological risks.
Conservation of natural biological resources in Austria: Identification of indigenous whitefish species and extent of potential hybridization with a Baltic species funded by the Austrian Science Fund (L229-B12) - in cooperation with Steven Weiss (University of Graz). Two PhD students are involved: Barbara Pamminger-Lahnsteiner (Mondsee) and Katrin Winkler (Graz).
derstandard.at: Genetisch spektakulär - Renken bleiben lieber unter sich (23.2.2011) http://derstandard.at/1297818695237/Genetisch-spektakulaer-Renken-bleiben-lieber-unter-sich The role of predation in population dynamics of 0+ whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) funded by a doc-stipendium of the Austrian Academy of Sciences awarded to Martin Finster. Integrating hydroacoustics into studies on fish populations - Cooperation project with H. Gassner (Federal Water Agency, Scharfling, Austria), T. Mehner (Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany), I.J. Winfield (Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Windermere, Great Britain), M. Godlewska (International Centre for Ecology, Warsaw, Poland), P. Frankiewicz (University of Lodz, Poland). The aim of the project is (1) to develop quality assurance protocols of hydroacoustic methods by intercalibration of results from hardware and software obtained by different manufacturers and (2) to study the applicability of hydroacoustics for analysis of distribution patterns of fish in lakes, especially of larval and juvenile stages. Trade-off between foraging and defence in young fish and plankton crustaceans: behavioural and ecological aspects – Cooperation project with V. Mikheev and A. Pasternak (Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia). We analysed to which extent threatened fish demonstrate various behavioural responses including individual (activity changes, use of refuges, variations in prey handling time) and cooperative (various schooling maneuvres) ones. We also investigated if threatened copepods respond more uniformly, either lowering their foraging (motor) activity, or undertaking diel vertical and horizontal migrations. |
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| Teaching | |||||||||
Field and laboratory courses, lecture courses and seminars in Limnology, Fish Ecology and Population Ecology at the Universities of Vienna and Salzburg. Supervisor of 12 Diploma (masters) and 5 Doctorate (PhD) students. From 1996 to 2009: lectures and pratical work in the International Post-Graduate Course in Limnology (IPGL) , Institute for Limnology, AAS, Austria. |
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| Publications | |||||||||
| 2012 Wanzenböck, J., Pamminger-Lahnsteiner, B., Winkler, K., Weiss, S. (2012): Experimental evaluation of the spawning periods in a native Alpine whitefish population versus an introduced population of whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus complex) in Mondsee, Austria. Fundamental and Applied Limnology, Fundamental and Applied Limnology, Advanc. Limnol. 63: 89-97. Pamminger-Lahnsteiner, B., Winkler, K., Weiss, S., Wanzenböck, J. (2012): Does segregated spawning time prevent the introgression of stocked whitefish species into native species? A morphometric and genetic study in Mondsee (Austria). Fundamental and Applied Limnology, Fundamental and Applied Limnology, Advanc. Limnol. 63: 197-208. 2011 Winkler, K., Pamminger-Lahnsteiner, B., Wanzenböck, J., Weiss, S. (2011): Hybridization and restricted gene flow between native and introduced stocks of Alpine whitefish (Coregonus sp.) across multiple environments. Molecular Ecology 20(3): 456-472, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2010.04961.x PDF 2010 Pamminger-Lahnsteiner, B.; Winkler, K.A. and Wanzenböck, J. (2010): Verschwinden unsere heimischen Reinanken im Mondsee durch den Besatz mit Maränen? Morphologische, genetische und experimentell-ökologische Untersuchungen, Österreichs Fischerei 63 (11/12): 300-311. 2009 Wanzenböck, J. (2009): Die Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften und ihre Rolle in der Fischforschung. Österreichs Fischerei 62, 11/12: 297-302. Pamminger-Lahnsteiner, B., Weiss, S. Winkler K., and Wanzenböck, J. (2009): Composition of native and introduced mtDNA lineages in Coregonus sp. in two Austrian lakes: evidence for spatio-temporal segregation of larvae? Hydrobiologia 632: 167-175. doi 10.1007/s10750-009-9836-3 2007 Gassner, H. & Wanzenböck, J. (2007): Application of population size structure indices to Austrian whitefish (Coregonus sp.) stocks. Fundamental and Applied Limnology. Special Issues: Advances in Limnology 60: 377-384. 2006 Wanzenböck, J., V.N. Mikheev & A.F. Pasternak (2006): Modification of 0+ perch foraging behaviour by indirect cues of predation risk. Ecology of Freshwater Fish 15:118-124. Mikheev, V.N., Wanzenböck J. & Pasternak, A.F. (2006): Effects of predator-induced visual and olfactory cues on 0+ perch (Perca fluviatilis L.) foraging behaviour. Ecology of Freshwater Fish 15:111-117. Zick, D., Gassner H., Filzmoser P., Wanzenböck, J., Pamminger-Lahnsteiner, B., & Tischler, G. (2006): Changes in the fish species composition of all Austrian lakes >50 ha during the last 150 years. Fisheries Management and Ecology 13: 103-111. 2005 Gassner, H., Wanzenböck, J., Zick, D., Tischler G. & Pamminger-Lahnsteiner B. (2005): Development of a fish based lake typology for natural Austrian Lakes > 50 ha based on the reconstructed historical fish communities. International Review of Hydrobiology 90: 422-432. Mikheev, V.N., A.F. Pasternak, Tischler, G. & Wanzenböck, J. (2005): Contestable shelters provoke aggression among 0+ perch, Perca fluviatilis. Environmental Biology of Fishes 73: 227-231. 2004 Wanzenböck, J. (2004): European Mudminnow (Umbra krameri) in the Austrian Floodplain of the River Danube: Conservation of an Indicator Species for Endangered Wetland Ecosystems in Europe. 200-207 in: Akcakaya, H. R., M.A. Burgman, O. Kindvall, C.C. Wood, P. Sjögren-Gulve, J.S. Hatfield, M.A. McCarthy (eds.): Species Conservation and Management - Case Studies, Oxford University Press, New York, pp 533. Lahnsteiner, B., Wanzenböck, J. (2004). Variability in the spatio-temporal distribution of larval European Whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus, L.) in two Austrian lakes. Annales Zoologici Fennici 41: 75-83. Gassner, H., Hassan, Y., Wanzenböck, J. (2004). Adaptive management for a whitefish population exclusively exploited by anglers – first results after a test period of four years. Annales Zoologici Fennici 41: 367-373. 2003 Wanzenböck, J., Mehner, T., Schulz, M., Gassner, H., and Winfield, I.J. (2003) Quality assurance of hydroacoustic surveys: Repeatability of fish abundance and biomass estimates in lakes within and between hydroacoustic systems. - ICES Journal of Marine Science 60: 486-492. Mehner T., Gassner, H., Schulz M. & Wanzenböck, J. (2003) Comparative fish stock estimates in Lake Stechlin by parallel split-beam echosounding with 120 kHz. Archiv für Hydrobiologie. Special issues Advances in Limnology 58: 227-236. |
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Risk Analysis of Direct and Indirect Climate effects on deep Austrian Lake Ecosystems (
The project will assess the extent and effects of introgression of an introduced whitefish species (Coregonus maraena, Bloch (1779), originating from the Baltic region) into two native whitefish species - Coregonus renke and Coregonus atterensis, Kottelat (1997). We will determine if pure native populations of whitefish still exist in the two Austrian lakes Mondsee and Hallstättersee. The analysis will be based on the study of mitochondrial DNA, as well as on methods using the microsatellite and 
the AFLP (amplified fragment length polymorphism) techniques. The interrelationship between genetic, morphological and ecological characteristics will be studied with special emphasis on the role of two contrasting mechanisms of spawning segregation (in time and space) for counteracting possible hybridization. The study will be complementedusing experimental methods (crosses) to assess hybridcompatibility, additive genetic variance of selected traits, and to establish an F 2 generation for future mapping efforts of traits of interest (e.g. in aquaculture).