Prof. Dr. Niklaus Zimmermann

Anstellung und Verantwortung

Forschungsinteressen

In meiner Forschung zu Makroökologie, Biodiversität, Evolution und der Ökologie von Lebensgemeinschaften untersuche ich Muster und Prozesse entlang räumlicher, ökologischer und zeitlicher Skalen. Dabei erforsche ich taxonomische, phylogenetische und funktionale Zusammenhänge der Biodiversität, abiotische und biotische Grundlagen der Entwicklung von Lebensgemeinschaften, und Prozesse, welche die heutige und zukünftige Struktur der Biodiversität beeinflussen.

Meist dienen Pflanzen und Vegetation als Untersuchungsobjekte, weniger oft sind es Tiere oder Tier-Pflanzeninteraktionen. Ich fokussiere dabei stark auf statistische Analysen, benutze aber auch dynamische ökologische Modelle, sowie Phylogenien der untersuchten Artengruppen.

Publikationsstatistik

Ausbildung und berufliche Erfahrung

Akademische Ausbildung

Wissenschaftliche Erfahrung

Akademische Auszeichnungen

Berufliche Aktivitäten

Betreuung von Postdocs, PhD, MSc und wiss. Gästen

Ich bin seit vielen Jahren involviert in die Betreuung von Student:innen auf Master und PhD Ebene und ich betrachte dies Betreuung von Jungforschenden als eine meiner Stärken. An der Universität Bern habe ich als Assistent Duzende Studierende auf Master und PhD Niveau im Hinblick auf Design und Planung ihrer Arbeiten, ihrer Feldarbeit und in statistischer Analyse angeleitet (bis 1996). Im Folgenden liste ich nur Studierende auf, welche ich als Hauptbetreuer oder Mentor angeleitet habe, oder für welche ich als Referent fungiert habe. Mehrere PhD und Postdoc Studierende, die ich in den letzten Jahren als Hauptbetreuer angeleitet habe, sind mittlerweile als Professor:innen berufen worden (Stefan Leyk, Geography Dept., University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA; Benjamin Poulter, Dept. of Ecology, University of Montana, Bozeman, MT, USA (now Univ. Maryland & NASA); Jed O. Kaplan, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland (now Univ. Hong Kong); Signe Normand, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus, Denmark; Peter B. Pearman, Univ. of Basque Countries, Spain; Damaris Zurell, Faculty of Maths & Natural Sciences, Univ. Potsdam. Zhen Zhang is currently negotiating a professorship with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China). Diese Studierenden und Postdocs haben je mindestens 2 Jahre in meinem Lab und unter meiner Leitung verbracht. Ich hatte daher einen entsprechend klaren Einfluss auf ihre Karriere. Zwei der ehemaligen PhDs und Postdocs mit etablierter Professur sind Frauen, und drei haben mein Lab direkt für eine Professur verlassen.

Postdocs und wiss. Gäste

Hauptverantwortung für wissenschaftliche Betreuung

Ogundipe, Dami, 2021-2025. Assessing and designing blue-green conservation strategies for the 21st Century in Switzerland. PhD Thesis at ETH Zürich. Funding: ETH Domain Board.

Borsien, Franco, 2021-2022. Risk Prognosis for Ink Disease in Switzerland. MSc Thesis at ETH Zürich, with A. S.Propero & D. Schmatz, WSL.

Yuan, Zili, 2020-2024. Drivers of taxonomic and phylogenetic biodiversity turnover in the Hengduan Mountains, China. PhD Thesis at ETH Zürich, with Prof. Dr. L. Pellissier. Funding: ETH+.

Liu, Yi, 2020-2024. Global comparison of the drivers of mountain biodiversity. PhD Thesis at ETH Zürich, with Prof. Dr. L. Pellissier. Funding: CSC, WSL & ETH.

Flükiger, Lea, 2020. Analysing the effect of new soil maps on tree species distribution modelling. MSc Thesis at ETH Zürich, with A. Baltensweiler, WSL.

Füglister, Beat, 2020. Modelling the global carbon storage in forests. MSc Thesis at ETH Zürich, with A. Baltensweiler, WSL.

Chauvier, Yohann, 2017-2021. Effects of Climate and its Change on Phylogenetic, Functional and Species Diversity. PhD Thesis at ETH Zürich. Funding: SNSF.

Stamm, Manuel, 2018-2019. Assessing Climate Change Impacts on the Vegetation of the Canton of Zurich. MSc Thesis at ETH Zürich, Switzerland.

Saladin, Bianca, 2014-2020. Phylogenetic biodiversity turnover in geographical and environmental space. PhD Thesis at ETH Zürich, Switzerland. Funding: SNSF.

Saladin, Bianca, 2012-2013. Niche and trait evolution in Pinus. MSc Thesis at the Institute of Systematic Botany of the University of Zurich, Switzerland, with Prof. Dr. E Conti.

Lieske, Reimo, 2009-2010. Modelling the potential distribution of Kt. Zürich invasive plants. MSc Thesis at the University of Salzburg, Austria.

Meier, Eliane Seraina, 2008-2011. Modelling spatial dynamics of plant distribution – Implementation of biotic interactions and migration improves large-scale projections of species distributions during climate and land-use change. PhD Thesis at ETH Zürich, with Prof. Dr. F. Kienast. Funding: EU-FP6 Project ECOCHANGE.

Wüest, Rafael, 2007-2008. Evaluating the niche stability in the genus Carex. MSc Thesis at the University of Zurich together with Prof. H.P. Linder.

Steinmann, Katharina, 2004-2008. Testing basic assumptions of species richness hypotheses using plant species distribution data. PhD Thesis at the University of Zürich, with Prof. Dr. H.P. Linder. Funding: EU-FP6 Project IntraBioDiv.

Psomas, Achilleas, 2004-2008. Hyperspectral remote sensing for ecological analyses of grassland ecosystems – spectral separability and derivation of NPP related biophysical and biochemical parameters. PhD Thesis at the University of Zürich, with Prof. Dr. K. Itten. Funding: BAFU.

Mathys, Lukas, 2004-2007. Hyperspectral remote sensing for ecological analyses of grassland ecosystems - spectral separability and derivation of NPP-related biophysical and biochemical parameters. PhD Thesis at the University of Lausanne, with Prof. Dr.A. Guisan. Funding: WSL/BAFU.

Gellrich, Mario, 2002-2007. Modelling agricultural land abandonment and forest regeneration in the Swiss mountains. PhD Thesis at the University of Freiburg, Germany, with Prof. Dr. B. Koch. Funding: SNF-NFP48.

Gehrig-Fasel, Jacqueline, 2002-2007. Treeline and climate change: analyzing and modeling patterns and shifts in the Swiss Alps. PhD Thesis at the University of Lausanne, with Prof. Dr. A. Guisan. Funding: WSL/BAFU.

Rutherford, Gillian, 2002-2006. The use of land-use statistics to investigate large-scale successional processes. PhD Thesis at ETH Zürich, with Prof. Dr. P.J. Edwards. Funding: NFP48.

Rickebusch, Sophie, 2002-2006. Modelling tree population dynamics at the Alpine and Boreal tree-line ecotones in response to climate and land-use change. PhD Thesis at the University of Lausanne, with Prof. Dr.A. Guisan. Funding: EU-FP5 Project PINE.

Komitee-Mitglied mit signifikantem Input

Flückiger, Georg, 2022. Assessment of the spread and management of three invasive species in the canton of Grisons, Switzerland. MSc Thesis at ETH Zürich. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. J. Alexander. Chang, Yaquan, 2020-2024. Macroevolution – Disentangling the drivers of plant speciation in the Hengduan Mts, China. PhD Thesis at ETH Zürich. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. L. Pellissier. Funding: ETH+. Lyu, Lisha 2018-2022. Analyzing the determinants of global tree distributions. PhD Thesis at ETH Zürich. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. L. Pellissier. Funding: CSC & ETH. Mo, Lidong, 2017-2021. Modelling the global carbon storage in forests. PhD Thesis at ETH Zürich. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Thomas Crowther. Ringelberg, Jens, 2015-2020. Climate-niche evolution and relationships in Mimosoideae. PhD Thesis at the University of Zürich. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. C. Hughes. Funding: SNF. Cabrera, Victoria, 2015-2020. Unravelling ecological and macroevolutionary drivers of the evolution of biodiversity in Lupinus. PhD Thesis at the University of Zürich. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. C. Hughes. Funding: SNF. Righetti, Damiano, 2015-2019. Working title: Global ptterns and drivers of marine phytoplankton diversity. PhD Thesis at ETH Zürich. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. N. Gruber. Funding: ETH. Taleshi, Hamid, 2015-2019. Climate Change Impacts on Tree Species Distribution in Central Hyrcanian Forests of Iran. PhD Thesis at University of Tarbiat Modares, Iran. Chala Gelete, Desalegn, 2011-2016. Working title: Climate change and niche evolution in the African High Mountain Flora – Implications for adaptation to climate change. PhD Thesis at the University of Oslo. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. C. Brochmann. Hurdu, Bogdan-Iuliu, 2009-2012. Areas of endemism in the Carpathians and in the Alps. PhD Thesis at the Institute of Biological Research (IBC), Cluj, Romania. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. V. Christea. Funding: IBC. Wüest, Raphael, 2009-2012. Niche evolution in Southern Hemisphere Graminoid species. PhD Thesis at the University of Zürich. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. H.P. Linder. Funding: SNF-Sinergia. Huber, Silvia, 2003-2008. Estimation of Ecologically Relevant Land Cover Variables from Imaging Spectroscopy. PhD Thesis at the University of Zürich. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. K. Itten. Funding: SNF. Leyk, Stefan, 2002-2005. Computing the past – utilizing historical data sources for map-based retrospective landscape research. PhD Thesis at the University of Zürich. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. R. Weibel. Funding: BAFU. Cunningham, Catherine, 2001-2006. Growth of Norway spruce saplings: Exploring the influence of spring conditions through observation, experiment, and model simulation. PhD Thesis at ETH Zürich. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. H. Bugmann. Funding: ETHZ.

Referent für folgende PhD-/MSc- Arbeiten

Simensen, Trond. Mapping and analysis of landscape diversity. PhD Thesis at the University of Oslo, Norway. Supervisor: Prof. R. Hallvorsen. Gaul, Wilsson. Predicting species distributions in Ireland using biological records datasets with a range of spatial biases and sampling intensities. PhD Thesis at the University College Dublin, Ireland. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. J. Yearsley. Macek, Martin. Patterns and processes in the spatial distribution of plant species across scales. PhD Thesis at the Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science in Prague, Czech Republic. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. J. Wild. Smycka, Jan, 2018. Evolutionary history and diversification of flora of the Alps. PhD Thesis at the University of Grenoble-Alpes. Supervisors: Dr. S. Lavergne & PD Dr. W. Thuiller. Weigand, Anna, 2017. Large-scale fern diversity patterns. PhD Thesis at the Univ. Zürich, Switzerland. Supervisor: Dr. Michael Kessler. Clark, Charles Daniel 2017. Realised Niche Shifts, Rapid Evolution and Phenotypic Plasticity in Introduced Plants. PhD Thesis at the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. S. Hartley. Loran, Christin, 2017. Exploring long-term forest cover changes and their driving forces in Switzerland (1850-2000). PhD Thesis at ETH Zürich. Supervisor: PD Dr. M. Bürgi. Carlson, Bradley Z., 2016. Understanding spatial patterns of diversity and productivity in alpine plant communities: application of high-resolution imagery in the French Alps. PhD Thesis at the University of Grenoble, France. Supervisors: Dr. P. Choler & PD Dr. W. Thuiller. Vissault, Steve, 2016. Biogéographie et dynamique de la forêt tempérée nordique dans un contexte de changements climatiques. MSc Thesis at the Université du Québec à Rimouski, Canada. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. D. Gravel. Støa, Bente, 2014. Exploring the value of museum data for use in species distribution modeling: data limitations and how to tackle them. PhD Thesis at the University of Oslo, Norway. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. R. Halvorsen. Pfeiffer, Mirjam, 2013. Modeling Terrestrial Paleo-biogeochemistry – Linking Fire, Biochemistry, Humans and Climate. PhD Thesis at EPF Lausanne, Switzerland. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. J.O. Kaplan. Sutcliffe, Patricia Ruth, 2013. Biological and Environmental Surrogates for Ecology and Conservation. PhD Thesis at the University of Queensland, Australia. Supervisors: Prof. Dr. H. Possingham and Dr. C.R. Pitcher. Boulangeat, Isabelle, 2012. A spatially explicit and model-based vulnerability analysis of mountain ecosystems to global change – implications for conservation. PhD Thesis at the University of Grenoble, France. Supervisor: PD Dr. W. Thuiller. Piedallu, Christian, 2012. Spatialisation du bilan en eau des sols pour caractériser la distribution et la croissance des espèces forestières dans un contexte de changement climatique. PhD Thesis at the University of Nancy, France. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. J.-C. Gégout. Maggini, Ramona, 2011. Species distribution models for conservation-oriented studies in Switzerland: filling data and tool gaps. PhD Thesis at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. A. Guisan. Normand, Signe, 2010. Macroecological perspectives on the European plant species’ ranges: past – presence – future. PhD Thesis at the University of Aarhus, Denmark. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. J.-C. Svenning. Hanspach, Jan, 2010. Assessing the influence of global change on plant species distribution using statistical models. PhD Thesis at the University of Halle, Germany. Supervisor: Dr. I. Kühn. Cabral, Juliano Sarmento, 2010. Demographic processes determining the range dynamics of plant species, and their consequences for biodiversity maintenance in the face of environmental change. PhD Thesis at the University of Potsdam, Germany. Supervisor: Dr. F. Schurr. Albert, Cécile, 2009. Variabilité fonctionelle intraspécifique: quantifcation in situ et implications dans une vallée alpine. University of Grenoble, France. PhD Thesis at the University of Grenoble, France. Supervisor: PD Dr. W. Thuiller. Bakkestuen, Vegar, 2009. GIS as a tool for studying temporal and spatial patterns in Norwegian ecosystems across disciplines and scales. PhD Thesis at the University of Oslo, Norway. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. R. Hallvorsen. Broennimann, Olivier, 2008. Niche-based models in biogeography & conservation biology: how far can we go to assess the impacts of global change? University of Lausanne. PhD Thesis at the Supervisor: Prof. Dr. A.Guisan. Rohrer, Lukas, 2006. Mortalität von Einzelbäumen auf Lothar-Sturmflächen und in den umgebenden Bestandes-rändern: Beobachtete Raten und mögliche Einflussfaktoren auf sechs Flächen des schweizerischen Mittellands. MSc Thesis at ETH Zürich. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. H. Bugmann. Franc, Erika, 2006. Model-based stratified sampling of rare species. MSc Thesis at the University of Lausanne. Supervisor: Prof. Antoine Guisan. Dessimoz, Florian, 2006. Invasive potential of the Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) in the Western Swiss Alps and implications for management. MSc Thesis at the University of Lausanne. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. A. Guisan. Vuissoz, Grégoire, 2005. Introducing process-based disturbance variables in predictive models of plant distribution. MSc Thesis at the University of Lausanne. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. A. Guisan. Milleret, Roxanne, 2004. Modelling the impact of climate change on the distribution of plant species along a wide elevation gradient. MSc Thesis at the University of Lausanne. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. A. Guisan. DiStefani, Lorenzo, 2004. Modéliser la distribution spatiale de la richesse spécifique et des communautés végétales dans les Préalpes vaudoises. MSc Thesis at the University of Lausanne. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. A. Guisan. Engler, Robin, 2004. Coupling GLM and Cellular Automaton in a dynamic approach to simulate plant migration and distribution under climatic changes: the MIGRATOR model. MSc Thesis at the University of Lausanne. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. A. Guisan. Wyler, Nicolas, 2003. Analyse du paysage et richesse spécifique. PhD Thesis at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. Supervisors: Dr. J.-P. Theurillat & Prof. Dr. R. Spichiger. Patraw Van Niel, Kimberly, 2003. Geographical Issues in Predictive Vegetation Modelling: Error and Uncertainty in GIS Data, Methods and Models. PhD Thesis at the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Supervisors: Prof. Dr. M.P. Austin.

Wissenschaftlicher Unterricht und Keynote Vorträge

From 1989 to 1996 I have been teaching practicals and theoretical lessons on an annual basis mainly in the domain of vegetation ecology at the University of Bern. Some of these courses I have designed myself (vegetation ecology II; concepts and theories in vegetation ecology; statistical analyses of vegetation data). Since 2000, I teach at various universities in the domain of landscape ecology and ecological modelling.

Unterrichtete Kurse

Keynote-Vorträge

Zimmermann NE, 2022. Invited plenary lecture to the joint annual meeting of the “British Ecological Society” (BES) and the “Royal Meterological Society of England” (RMetS) on “Climate science for ecological forecasting”, London, Great Britain, 6.2021 (under evaluation).

Zimmermann NE, 2022. Invited introductory lecture to the annual meeting of the “Forum Forestier Lémanique”, the forester’s society of the Lac Leman region, organized at the Monastère Notre-Dame des Voirons, Boëge, France, 13.5.2020 (postponed due to Covid-19).

Zimmermann NE, 2019. Plant range re-adjustments from climate change – insights from models and observations. Invited plenary talk at the International Conference on “Cur¬rent and Emerging Topics in Global Change Ecology of Plants” & the 7th Evolutionary Ecology Forum, held at the University of Taizhou, China, 1.-3.11.2019.

Zimmermann NE, 2019. Species distribution models – history, state-of-art and challenges. Invited session introductory talk given at the US-IALE, Fort Collins, 7.-11.4.2019.

Zimmermann NE, 2018. Species distribution models – state-of-art and challenges. Invited plenary talk given at the GMBA/gloBIODISCOVERY – organized symposium on spe¬cies distribution modelling and remote sensing, held at the University of Zürich, 5-7.2.2018.

Zimmermann NE, 2017. Global change and tree distribution – local to global perspectives. Invited plenary talk held at initiating international symposium of the Swiss Forest Lab, Swiss Fed. Research Inst. WSL, Switzerland, 5. September 2017.

Zimmermann NE, 2016. Klimawandel und Standorteignung von Waldbäumen. Invited ple¬nary talk held at "WSL Forum für Wissen 2016", Swiss Fed. Research Inst. WSL, Swit¬zerland, 29. November 2016.

Zimmermann NE, 2016. Matching response and predictor variables in species distribution models - issues of (up-)scaling. Invited plenary talk held at "Summerschool of the Doc¬toral Program in Ecology and Evolution", University of Lausanne, Switzerland, 11. No¬vember 2016.

Zimmermann NE, 2015. Climate change & range shifts in European trees and Alpine plants. Invited plenary talk held at the Forestry University of Beijing, China, 8. November 2015.

Zimmermann NE, 2015. Climate change & range shifts in European trees and Alpine plants. Invited plenary talk held at the "Senkenberg Seminar", Senkenberg Institute and University of Frankfurt, Germany, 15. October 2015.

Zimmermann NE, 2015. Scaling species and biodiversity from plots to landscapes and back. Invited plenary talk held at the "Nancy-Freiburg-Zurich Summerschool", Rieder¬alp, Switzerland, 26. August 2015.

Zimmermann NE, 2015. Global change & biodiversity shifts in European forests and Alpine grasslands. Invited plenary talk held at the "James W. Merchant, Jr., Memorial Workshop", IALE 2015, Portland, USA, 5. July 2015.

Zimmermann NE, 2015. Climate change & range shifts in European trees and Alpine plants. Invited plenary talk held at the "YoMos Annual Workshop", Lachen, Switzerland, 8. May 2015.

Zimmermann NE, 2015. Climate change & range shifts in European trees and Alpine plants - learning from the past to model the future. Invited plenary talk held at the "AK Biogeography annual meeting", Basel, Switzerland, 7. May 2015.

Zimmermann NE, 2015. Mapping and modelling plants from environmental and remote sensing predictors. Invited plenary talk held at the "ForBioSensing // LIFE+ Kickoff Meeting", Warsaw, Poland, 29. January 2015.

Zimmermann NE, 2014. Climate Change & Range Shifts in European Trees - with a focus on the Alps. Invited plenary talk held at the International "Swiss Climate Summerschool", Grindelwald, Switzerland, 3. September 2014.

Zimmermann NE, 2014. Climate Change & Range Shifts in European Trees - with a focus on the Alps. Invited seminar talk held at the Institute on Ecosystems, Montana State University, Bozeman, USA, 18. August 2014.

Zimmermann NE, 2014. Models of growth potential and habitat suitability give partly divergent answers to climate change impact assessments. Invited seminar talk held at the Institute of Applied Ecology, CAS, Shenyang, China, 30. June 2014.

Zimmermann NE, 2014. Climate Change & Range Shifts in European Trees - with a focus on the Alps. Invited seminar talk held at Peking University, Beijing, China, 27. June 2014.

Zimmermann NE, 2014. Climate Change & Range Shifts in European Trees - with a focus on the Alps. Invited seminar talk held at the Kunming Institute of Botany, Kunming, China, 20. June 2014.

Zimmermann NE, 2014. Adaptability and Stability of European forests in relation to biodiversity and expected climate change impacts. Invited plenary talk held at the "FunDiv" workshop, Freiburg, Germany, 10. June 2014.

Zimmermann NE, 2014. "Mobilität von Pflanzen und Vegetation am Beispiel der Alpen und Mitteleuropas" (Mobility of plants and vegetation with examples from the Alps and Central Europe). Invited session talk held at the "NATUR" Annual Congress, Basel, Switzerland, 21. February 2014.

Zimmermann NE, 2013. Modelling Climate Change Impacts on Vegetation and Biodiversity. Invited plenary talk held at the "Plant Science Center" Annual Symposium, Zürich, Switzerland, 8. November 2013.

Zimmermann NE, 2013. Climate Change & Range Shifts in Europe, the European Alps and the Carpathians. Invited plenary talk held at the "Biogeography of the Carpathians" International Symposium, Krakow, Poland, 27. September 2013.

Zimmermann NE, Psomas A & Normand S, 2013. Models of growth potential and habitat suitability give partly divergent answers to climate change impact assessments. Invited talk and session opening held at the "ClimTree 2013" International Symposium, Zürich, Switzerland, 4. September 2013.

Zimmermann NE, 2013. Climate Change and Range Shifts in European Trees – with a focus in the Alps. Invited seminar talk held at the Institute of Botany Seminar, Vienna, Austria, 22. April 2013.

Zimmermann NE, 2013. Climate Change and Range Shifts in Plants of the European Alps. Invited talk to the “Biosphere” session at the „Moutains under Watch 2013“ conference held in Bard, Valle di Aosta, Italy, 20-21. February, 2013.

Zimmermann NE, 2013. Projecting species ranges at large spatial scales. Invited plenary talk held at the Plenary IBS Symposium "Predicting species and biodiversity in a warmer world: are we doing a good job?" held in Miami, FL, USA, 9-12. January 2013.

Zimmermann NE, 2012. Climate Scenarios and Climate Envelopes for Major Tree Species – Climate effects on shifts in range and ha-bitat suitability of tree species of the Alps. Invited plenary talk held at the MANFRED Final Conference held in Rome, Italy, 28. June 2012.

Zimmermann NE, 2012. Climate Change and Biome Shifts - Tree species responses to global change in Europe. Invited plenary talk held at the "Tackling Climate Change: the contribution of forest scientific knowledge" Conference held in Tours, France, 21-24. May 2012.

Zimmermann NE, 2011. Possible Futures of European trees - an assessment of global change effectson forests and landscapes using data, models and model experiments. Invited presentation given to the seminar of the Institute of Applied Sciences, Shenyang, China, 11. May 2011.

Zimmermann NE, 2011. Possible futures of European mountains – an assessment of global change effects on forests and landscapes using data, models and model experiments. Invited plenary talk given to the ECOVEG Symposium, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1. April 2011.

Zimmermann NE, 2010. Possible Futures of European trees - a model-based assessment of global change impacts on trees and forest landscapes with an example bias towards the Alps. Invited presentation given to the "NORA Summerschool" Sandbjerg, Denmark, 3. August 2010.

Zimmermann NE, 2010. Overview of species distribution modelling - Conceptual and Theoretical Aspects forPredicting Species Range Patterns. Invited presentation given to the "NORA Summerschool" Sandbjerg, Denmark, 2. August 2010.

Zimmermann NE, 2010. Possible futures of European trees - a model-based assessment of global change impacts on trees & forest landscapes". Invited presentation given to the "Ecoinformatics and Biodiversity" group of the University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark, 16. April 2010.

Zimmermann NE, 2010. Conceptual and theoretical aspects for forecasting future species responses. Presentation given at the International meeting on "Vegetation Databases" held at the University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany, 24-26. Feb. 2010.

Zimmermann NE, 2009. Predictive species distribution modelling. Lecturing at the National workshop on "Predictive Modelling Challenges" held at the Natural History Museum, Oslo, Norway, 18/19. Nov. 2009.

Zimmermann NE, 2009. Ecological Remote Sensing. Lecturing at the ISPRS International Summerschool on Natural environment management, monitoring and conservation, in Warsaw, Poland, 13-19. July. 2009.

Zimmermann NE, 2009. Biogeography, Changing Climate, and the Calibration of Niches. Presentation given at the "Niche Evolution" conference in Zürich, Switzerland, 3. July 2009.

Zimmermann NE, 2009. Possible futures of European mountains - a model-based assessment of global change impacts on forests & landscapes. Invited plenary talk at the annual "Population Biology Meeting" of GfOe, Bern, Switzerland, 21. May 2009.

Zimmermann NE, 2009. Changing climates and the response of forest landscapes in the European Alps. Invited presentation at the special session on "Landscape Ecology and Global Change" of the US-IALE annual meeting in Snowbird, UT, USA, 14. April, 2009.

Zimmermann NE, 2009. Possible futures of European mountains - a model-based assessment of global change impacts on forests and landscapes. Invited presentation at the Ecology Center Seminars, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA, 8. April 2009.

Zimmermann NE, 2009. Niche constraints and range limits - How will species ranges respond to global climate change? Invited presentation at the GfOe-Macroecology Workshop at Seddiner See, Potsdam, Germany 11-13. March, 2009.

Zimmermann NE, Pearman PB. 2008. Forecasting Biodiversity and Ecosystem Changes - Prospects and Limitations of the Niche Concept in Forecasting. Sackler Symposium, Narional Academy of Science, Irvine, California, USA, 12/13. Dec. 2008.

Zimmermann NE, Gehrig-Fasel J, Rickebusch S, Rutherford GN, Gellrich M, Lischke H & Pearman PB. 2008. Response of forests to combined climate and land use changes: examples from Switzerland and Europe. Gesellschaft für Ökologie, Leipzig, Germany, 19. Sept. 2008.

Zimmermann NE, 2008. Potential future range shifts of European tree species – projections, discussion and possible implications for monitoring. COST E29 Strategic Workshop, Istanbul, Turkey, 12. March 2008.

Zimmermann NE & Schmatz D, 2008. Measured vs. interpolated climate data – what errors do we expect? COST E29 Strategic Workshop, Istanbul, Turkey, 12. March 2008.

Zimmermann NE, 2007. Possible futures of mountain forests: a model-based assessment of climate change effects at the landscape scale in Switzerland. Presented at the Ecology & Evolution Seminar Series at the University of York, United Kingdom, 29. Nov. 2008.

Zimmermann NE, 2007. Where do all these trees come from? Invited presentation at the “land abandonment in Europe” special session of the 2007 IALE world congress. Wageningen, The Netherlands, 9. July 2007.

Zimmermann NE, 2006. Potential Habitat Diversity and Correlates with Plant Species Richness in the Alps and Carpathians. Presented at the International Symposium on “Biodiversity Conservation - From Genes to Habitats”, Davos, Switzerland, 23. Nov. 2006.

Zimmermann NE, Bolliger J, Gehrig-Fasel J, Guisan A, Kienast F, Lischke H, Rickebusch S & Wohlgemuth T, 2006. Wo wachsen die Bäume in 100 Jahren? Keynote presentation at the WSL science forum (Forum für Wissen), Zurich, Switzerland, 8. Nov. 2006.

Zimmermann NE, 2006. Global Change and Mountain Forests. Presented at the International Summerschool on “Mountain Ecology and Alpine Ecosystem Management”, Davos, Switzerland, 15. Sept. 2006.

Zimmermann NE, Eggenberg S & Guisan A, 2006. Predictive modeling of rare and endangered grassland species in Switzerland. Presented in the “Predictive distribution modelling for conservation of biodiversity in Europe” session at the First European Congress of Conservation Biology 2006, Eger, Hungary, 26. Aug. 2006.

Zimmermann NE & Gugerli F, 2005. Linking intra-specific diversity and habitat suitability – a case study using Pinus cembra L. Presented at the Landscape Genetics Session at the XVII Int. Bot. Congress, Vienna, Austria, 23. July 2005.

Zimmermann NE, 2005. Predictive spatial modeling – Linking GIS with field data and statistics. Presented at the POLLANDCAL conference in Besançon, France. 23. May 2005. Keynote.

Zimmermann NE, 2003 Concepts and techniques for spatial modelling of predictive biophysical layers. Paper given to the Graduiertenkolleg Seminar at Bonn University, Dept. of Geography, Bonn, Germany, 10. Nov. 2003.

Zimmermann NE, 2003. Introductory remarks to the session on “GIS, remote sensing and spatial modelling”. Presented at the International Symposium on the “State of the Art in Vegetation Monitoring Approaches”. Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland, 24. March 2003.

Zimmermann NE, 1999. Static and dynamic models in mountain environments. Paper given to the Quaternary Geology Lab Seminar at Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden, 29. Nov. 1999.

Zimmermann NE, 1998. Generating high resolution climate maps for predictive distribution models. Paper given to the Fishery and Wildlife Department Seminar at Utah State University, Logan, Utah, 28. May 1998.

Zimmermann NE, 1997. Generating high resolution climate maps for north-western Wyoming and the Yellowstone Plateau. Paper given to the Conservation Biology Lab Seminar at Stanford University, California, 30. Oct. 1997.

Zimmermann NE, 1996. Generating spatially-explicit response surfaces of alpine vegetation communities using Logit models. Paper given to the ESA Special Symposium on "Predictive Spatial Models in Vegetation Ecology", Providence, Rhode Island, August 1996.

Zimmermann NE & Kienast F, 1995. Climatically sensitive modelling tools to predict vegetation pattern at a landscape level. Plenary Session paper given to the IAVS Symposium, Rice University, Houston, Texas, June 1995.

Zimmermann NE & Kienast F, 1993. Progress report of the project: Simulating spatial and temporal vegetation patterns in Switzerland. Plenary Session paper given to the "General Assembly and Workshop of the EU Project INTEGRALP-ICALPE", Jacca, Spanien, 16. June 1993.

Project funding

Funding summary

Below, I list all major (>100'000.-) project funding that I have obtained as PI, Co-PI and/or responsible WP-leader. The total amount of funding to my lab/WSL was more than CHF 8 Mio from almost exclusively highly competitive research funding. The total amount of funded budget from the below listed projects where I was PI or Co-PI is more than CHF 85 Mio in research funding. In many of the large project proposals at EU level, I was an initiator and/or a core-member of the proposal writing team.

Grants obtained