Franziska Chucholl

Research Interests

I’m a limnologist with a strong interest in conservation biology, specifically conservation genetics, and invasion ecology. Most of my research has been concerned with freshwater crayfish. In my bachelor thesis, I studied population ecology of critically endangered white-clawed crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes) and in my master thesis, I compared the ecological impact of native and invasive crayfishes by means of functional response analyses.

Current project

My PhD project deals with conservation genetics of native freshwater crayfish and comprises two parts: eDNA and population genetics. In the eDNA part, which is situated at the university of Konstanz, I am going to investigate whether eDNA is an effective detection tool for native stone (Austropotamobius torrentium) and white-clawed crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes) in lotic systems. In the population genetics part, which will be conducted at the university of Freiburg, I examine the effects of isolation and fragmentation on the genetic differentiation of native stone and white-clawed crayfish. The study is funded by a doctoral scholarship of the DBU (https://www.dbu.de/stipendien_20019/597_db.html).

List of publications

Wendler F., Biss R., Chucholl C. (2015) Population ecology of endangered white-clawed crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes s. str.) in a small rhithral river in Germany. Knowledge and Management of Aquatic Ecosystems 24. DOI: 10.1051/kmae/2015020

Chucholl C., Wendler, F. (2016): Positive selection of beautiful invaders: long-term persistence and bio-invasion risk of freshwater crayfish in the pet trade. Biological Invasions 19 (1): 197-208. DOI: 10.1007/s10530-016-1272-5