Viktor Nilsson

My research focuses on understanding how environmental variability influences freshwater ecosystems, linking organismal biology with biodiversity patterns and ecosystem function. Through experimental work on aquatic insects and fish, I study how temperature, food availability, and species interactions affect growth, metabolism, behavior, and predator–prey dynamics.

My current research is strongly focused on rivers and streams, where I develop data-driven approaches to biodiversity assessment using benthic macroinvertebrates. By combining large monitoring datasets with spatial environmental data, I build models that identify biodiversity patterns and ecological hotspots at multiple scales. This work contributes directly to freshwater conservation, river restoration, and sustainable management under ongoing environmental change.

As my research bridges fundamental evolutionary ecology with applied research on running waters, I am affiliated with both the Evolution group and Natural Resources in Running Waters (NRRV).

I teach on several courses including Freshwater Biology, Conservation Biology, Floristics & Faunistics and Zoology.

My research on benthic macroinvertebrate biodiversity is funded by the Swedish Centre for Sustainable Hydropower (SVC) and involves close collaboration with stakeholders from academia, government agencies, and industry. The work is designed to support practical decision-making in river management, conservation, and restoration. I also regularly teach courses and give workshops on biodiversity and freshwater ecology for municipalities and other external actors.

In addition, I serve as an Associate Editor for Ecological Entomology and am a member of the Swedish Expert Committee on Diptera, where I contribute to national Red List assessments of Swedish flies and mosquitoes.