2026Freshwater Biology
When exposure history follows an animal into recovery
Fungicide histories affected body size, while feeding during recovery was lower after simultaneous chemical and heat exposure.
Dr. Akshay Mohan · Integrative ecologist
Life in a
changing environment.
I study how organisms respond to changing conditions, how their interactions shape what happens next, and what we can reliably predict. My work connects experiments on multiple stressors and animal behaviour with conceptual frameworks, ecological forecasting and models of resource use and evolutionary change.
Postdoctoral researcher
University of Innsbruck · Mondsee, Austria
A closer look
Small organisms.
Big ecological questions.
Meet some of the freshwater animals behind my work. Choose an organism to explore its place in the research.
Explore the whole research programme
Freshwater detritivore
Asellus aquaticus
What happens when pressures act together?
This small freshwater detritivore connects my experiments on fungicides, predation risk and recovery after heatwaves.
Explore this researchThe questions that connect my work
Nothing happens
in isolation.
I study how organisms respond, interact and evolve in changing environments—and how we can predict what happens next.
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What changes when pressures act together?
Pollution, heat and natural enemies can change the same animal’s options. I study their combined effects on behaviour and performance.
What remains after conditions improve?
I follow responses through exposure and recovery, and ask when a lasting effect becomes a feedback that changes later responses.
What does the evidence let us claim?
I test ecological forecasts and develop clearer ways to compare and interpret multiple-stressor experiments.
How do predators and parasites shape defence and its costs?
My planned pond-snail experiments compare threats together and in different orders, asking how defence, recovery and later performance are connected.
Published research
Evidence from freshwater experiments
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2026Environmental Pollution
Pollution changes feeding and responses to predators
An experiment with freshwater detritivores connected fungicide exposure and predator experience to feeding, behaviour and later survival.
2024Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety
The route of exposure matters
Separating exposure through water and food revealed different effects on feeding, growth and pigmentation.
The person behind the questions
Hi, I’m Akshay.
I’m an ecologist based in Mondsee, Austria. I’ve studied butterflies in India and freshwater isopods in Finland, and I now work with pond snails at the University of Innsbruck.
I enjoy running experiments and working out what the results mean. I also develop ideas and models about how species interact and evolve, how past experiences affect later responses, and how we predict ecological change.
A little more about me