Dr. Aleksandra Cvetkoska
PostdocAquatic Ecology |
Research themes
Research expertiseAncient lakes Diatoms Experimental evolution Micropalaeontology Paleoecology
Page last updated: 28-09-2021
I am an integrative biologist, with a background in paleoecology, and paleolimnology and use diatoms (single-celled siliceous algae) as model taxon for my research. Specifically, I am interested in how species and communities responded to the climatic oscillations during the Quaternary. By applying a combination of diatom and geochemistry data from sediment records I reconstruct the ecology of lakes over geological time.
Earth's biodiversity faces major losses caused by global change, including climate warming and eutrophication. I am interested in understanding the species ability to adapt to changing environments in order to survive and persist. To disentangle the processes facilitating species adaptation, I am developing an integrative approach between two disciplines, experimental evolution and evolutionary paleoecology. A 1.36 Ma old fossil record from Europe's oldest and most biodiverse lake, Lake Ohrid (North Macedonia) provided a unique opportunity to study species phenotypic diversity and evolutionary patterns over multiple glacial-interglacial cycles. In addition, I use experimental studies with diatoms, to understand their short-term response to different temperatures and phosphorus loads. The combination of these disciplines will provide a comprehensive understanding of the evolutionary potential of the aquatic primary producers towards global change on the genetic, physiological, and morphological level of organization.
- CV
- Groups
- Other Projects
- Key publications
- Peer-reviewed publications
- Popular-scientific publications
- Ancillary positions
PERSONAL DETAILS:
Name: Aleksandra Cvetkoska
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9812-8816
EDUCATION
PhD IN BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES 2014
SS. Cyril and Methodius, North Macedonia
Title of thesis: ‘The diatoms as indicators of the palaeolimnological changes in Lake Prespa’ | Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Zlatko Levkov; Co-supervisors: Dr. J. M. Reed, Dr. B. Wagner, Dr. N. Ognjanova-Rumenova, Prof. Dr. S. Krstić
MSc IN BIOLOGY/ECOLOGY 2011
SS. Cyril and Methodius, North Macedonia
Title of thesis: ‘Lake Ohrid diatoms as palaeoecological indicators of climate change during the Last glacial-interglacial cycle’
APPOINTMENTS
2019-
Postdoctoral researcher, Department of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands
2017-2018
Postdoctoral researcher, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
2014-2017
Postdoctoral researcher, Palaeoecology, Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
2009-2014
Teaching Assistant, Institute of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Skopje, Macedonia
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
2014-
Utrecht University | Courses: Environmental Change through Time (diatom application) | Position: TA
2009-
Ss. Cyril and Methodius, North Macedonia | Courses: Diatom application in palaeoecology, Systematics and phylogeny of algae, Biomonitoring and biostatistics | Position: TA
MEMBERSHIP IN SCIENTIFIC ORGANISATIONS
- European Geosciences Union (EGU), http://www.egu.eu
- International Society for Diatom Research, http://www.isdr.org
- NVKD (Nederlands Vlaamse Kring van Diatomisten), http://www.diatom.nl
- Biology Students’ Research Society (BSRSS), Phycology section
- Macedonian Ecological Society, http://mes.org.mk
- International Paleolimnology Association, IPA, http://paleolim.org
- Past Global Changes, PAGES Community, http://www.pages-igbp.org
PERSONAL SCHOLARSHIPS, GRANTS AND PRIZES
2019: Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG SPP 1006/24 – Bereich Infrastruktur
Int. Kontinentales Bohrprogramm (ICDP); Project title: Differential assembly processes in time across the Mediterranean
2017: Funding: Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany; Postdoctoral Stipend 2015: Funding: International Continental Scientific Drilling Programme (ICDP); Training Course on Lacustrine Sediment Drilling grant, Ohrid, Macedonia
2012: Funding: Past Global Changes project (PAGES) grant for course attendance
2010: Funding UNESCO/Japan Young Researchers' Fellowships Programme (UNESCO/Keizo Obuchi Research Fellowships Programme); Project title: Determining the level of eutrophication of Lake Ohrid using diatoms as bioindicators
2010: Funding: Macedonian Ecological Society; Project title: Valorisation of the Sphagnum-peat bog Bukovik, Pehcevo and determining the main factors influencing the changes of the ecosystem
2009: Funding: Macedonian Ecological Society; Project title: Determining the level of recent and past eutrophication of Lake Ohrid using the diatoms as bioindicators
1. When nature strikes - Species extinction or adaptation (NIOO-KNAW)
2. Scientific Collaboration on Past Speciation Conditions in Lake Ohrid (SCOPSCO); http://ohrid.icdp-online.org (I am involved as a team member - diatom expert)
3. ECORD: Expedition 381 Corinth Active Rift Development; https://www.ecord.org/expedition381 (I am involved as a micropaleontologist - diatom expert)
- Wilke, T., Hauffe, T., Jovanovska, E., Cvetkoska, A., Donders, T.H., Ekschmitt, K., Francke, A., Lacey, J., Levkov, Z., Marshall, C.R., Neubauer, T. A., Silvestro, D., Stelbrink, B., et al. (2020) Deep drilling reveals massive shifts in evolutionary dynamics after formation of ancient ecosystem. Science Advances, 6, 40: eabb2943, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abb2943.
- Wagner, B., Vogel, H., Francke, A., Friedrich, T., Donders, T., Lacey, J.H., Leng, M. J., Regattieri, E., Sadori, L., Wilke, T., Zanchetta, G., Albrecht, C., Bertini, A., Combourieu-Nebout, N., Cvetkoska, A., Giaccio, B., et al. (2019) Mediterranean winter rainfall in phase with African monsoons during the past 1.36 million years. Nature 573, 256–260, doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1529-0.
- Cvetkoska, A., Jovanovska, E., Francke, A., Tofilovska, S., Vogel, H., Levkov, Z., Donders, T. H., Wagner, B., and Wagner-Cremer, F. (2016) Ecosystem regimes and responses in a coupled ancient lake system from MIS 5b to present: the diatom record of lakes Ohrid and Prespa. Biogeosciences, 13, 3147−3162, doi:10.5194/bg-13-3147-2016.
- Cvetkoska, A., Levkov, Z., Reed, J.M., Wagner, B., Panagiotopoulos, K., Leng, M.J. and Lacey, J.H. (2015) Quaternary climate change and Heinrich events in the southern Balkans - Lake Prespa diatom palaeolimnology from the last interglacial to present. Journal of Paleolimnology, 53 (2), 215−231. doi: 10.1007/s10933-014-9821-3.
BOOKS
Cvetkoska A., Reed J. M., Levkov, Z. (2012) Diatoms as indicators of environmental change in ancient Lake Ohrid during the last glacial-interglacial cycle (ca. 140 ka). Diatom Monographs Vol. 15. (Edited by: Andrzej Witkowski), Koeltz Scientific Books, Koenigstein, Germany. pp. 224. ISBN 978-3-87429-428-7.
REFEREED ARTICLES
2020
Wilke, T., Hauffe, T., Jovanovska, E., Cvetkoska, A., Donders, T.H., Ekschmitt, K., Francke, A., Lacey, J., Levkov, Z., Marshall, C.R., Neubauer, T. A., Silvestro, D., Stelbrink, B., et al. (2020) Deep drilling reveals massive shifts in evolutionary dynamics after formation of ancient ecosystem. Science Advances, 6, 40: eabb2943, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abb2943.
Panagiotopoulos, K., Holtvoeth, J., Kouli, K., Marinova, E., Francke, A., Cvetkoska, A., Jovanovska, E., Lacey, J., Lyons, E.T., Buckel, C., Bertini, A., Donders, T., Just, J., Leicher, N., Leng, M.J., Melles, M., Pancost, R.D., Sadori, L., Tauber, P., Vogel, H., Wagner, B., and Wilke, T. (2020) Insights into the evolution of the young Lake Ohrid ecosystem and vegetation succession from a southern European refugium during the Early Pleistocene. Quaternary Science Reviews, 227: 106044, doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.106044.
Zaova, D., Cvetkoska, A., Mitic-Kopanja, D., Jovanovska, E., Ognjanova-Rumenova, N., and Levkov, Z. (2020) Tertiarius minutulus sp. nov. (Stephanodiscaceae, Bacillariophyta) – a new fossil diatom species from Lake Ohrid. European Journal of Taxonomy, 670: 1–14, doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2020.670
2019
Wagner, B., Vogel, H., Francke, A., Friedrich, T., Donders, T., Lacey, J.H., Leng, M.J., Regattieri, E., Sadori, L., Wilke, T., Zanchetta, G., Albrecht, C., Bertini, A., Combourieu-Nebout, N., Cvetkoska, A., Giaccio, B., et al. (2019) Mediterranean winter rainfall in phase with African monsoons during the past 1.36 million years. Nature, 573, 256–260 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1529-0.
McNeill, L. C., Shillington, D.J., Carter, G. D. O., Everest, J.D., Gawthorpe, R.L., Miller, C., Phillips, M.P., Collier, R.E. Li., Cvetkoska, A., DeGelder, G., et al. (2019) High-resolution record reveals climate-driven environmental and sedimentary changes in an active rift. Scientific Reports, 9: 3116, doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-40022-w.
Levkov, Z., Vidaković, D., Cvetkoska, A., Mitić-Kopanja, D., Krstić, S., Van de Vijver, B., and Hamilton, P. (2019) Observations of the genus Muelleria (Bacillariophyceae) from the Republic of North Macedonia. Plant Ecology and Evolution, 152: 2, 293-312. doi.org/10.5091/plecevo.2019.1611.
2018
Goldenberg Vilar, A., Donders, T.H., Cvetkoska, A., and Wagner-Cremer, F. (2018) Seasonality modulates the predictive skills of diatom-based salinity transfer functions. PLOS ONE, 13(11): e0199343. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0199343.
Cvetkoska, A., Pavlov, A., Jovanovska, E., Tofilovska, A., Blanco, S., Ector, L., Wagner-Cremer, F., and Levkov, Z. (2018) Spatial patterns of diatom diversity and community structure in ancient Lake Ohrid. Hydrobiologia, 819: 197–215, doi:10.1007/s10750-018-3637-5.
2017
Wagner, B., Wilke, T., Francke, A., Albrecht, C., Baumgarten, H., Bertini, A., Combourieu-Nebout, N., Cvetkoska, A., D'Addabbo, M., Donders, T.H., et al. (2017) The environmental and evolutionary history of Lake Ohrid (FYROM/Albania): Interim results from the SCOPSCO deep drilling project. Biogeosciences, 14, 2033−2054, doi:10.5194/bg-14-2033-2017.
2016
Cvetkoska, A., Jovanovska, E., Francke, A., Tofilovska, S., Vogel, H., Levkov, Z., Donders, T. H., Wagner, B., and Wagner-Cremer, F. (2016) Ecosystem regimes and responses in a coupled ancient lake system from MIS 5b to present: the diatom record of lakes Ohrid and Prespa. Biogeosciences, 13, 3147−3162, doi:10.5194/bg-13-3147-2016.
Jovanovska, E., Cvetkoska, A., Hauffe, T., Levkov, Z., Wagner, B., Sulpizio, R., Francke, A., Albrecht, C., and Wilke, T. (2016) Differential resilience of ancient sister lakes Ohrid and Prespa to environmental disturbances during the Late Pleistocene. Biogeosciences, 13, 1149−1161, doi:10.5194/bg-13-1149-2016.
Tofilovska, S., Cvetkoska, A., Jovanovska, E., Ognanova-Rumenova, N., and Levkov, Z. (2016) Two new fossil Cyclotella (Kützing) Brébisson species from Lake Ohrid, Macedonia/Albania. Fottea, 16 (2), 218−233, doi:10.5507/fot.2016.003.
Jovanovska, E., Cvetkoska, A., Tofilovska, S., Ognanova-Rumenova, N., and Levkov, Z. (2016) Description of a new fossil diatom genus, Cribrionella gen. nov. (Bacillariophyta) from Quaternary sediments of Lake Ohrid. Phytotaxa, 252, 31−42, doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.252.1.3.
Gligora Udovič, M., Cvetkoska, A., Žutinić, P., Bosak, S., Stanković, I., Špoljarić, I., Mršić, G., Kralj Borojević, K., Ćukurin, A., and Plenković-Moraj, A. (2016) Defining centric diatoms of most relevant phytoplankton functional groups in deep Karst lakes. Hydrobiologia, 1−23, doi: 10.1007/s10750-016-2996-z.
Levkov, Z., Tofilovska, S., Jovanovska, E., Cvetkoska, A., and Metzeltin, D. (2016) Revision of the Stauroneis smithii Grunow (Bacillariophyceae) species complex from Macedonia. Botanica Serbica, 40 (2),167−178.
2015
Cvetkoska, A., Hamilton, P.B., and Levkov, Z. (2015) Surirella prespanensis sp. nov. and Surirella hinziae sp. nov., two new diatom (Bacillariophyceae) species from ancient Lake Prespa (Macedonia/Albania/Greece). Fottea, 15 (2), 179−189. doi: 10.5507/fot.2015.018.
Cvetkoska, A., Levkov, Z., Reed, J.M., Wagner, B., Panagiotopoulos, K., Leng, M.J., and Lacey, J.H. (2015) Quaternary climate change and Heinrich events in the southern Balkans - Lake Prespa diatom palaeolimnology from the last interglacial to present. Journal of Paleolimnology, 53 (2), 215−231. doi: 10.1007/s10933-014-9821-3.
Ognjanova-Rumenova, N., Jovanovska, E., Cvetkoska, A., and Levkov, Z. (2015) Two new Tertiarius (Bacillariophyta, Coscinodiscophyceae) species from Mariovo Neogene basin, Macedonia. Fottea, 15 (1), 51−62. doi: 10.5507/fot.2015.005.
Vossel, H., Reed, J.M., Houk, V., Cvetkoska, A., and Van De Vijver, B. (2015) Cyclotella paleo-ocellata, a new centric diatom (Bacillariophyta) from Lake Kinneret (Israel). Fottea, 15 (1), 63−75. doi: 10.5507/fot.2015.006.
2014
Cvetkoska, A., Levkov, Z., Reed, J.M., and Wagner, B. (2014) Late Glacial to Holocene climate change and human impact in the Mediterranean - the last ca. 17ka diatom record of Lake Prespa (Macedonia/Albania/Greece). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 406, 22−32. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2014.04.010.
Cvetkoska, A., Hamilton, P.B., Ognjanova-Rumenova, N., and Levkov, Z., (2014) Observations of the genus Cyclotella (Kützing) Brébisson in ancient lakes Ohrid and Prespa and a description of two new species C. paraocellata sp. nov. and C. prespanensis sp. nov. Nova Hedwigia Beihefte, 98 (3-4), 313−340. doi: 10.1127/0029-5035/2014/0154.
Cvetkoska, A., Levkov, Z., Hamilton, P.B., and Potapova, M. (2014) The biogeographic distribution of Cavinula (Bacillariophyceae) in North America with the descriptions of two new species. Phytotaxa, 184 (4), 181−207. doi: 10.11646/phytotaxa.184.4.1.
Cvetkoska, A., Levkov, Z., and Hamilton, P.B. (2014) Surirella subrotunda sp. nov. and Surirella parahelvetica sp. nov., two new diatom (Bacillariophyta) species from Lake Prespa, Macedonia. Phytotaxa, 156 (3), 145−155. doi: 10.11646/phytotaxa.156.3.5.
Wagner, B., Wilke, T., Krastel, S., Zanchetta, G., Sulpizio, R., Reicherter, K., Leng, M.J., Grazhdani, A., Trajanovski, S., Francke, A., Lindhorst, K., Levkov, Z., Cvetkoska, A., Reed, J.M., Zhang, X., Lacey, J.H., Wonik, T., Baumgarten, H., and Vogel, H. (2014) The SCOPSCO drilling project recovers more than 1.2 million years of history from Lake Ohrid. Scientific Drilling, 17, 19−29. doi:10.5194/sd-17-19-2014.
2012
Cvetkoska, A., Levkov, Z., and Reed, J.M. (2012) Reconstructing Holocene Environmental Change in Lake Ohrid (Macedonia/Albania) using diatom as proxies. Macedonian Journal of Ecology and Environment, 14 (1, 2), 7–18.
2011
Reed, J.M., Cvetkoska, A., Levkov, Z., Vogel, H., and Wagner, B. (2010) The last glacial-interglacial cycle in Lake Ohrid (Macedonia/Albania): testing diatom response to climate. Biogeosciences, 7, 4689–4714. doi: 10.5194/bg-7-3083-2010.
Contact
+31 (0)317 473 582
Droevendaalsesteeg 10
6708 PB Wageningen
+31 (0)317 47 34 00
Postbus 50
6700 AB Wageningen
