Where to find me
Department of Biology and Ecology
- Office: 110
- Phone: 048 446 7110
- Email: peter.bitusik@umb.sk
Professional characteristics
Higher education and further qualification growth
First and second degree of higher education
1981 – Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Sciences, Study field and programme: Biology
Third degree of higher education
1991 – Comenius University in Bratislava, Institute of Zoology, Study field and programme: Zoology
Associate professor
2000 – Technical University in Zvolen, Study field and programme: Ecology
Professor
2005 – Technical University in Zvolen, Study field and programme: Ecology
Current and previous employment
1981-1991: Central Slovak Museum, Dept. Natural Sciences, Banská Bystrica; zoologist
1991-2006: Technical University in Zvolen, Faculty ofEcology and Environmental Sciences; university teacher (in a gradual way assistant professor, associate professor, professor)
2006-2007: University of Matej Bel, Faculty of Natural Sciences; university teacher (professor)
2007-2007 (2 months): Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Sciences; university teacher (professor)
2007-up to now: University of Matej Bel, Faculty of Natural Sciences; university teacher (professor)
Guarantee (the responsibility for the delivery, development and quality assurance) of the study programme in the academic year 2022/ 2023
- Environmental Biology (guarantor of the study program) 1. (Bc.), 2. (Mgr.), 3. (PhD.) degree; Field of Study: Ecological and Environmental Sciences
- Teaching Biology (in combination) 1. (Bc.), 2. (Mgr.) degrees; Field of Study: Teacher Training and Education Sciences
Overview of the profile courses taught in the academic year 2022/ 2023
Environmental Biology
Fundamentals of Ecology (Bc.), Nature in the Quaternary Period (Bc.), Biotopes of Slovakia (Mgr.), Freshwater Ecology (Mgr.), Palaeoecology: Field Methods, Data Processing and Interpretation (PhD.)
Overview of other courses taught in the academic year 2022/ 2023
Environmental Biology
Diversity and Phylogeny of Animals (Bc.), Practicum from Ornithology and Theriology (Mgr.), Methods in Invertebrate and Vertebrate Research (Mgr.)
Teaching Biology (in combination)
Fundamentals of Ecology for Teachers (Mgr.), Freshwater Ecology for Teachers (Mgr.), Biotopes of Slovakia for Teachers (Mgr.)
Overview of supervised final theses
- Number of currently supervised theses - 0
- Number of defended theses: Bachelor's (first degree) – 62, Diploma (second degree) – 58, Dissertation (third degree) – 10
Research interests
- Limnology of mountain streams and lakes
- Ecology, taxonomy and distribution of chironomids (Diptera: Chironomidae)
- Assessment of ecological status of water bodies using benthic macroinvertebrates
- Paleolimnology: a reconstruction of the past environmental changes using sub-fosdsdil bioindicators
Selected publications (2019 – 2023)
- Szarlowicz K., Stobinski M., Hamerlik L. & Bitusik P. (2019). Origin and behavior of radionuclides in sediment core: a case study of the sediments collected from man-made reservoirs located in the past mining region in Central Slovakia. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 26(7), 7115-7122.
- Bitušík, P. & Trnkova K. (2019). A preliminary checklist of Chironomidae (Diptera) from Albania with first records for the Balkan Peninsula. Zootaxa, 4563(2), 361-371.
- Moubayed-Breil J. & Bitušík P. (2019). Taxonomic notes on the genus Chaetocladius (laminatus-group)(Diptera: Chironomidae, Orthocladiinae) II. Descriptions of C. bitusiki sp. n. and C. mantetensis sp. n., two relict species inhabiting cold alpine springs and streams. Biologia, 74(11), 1489-1500.
- Bitušík P., Novikmec M. & Hamerlik L. (2020). Chironomids (Insecta, Diptera, Chironomidae) from alpine lakes in the Eastern Carpathians with comments on newly-recorded species from Ukraine. Biodiversity Data Journal, 8.
- Reczyński W., Szarłowicz K., Jakubowska M., Bitusik P. & Kubica B. (2020). Comparison of the sediment composition in relation to basic chemical, physical, and geological factors. International Journal of Sediment Research, 35(3), 307-314.
- Chamutiova T., Hamerlik L. & Bitušík P. (2020). Subfossil chironomids (Diptera, Chironomidae) of lakes in the Tatra Mountains: an illustrated guide. Zootaxa, 4819(2), 216-264.
- Pažourková E., Křeček J., Bitušík P., Chvojka P., Kamasová L., Senoo T., Spacek J. & Stuchlík E. (2021). Impacts of an extreme flood on the ecosystem of a headwater stream. Journal of Limnology, 80(2).
- Sienkiewicz E., Gąsiorowski M., Hamerlík L., Bitušík P. & Stańczak J. (2021). A new diatom training set for the reconstruction of past water pH in the Tatra Mountain lakes. Journal of Paleolimnology, 65, 445-459.
- Svitok M., Kubovčík V., Kopáček J. & Bitušík P. (2021). Temporal trends and spatial patterns of chironomid communities in alpine lakes recovering from acidification under accelerating climate change. Freshwater Biology, 66(12), 2223-2239.
- Dočkalová K., Senoo T., Vondrák D., Chvojka,P., Kopáček J., Kamasová L., Benes F., Spacek J., Tatosova J., Bitusik P., Fjellheim A. & Stuchlík E. (2022). Macroinvertebrate assemblages in acidified mountain lake inflows differs from lake outflows: the influence of lakes. Biologia, 77(9), 2593-2607.
Participation in conducting (leading) the most important research projects over the last six years (2018 – 2023)
- VEGA 1/0341/18 Chironomids as indicators of palaeoenvironmental changes: Building a model to reconstruct Late-Glacial and Holocene temperatures based on sub-fossil chironomid assemblages from the Tatra Mountain lakes; 2018-2021; principal investigator
- VEGA 1/0400/21 Dynamics of the benthic communities of Tatra Mts. alpine lakes under climate change and acidification: individual and synergic effects of multiple global stressors; 2021-2024, co-worker
- APVV -20-0358 Reading in natural archives: thousands of years of environmental history and climate change recorded in alpine lakes of the Ukrainian Carpathians; 2020-2025, principal investigator