Influence of warmer winters and neozoa on plankton phenology and food web interactions in Lake Constance plankton
Research approach
Lake Constance has undergone large environmental changes during the last decades, which includes oligotrophication, climate warming and the invasion / expansion of neozoa.
Objectives
This project studies the effects of these changes on food web interactions in Lake Constance, with a special focus on plankton phenology that is the seasonal occurrence patterns of various phytoplankton and zooplankton species, and the consequences of plankton phenology changes for food web interactions. Hereby, we want to find out whether the phenologies of different plankton organisms are affected differently by the effects of these environmental changes, and whether the effects of e.g. climate change and neozoa on phenology reinforce and/or mitigate each other.
Analyses
The work in the sub-project will involve analyses of time series available for Lake Constance, but also sampling of plankton during specific campaigns focusing on the study of overwintering success of various plankton species during warmer winters, and the vertical distribution of plankton during summer heatwaves.
Multiparameter sonde for lake vertical profiles.
(Photo: Luca Schenone, University of Konstanz)
Zooplankton net sampling.
(Photo: Luca Schenone, University of Konstanz)
Lake Constance phytoplankton taxa from summer samples.
(Photo: Luca Schenone, University of Konstanz)
Cooperation within the SeeWandel-Climate project
Seasonal and depth distribution of zooplankton and Daphnia populations (University of Innsbruck, sub-project 4).
Comparison of the vertical distribution of whitefish and zooplankton / Overwintering and phenology of zooplankton and whitefish (Fisheries Research Station Baden-Wuerttemberg, sub-project 2).
Linking food web modelling with size-based phenology of plankton (Eawag, sub-project 6B).
Linking hydrodynamic with phenology models (kup, sub-project 5).
Project team
University of Konstanz, Department of Biology – Limnological Institute, Germany
PD Dr. Dietmar Straile – Project leader
Dr. Luca Schenone – Scientist
