Degradation by and recovery from drought-related stressors of freshwater invertebrate communities (A08)

• Subject Area: Ecology and Biodiversity of Animals and Ecosystems, Organismic Interactions
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 426547801

In Phase II, project A08 will investigate the effects of drought-related stressors (warming, surface-flow cessation, salinisation) on macroinvertebrates. We will apply combinations of these increasingly relevant riverine stressors across a temporal gradient in outdoor mesocosm experiments to unveil critical thresholds of drought duration and thereby support mechanistic explanations to the Asymmetric Response Concept. In addition, A08 will study physiological responses to salinisation and warming in the macroinvertebrate key species Gammarus sp. to identify evolutionary adaptations and performance trade-offs in populations from historically salt-stressed regions.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1439: Multilevel response to stressor increase and release in stream ecosystems (RESIST)
• Applicant Institution: Universität Duisburg-Essen
• Project Head: Professor Dr. Florian Leese