Investigation of microbial survival strategies in extreme lacustrine ecosystems

• Applicant: Dr. Elanor Margaret Bell
• Subject Area: Hydrogeology, Hydrology, Limnology, Urban Water Management, Water Chemistry, Integrated Water Resources Management
• Term: from 2002 to 2003
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5394338

The applicant has been invited to join scientists from McGill University at their field site in the Canadian High Arctic in June/July 2002 to study the biology and ecology of Lakes Colour and Phantom on Axel Heiberg Island (79°25´N, 90°45`W). The proposed field work will allow a preliminary assessment of how adaptations such as nutritional versatility, i.e. mixotrophy, play a key role in the survival and evolution of micro-organisms in extreme aquatic ecosystems. Work will also be conducted to assess the role of benthic-pelagic coupling processes in whole lake productivity, and make an initial determination of which abiotic factors, e.g. geochemistry and hydrology exert an influence on extreme ecosystem food webs and ecological functioning. In concert with existing sampling programs at Potsdam University in the acidic mining lakes of eastern Germany, the data gathered will add to our understanding of extreme system functioning and elucidate a potential gradient of increasing importance of survival strategies such as mixotrophy in increasingly extreme aquatic environments.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants