Project Details
Projekt
Match and mismatch between phyto- and zooplankton during spring succession: an experimental analysis with Baltic Sea plankton
Applicant
Professor Dr. Ulrich Sommer
Subject Area
Hydrogeology, Hydrology, Limnology, Urban Water Management, Water Chemistry, Integrated Water Resources Management
Term
from 2004 to 2011
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5429081
It shall be investigated, how the spring succession of phyto- and zooplankton will change in response to the predicted climate change, in particular to winter warming. Plankton from the Kiel Bight, Baltic Sea, will serve as a model system for moderately deep water bodies, where the phytopankton spring bloom can start before the onset of thermal stratification. While the start of the phytoplankton spring bloom is predicted to be independent of temperature, growth processes of heterotrophs obviously are. This should lead to changed synchronies in the growth and activity patterns of the different components of the plankton community and to a potential mismatch in the demand- supply relationship between consumers and their food organisms. With the help of indoor mesocosm experiments (8 units) and a simultaneous field monitoring program (started already in 2002) the response of phytoplankton and zooplankton growth and activity patterns, shifts in species composition, patterns of resource limitation, matter and energy transfer between trophic levels, and zooplankton fecundity shall be studied.
DFG Programme
Priority Programmes
