Project Details
Projekt
Impact of climate change on life history patterns and food web interactions of benthic assemblages of running waters: modelling and experimental approaches
Applicant
Professor Dr. Otto Richter
Subject Area
Hydrogeology, Hydrology, Limnology, Urban Water Management, Water Chemistry, Integrated Water Resources Management
Term
from 2004 to 2012
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5429646
The main objective is the prediction of life history changes of key species (dragonflies and higher crustaceans) and their effects on benthic communities of large rivers under the assumption of climatic change scenarios as assessed by the International Panel of Climatic Change (IPCC). This concerns changes in seasonal temperature cycle and frequency of extreme weather events and will be achieved by: · Assessing the influences of temperatures changes (a) on growth rates, development, emergence, mortality and metabolism within populations (by conducting experiments as well as comparisons along a latitudinal gradient) and (b) on interactions between co-existing key species (species interaction experiments). · Examining effects of extreme weather conditions (2002 spate and 2003 drought) by analysing invertebrate monitoring data of the Elbe R. of 1999-2003 (and continuing). · Adapting existing models of physiologically structured populations with respect to temperature dependencies of basic life history parameters recorded. · Running the models to study the effects both of temperature changes and increase of frequency of weather extremes.
DFG Programme
Priority Programmes
