Synergies In Climate Change: Effects on recruitment, migration and life-form shift in aquatic communities

According to both databases and predictive modelling, global temperature has been increasing and are predicted to continue to increase with between 2,3 and 5,3 °C within the lifetime of the coming generation. At the same time, water colour has been doubling in the northern hemisphere during the past 15-20 years and there is no tendency that the increase is levelling off.  We know that these changes will occur simultaneously in aquatic environments, but will there be any synergistic effects of these environmental changes?
 
Our research focus on answering the question on how an increased water colour and temperature will affect the recruitment, and migration, of plankton from the top layers of the sediment to the water column during spring. Our studies are performed in natural systems, as well as in large-scale, outdoor experiments.

In addition to this we also study when pupae of insects start to emerge and the insect leave the aquatic environment for a terrestrial life where they become available as a food resource for birds and other insect eating animals. Here, Insect hatching from a pupa at the surface of one of the enclosures. Photo: Mattias Ekvall