Mattias Ekvall
I study the potential effects of climate- and environmental change on aquatic ecosystems, mainly focusing on the effects on spring recruitment and succession in planktonic communities. Spring temperatures and light availability are two important factors affecting recruitment and succession in aquatic ecosystems. Both these factors are predicted to change in the future due to increasing temperature and water colour respectively.
Using mesocosm experiments, I simulate a future scenario with increased temperature and water colour to see how this affects the recruitment of both zoo- and phytoplankton from the sediment to the water. In addition, I also study how the above-mentioned factors affect algal blooms and algal toxin production as well as the timing of macrophyte growth and insect emergence.