Project information
Title
Population dynamics and controls of the microbial food web in coastal waters of the Baltic Sea
Doctoral student
Ergün Bey
Supervisor
Hanna Farnelid
Assistant supervisor
Karin Holmfeldt, Elin Lindehoff
Participating organizations
Linnaeus University
Financier
Linnaeus University Centre for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial model Systems (EEMiS)
Timetable
1 april 2023- 1 april 2027
Subject
Ecology (Department of Biology and Environmental Science, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences)
More about the project
The comprehensive understanding of the microbial food web interaction in marine waters, particularly in coastal areas is still lacking, making it difficult to predict its modification under the effect of different stressors such as future global warming conditions.
The overall aim of this PhD project is to increase the understanding of the biotic and abiotic controls, species succession and interaction in the microbial food web in coastal areas of the Baltic Sea. We hypothesize that climate change will change the composition and abundance of phytoplankton. This will impact other components of the microbial food web and their interaction with each other.
The project will consist of integrative studies across organism levels ranging from micro- and nano grazers, phytoplankton to bacteria and virus. This will be investigated in three subprojects: Study 1 involves field sampling to study bloom dynamics and controls in coastal waters. Study 2 involves laboratory experiments to study picophytoplankton growth response and grazing by zooplankton under different environmental stressors. Lastly, study 3 will investigate baltic zooplankton diet.
The project will provide insights on multi-level interactions that are essential for understanding marine ecosystem functions and the future state of the marine food web efficiency for the higher trophic levels under the influence of climate change. Understanding the potential effects of climate stressors on marine microbial food web structure and functioning are crucial for the global carbon cycle, the production of goods and ecosystem services for people’s livelihoods.
The project is a collaborative project within the Linnaeus University Centre for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial model Systems (EEMiS). The research is also a part of the Linnaeus Knowledge Environment Water.
