Project

Discipline

krenal streams; eco-evolutionary dynamics; hydropower; biogeochemistry; ecosystem functioning; carbon cycling; alpine ecology; environmental change; aquatic ecosystems; greenhouse gases; phytoplankton; oxygen dynamics

Lead
Cluster of sensors for high resolution quantification of ecosystem dynamics
Lay summary
Unser Ziel ist es rapide Veränderungen, sowohl in natürlichen als auch experimentell kontrollierten, aquatischen Ökosystemen zu erfassen. Zu diesem Zweck beabsichtigen wir die Anschaffung von hochauflösenden Sensoren, die in der Lage sind chemische, biologische und physikalische Gewässerparameter simultan aufzuzeichnen. Die Sensoren können über kurze und lange Zeiträume in Seen und Flüssen ausgebracht werden, um dort ökosystemare Veränderungen in Echtzeit zu dokumentieren. Dies ermöglicht die Bestimmung von Kohlenstoffbudgets in Fließ- und Binnengewässern und gewährt uns Einsicht darüber wie Organismen ökosystemare Prozesse beeinflussen.

Direct link to Lay Summary

Last update: 10.03.2015

Number	Title	Start	Funding scheme

High-resolution quantification of ecosystems is fundamental to research in ecology and environmental science. The proposed acquisition of a cluster of twenty EXO2 Sondes will open up new research opportunities for multiple research groups, including ongoing work in aquatic mesocosm experiments (Matthews group), alpine ecology (Robinson group), and aquatic biogeochemistry (Wehrli group). The cluster will serve multiple types of experiments in different spatial configurations, and will be highly complementary to new and existing sensor developments in permanently instrumented field sites in Switzerland.In several previous eco-evolutionary experiments in aquatic mesocosms we have investigated how organismal diversity affects multiple aspects of the environment, including levels of dissolved oxygen, dissolved organic matter, algal biomass, pH, and ammonium. With the proposed Sondes we can for the first time make high frequency measurements of multiple environmental parameters simultaneously in replicated mesocosms (e.g. up to 20). This opens up the possibility to investigate how species interactions affect the dynamics of the ecosystems from diurnal to seasonal time scales.Alpine hydrological environments are notoriously heterogeneous and rapidly changing environments, and it is difficult to accurately monitor and characterize the spatial gradients and temporal dynamics of multiple environmental parameters. As a result, there are few techniques available, other than high-resolution monitoring, to quantify the environment and make inferences about ecosystem functioning. The proposed sensor packages can be strategically positioned at different points in the landscape to both detect and assess the net effects of biogeochemical hot spots. Aquatic ecosystems are critical players in the global carbon cycle, and new techniques are sorely needed to quantify the freshwater components of carbon sequestration at appropriate regional scales. Rivers and lakes can act both as carbon dioxide and methane sources to the atmosphere, and as sinks of sedimentary carbon. Monitoring of chlorophyll, DOC, and CO2 with the proposed sensor packages provide an effective way to more accurately quantify local and regional scale carbon budgets. Overall, the equipment will be frequently used for a wide variety of applications in ecology and environmental science, and will help facilitate the integration of research in ecology, evolution, and ecosystem science. The flexibility, durability, and precision of the proposed Sondes make them a valuable contribution to multiple research groups, and particularly in relation to both experimental and comparative aquatic research in Switzerland. Eawag is an ideal location to house the proposed equipment, as it has the research personnel necessary to use, maintain, and disseminate the technology to a wide range of users.