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OUTREACH
CONTEXT
Shallow freshwater lakes represent the most abundant lake type worldwide, and many of them occur in agricultural landscapes. These habitats and their living beings provide vital ecosystems functions, but they must face the impacts of both global warming and agricultural activities. Researchers from all over the world are trying to understand and predict what will be the long-term consequences. If global warming is one parameter to take into account, the high natural complexity of an aquatic system makes their study even more challenging. In fact, a wide range of factors must be considered and multiple stressors (e.g. agricultural run-off containing pesticides and fertilizers) can interact in various ways: additive, synergistic, or antagonistic. Depending on the combination, the response of the habitat might be highly complex with a risk of no possible resilience. As example, agricultural run-off (ARO) could affect different species, communities or elementary processes of the habitat (e.g. oxygenation, carbon budget).
The CLIMSHIFT research project is a French-German initiative funded by both the National Research Agency (ANR) and the German Science Foundation (DFG) in order to disentangle and predict the interactions, as well as effects, of those multiple stressors in the context of a warming climate.
HOW TO PROCEED?
Despite numerous studies, researchers have not well considered the whole complexity of these habitats so far. Most studies primarily focused on either ecotoxicological approaches or functional community/ecosystem approaches. In other words, the overall impacts on species, communities and ecosystem processes are not very well understood and, therefore, can hardly be predicted. To achieve their objectives, CLIMSHIFT researchers will develop an unprecedented approach by combining ecotoxicological stress indicators (e.g. growth and biomarkers of the different organisms) and functional community/ecosystem approaches (e.g. biotic interactions, population dynamics, ecosystem metabolism and dynamics) at different temporal and spatial scales. To do so, the researchers will first investigate 4 different scenarios using microcosm approaches – namely simplified ecosystems imitating natural ones under controlled conditions. Once done, the second stage will consist in upscaling these experiments under outdoor mesocosm conditions to be closer to what happens in natural environments. Finally, the scientists will benefit from these data to develop an innovative and informative model, which will allow them to simulate other scenarios, and thus predict potential stressor interactions.
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People behind science
Documents
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES
- VijayarajV, Hilt S., Leflaive J, Schmitt-Jansen M, Stibor H, Laviale M, Allen J, Kipferler N, PolstB, Gross EM: Assessment of bio-markers in macrophytes exposed to individual and combined pollutants of agricultural run-off and climate change. Oral presentation; SETAC Helsinki, May 2019.
- Gross EM, Vijayaraj V, Allen J, Polst B, Kipferler N, López Moreira GA, Hölker F, Leflaive J, Schmitt-Jansen M, Stibor H, Hilt S: Regime shifts in freshwater ecosystems exposed to multiple stressors by increasing temperature, fertilizers and pesticides (CLIMSHIFT). Poster; SETAC Helsinki, May 2019.
- Gross EM,Vijayaraj V, Leflaive J, Polst B, Allen J, Kipferler N, Bouletreau, S, Jassy, V, Laviale M, Schmitt-Jansen M, Stibor H, Hilt S: Impact of agricultural run-off and climate warming on shallow aquatic ecosystems – possible effects on a regime shift between aquatic primary producers. Poster; SETAC Helsinki, May 2019.
- Polst, B, Schmitt-Jansen M, Leflaive J, Stibor H, Hilt S: Agricultural run-off-induced regime shift in aquatic phototrophic communities changes with elevated temperature. SEFS, Zagreb, July 2019.
- Allen J, Gross EM, Bouletreau S, Compin A, Courcoul C, Elger A, Ferriol J, Hilt S, Schmitt-Jansen M, Stibor H, Jassey VEH, Laviale M, Vijayaraj V, Leflaive J: Can microbial functions mediate the impact of multiple stressors on regime shift in lake ecosystem? Oral presentation; SEFS Zagreb, July 2019.
- Gross EM, Vijayaraj V, Amoussou N, Kipferler N, Allen J, Courcoul C, Polst BH, Laviale M, Moreira Mazacotte GAL, Hölker F, Leflaive J, Schmitt-Jansen M, Hilt S, Stibor H: A question of complexity: Investigating regime shifts caused by agricultural run-off and climate warming between aquatic plants and microalgae in micro- and mesocosms. Oral presentation; SETAC SciCon (online), May 2020.