DETECTIVE (DEcadal deTECTion of biodIVErsity in alpine lakes)

Global warming threatens biodiversity in (ultra)-sensitive high Alpine lakes:
an assessment of past, present and future scenarios

Projektleitung/project management: Doz. Dr. Rainer Kurmayer and Prof. Dr. Thomas Weisse
Research Institute for Limnology, Mondsee of the University of Innsbruck (UIBK)

Dauer/project period: 3 years (from Dec 2009)

Projektfinanzierung/project funded by: Nationalkomitee „Alpenforschung“ of the Austrian Academy of Sciences providing means of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research.

Kurzfassung

In Österreich und seinen Nachbarstaaten werden die tiefgreifendsten, ökologischen Konsequenzen der globalen Erwärmung in den alpinen Ökosystemen, und dort im Besonderen an ökologischen Übergangszonen (= Ökotonen) wie der Baumgrenze, erwartet. Im vorliegenden Forschungsprojekt kann auf eine einzigartige Datenbank, welche vor zehn Jahren an 45 österreichischen Bergseen der Niederen Tauern Region (1500 – 2300 m SH) erstellt wurde, zurückgegriffen werden. Fünf Seen, die hinsichtlich ihrer durchschnittlichen Temperatur als (ultra) sensibel zu bezeichnen sind, werden im Zuge dieses Projekts neuerlich beprobt. Durch die Untersuchung der gleichen Indikatororganismen, sind wir in der Lage, Veränderungen innerhalb der Artenzusammensetzung, die in der letzten Dekade aufgetreten sind, zu analysieren. Weiters planen wir den Einsatz moderner und sensitiver, molekularer Sequenzierungsmethoden, um mögliche Veränderungen in der Biodiversität nicht nur auf Artniveau, sondern auch zwischen visuell nicht unterscheidbaren Unterarten aufzuzeigen. Neben der Publikation der Ergebnisse in wissenschaftlichen Zeitschriften sollen die Ergebnisse durch ein Schulprojekt der HBLA Ursprung einer breiteren Öffentlichkeit zugänglich gemacht werden.

Aims of the project and objectives

The major goal of this interdisciplinary study is to combine past and modern data to predict the likely ecological changes in Alpine lakes in the course of further climate change. Our approach is interdisciplinary, linking meteorology with hydrogeology and limnology of the study lakes and their catchment area. Microscopical enumeration of planktonic organisms will be supplemented using modern ultra-deep sequencing linked to bioinformatic exploration.

Objectives

1) Changes in species diversity

We expect that changes in air/water temperature will cause significant shifts in aquatic communities along an altitude gradient. Since the altitude in the Niedere Tauern region is relatively low (highest summits ca. 2500 m a. SL), true alpine planktonic taxa are expected to disappear during temperature rise.

2) Genetic population structure of alpine planktonic algae

It is expected that the short reaction times of aquatic organisms result in significant changes of planktonic population structure at relatively short time scales. Different taxa may, however, respond differently to the climate-induced disturbance. Microevolutionary processes (evolution below species level) will become visible by molecular genetic methods such as ultra-deep sequencing.

3) Catchment area and climate sensitivity

In previous studies geology (cristalline vs. carbonaceous) and vegetation cover (forested vs. non-forested) had the highest influence on the lake chemistry from all catchment characteristics. Thus, lakes that differ in these characters might also respond differently to climate warming.

4) Regional variability in response to climate change

Local impacts such as glaciers which are causing strong cooling of alpine lakes may completely disappear resulting in an over proportional increase in water temperature, followed by sudden changes in habitat characteristics.

Methods

We have selected five lakes in the Niedere Tauern region that are located at sensitive ecotones and for which, unique in the Alps, datalogger water temperature and chemistry data exist from the survey conducted ten years ago. The water temperature monitoring performed in the years 1998/99 is repeated in order to quantify the decadal temperature variation. Similarly the abundance/distribution of chrysophyte cysts in sediment traps and diatoms, chironomids and cladocera in the sediment surfaces of the lakes will be compared to the situation in the same lakes ten years ago.

The genetic analysis of important planktonic groups will be performed by sequencing ribosomal genes using 454 pyrosequencing, which due to its lower cost per sequence read and high throughput allows for sampling efforts that are orders of magnitude greater than traditional sequencing methods. Typically from cloned sequences a few hundreds to thousand of genotypes can be screened. In contrast using ultra-deep sequencing methods as many as several thousands of DNA sequences of a certain PCR amplified region can be sequenced in parallel leading to the detection of even rarely occurring genotypes.

A seasonal study at the lake Unterer Giglachsee (1921m above SL) will be performed through a high school project (HBLA Ursprung) during summer 2010. Particularly episodic events such as floods or dry periods will be studied by high-frequency (biweekly) or diurnally sampling in order to explore the response of planktonic organisms. Local influences such as snow fields or livestock on the physical and chemical water conditions will receive particular attention. Further the planktonic and benthic organisms occurring in the alpine lakes will be documented and catalogued in order to provide a tool to illustrate the biodiversity occurring in these sensitive ecosystems.

Contact and Links

Contact

Dr. Rainer Kurmayer
Project manager
rainer.kurmayer@uibk.ac.at

Dr. Sabine Wanzenböck
Public Relations
sabine.wanzenboeck@uibk.ac.at

Research Institute for Limnology, Mondsee
of the University of Innsbruck
Herzog-Odilostrasse 101
5310 Mondsee
AUSTRIA

Österreichisches Nationalkomitee für Alpenforschung
HBLA Ursprung


Publications

  • Luoto, T.P. & Nevalainen, L. (in press). A multiproxy reconstruction of effective precipitation in the central Austrian Alps since the Little Ice Age, Climate Research, doi: 10.3354/cr01184.
  • Nevalainen L, Ketola M, Korosi JB, Manca M, Kurmayer R, Koinig KA, Psenner R, Luoto TP. (2014). Zooplankton (Cladocera) species turnover and long-term decline of Daphnia in two high mountain lakes in the Austrian Alps. Hydrobiologia 722(1): 75-91. Link
  • Catalan, J., Pla-Rabés S., Wolfe, A.P., Smol, J.P., Rühland, K.M., Anderson, N.J., Kopáček J., Stuchlík E., Schmidt, R., Koinig K.A., Camarero, L., Flower R.J., Heiri O., Kamenik, C., Korhola, A., Leavitt, P.R., Psenner R., Renberg, I. (2013). Global change revealed by palaeolimnological records from remote lakes: a review. Journal of Paleolimnology 49:513–535. PDF
  • Nevalainen, L. & Luoto, T.P. (2013). Sedimentary chydorid (Cladocera) ephippia in relation to lake ecological quality in Austrian Alps. Journal of Limnology 72: 52-61. PDF
  • Luoto, T.P. & Nevalainen, L. (2013). Long-term water temperature reconstructions from mountain lakes with different catchment and morphometric features, Nature Scientific Reports 3, Article number:2488, doi:10.1038/srep02488. PDF
  • Luoto, T.P. & Nevalainen, L. (2013). Climate-driven limnology changes determine ecological thresholds in an alpine lake. Aquatic Biology 18: 47-58, DOI: 10.3354/ab00487, Abstract
  • Luoto, T.P. & Nevalainen, L. (2013). Climate change impacts on zooplankton and benthic communities in Lake Unterer Giglachsee (Niedere Tauern Alps, Austria). International Review of Hydrology 98: 80-88, DOI: 10.1002/iroh.201301461. PDF
  • Nevalainen L. & Luoto, T.P. (2012). Faunal (Chironomidae, Cladocera) responses to post-Little Ice Age climate warming in the high Austrian Alps. Journal of Paleolimnology 48: 711-724, DOI: 10.1007/s10933-012-9640-3. PDF
  • Luoto, T.P. & Nevalainen, L. (2012). Ecological responses of aquatic invertebrates to climate change over the past ~400 years in a climatically ultra-sensitive lake in the Niedere Tauern Alps (Austria). Fundamental and Applied Limnology 181: 169-181. PDF
  • Luoto, T.P. (2012). Spatial uniformity in depth optima of midges: evidence from sedimentary archives of shallow Alpine and boreal lakes. Journal of Limnology 71: 228-232. PDF
  • Luoto T.P. (2012). Intra-lake patterns of aquatic insect and mite remains. Journal of Paleolimnology 47(1): 141-157. PDF
  • Nevalainen L. (2012). Distribution of benthic microcrustaceans along a water depth gradient in an Austrian Alpine lake - Sedimentary evidence for niche separation. Limnologica 42: 65-71. PDF

Presentations

Kurmayer, R., Blank, S., Deng, Pröll, H., Gabriel, C., Schmidt, R., Psenner, R. Weisse, T. (2014). DETECTIVE - DEcadal deTECTion of biodIVErsity in apline lakes. presentation at the 15th Österreichischer Klimatag, University of Innsbruck, April, 2-4, 2014.


Links


Report for rebutting owners:
Biodiversitätsstudie in alpinen Seen der Niederen Tauern

 

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