FRESHCLIM · Freshwater biodiversity and community composition in a changing climate: from ecosystem manipulation to biogeographical patterns

The project has three main objectives: i) To assess climate change and nutrient effects on phenology, biodiversity (taxon richness and species derived measures), and community composition of freshwater organisms, ii) To assess the importance of connectivity for species diversity (taxon richness and species derived parameters) and community composition of freshwater organisms under climate change, and iii) Predict the geographic range of individual species as a function of climate and other environmental variables (e.g. land-use and stream flow) including forecast range shifts of organisms due to climate change and identify potential climate change sensitive (species) indicators. The main reason for suggestion this project is that human activities are causing water pollution, habitat loss and/or degradation, overexploitation, flow modifications, and alien species invasions to freshwater ecosystems on all continents and at the same time freshwater ecosystems contain a especially high amount of biodiversity. There are also evidence that climate change effects are already taking place in freshwater ecosystems across Europe. FRESHCLIM therefore aims at combining research questions at the forefront of freshwater- (including both lakes and rivers) as well as terrestrial ecology, investigating responses to climate change as well as other human induced pressures on these ecosystems. It links climate change effects on phenology as well as biodiversity and community composition with the effects of multiple stressors such as eutrophication, hydrology and morphology. FRESHCLIM spans timescales of 10 years to 10.000 years and spatial scales from meters to more than 3.000 km. With the FRESHCLIM project I expect to advance current knowledge of how freshwater ecosystems react to climate change in a multiple stressors environment. An area that are of high priority for the adaptation, mitigation, and restoration of our important freshwater resources.""