Alpine lakes

Alpine environments are and will be strongly affected by global change. Especially altered temperatures, land use and tourism may affect alpine lakes and their inhabiting organisms. In this project, we investigate the impacts of a changing environment on zooplankton communities in alpine lakes in the  National Park Hohe Tauern. We will sample zooplankton from 18 lakes in three valleys (Innergeschlöß, Seebachtal and Obersulzbachtal) over many years and will measure a number of environmental variables such as oxygen content, nitrate concentrations and chlorophyll. Temperature data loggers will be placed in the lakes and will record local temperatures over the different seasons. We are also planning to collect sediment cores to reconstruct conditions and communities from the past in order to better understand the development of these habitats and their species under changing conditions. This project is run in collaboration with Steve Wickham and Ulrike Berninger. Articles about our work (in German):  barfi,  telebasel,  ORF, Nationalpark Hohe Tauern – Das Magazin.