SESSIONS
Please find all session titles, conveners and descriptions grouped under one of the following six broad categories. Some sessions could have been assigned to multiple categories but only appear once, and that may not be under the category where you look first.
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning
Andras Abonyi, WasserCluster Lunz, Austria
abonyiand@gmail.com
Evangelia Smeti, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Greece
Jana Isanta-Navarro, University of Montana, MT, USA
Robert Ptacnik, WasserCluster Lunz, Austria
Maria Stockenreiter, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, Germany
Biodiversity enhances community resource use efficiency and ecosystem stability. This relationship has received increasing attention with recent decline in global biodiversity, fragmentation of habitats, and the more frequent dominance of invasive and harmful species. In this session, we aim to enhance communication among researchers working on different aspects of plankton biodiversity. We welcome presentations that combine any aspect of biodiversity (as causes) with effects on any of the various ecosystem functions (as consequences). Presentations may cover, but are not limited to 1) testing biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationship (BEF) beyond primary production, addressing, for example, trophic transfer efficiency, biogeochemistry and stoichiometry; 2) mechanisms underlying community assembly and diversity under global change, considering, for example, the more frequent occurrence of harmful/invasive taxa in the context of BEF; 3) BEF studies considering historic and spatial effects (species pools). We invite presentations based on field observations, laboratory experiments, modelling studies, and conceptual work. We especially encourage talks that combine the effect of global environmental change and human impacts (e.g. warming, fragmentation, extreme events, regime shifts) with biodiversity or community assembly and corresponding alteration in ecosystem functioning.
Luciana Gomes Barbosa Federal University of Paraiba, PB, Brazil
lgomesbarbosa@gmail.com
Rachel Stubbington, Nottingham Trent University, UK
Manuela Moraes
University of Evora, Portugal
Carlos Lopez
Polytechnic School of the Coast, Ecuador
Global climate change is expected to intensify drying in temporary freshwater ecosystems around the world, altering their biodiversity and functioning. Drying can cause biodiversity to decline, reducing the resilience of ecosystems facing climate change and other intensifying human pressures. These ecosystems—including temporary lakes, wetlands, rock pools, man-made reservoirs, ponds, rivers and streams—provide many ecosystem services, and understanding their biodiversity and functioning is thus critical to inform effective conservation and management strategies. This session will showcase the latest, most exciting limnological research exploring drying freshwaters. Our scope is broad, and we invite contributions regarding any type of drying freshwater ecosystem, from tiny ephemeral pools to the marginal sediments of large, perennial rivers. We will explore drying freshwaters from biological, biogeochemical, ecological, hydrological, physical and wider interdisciplinary perspectives, as well as recognizing these ecosystems as socioeconomic systems. A diverse range of drying freshwaters occur across all continents, and we seek to represent international advances made by scientists studying systems from hot, arid lands to cold, wet regions. As their extent increases in our changing world, our multidisciplinary session will show how collaboration between global scientists and managers is transforming our understanding of temporary freshwater ecosystems and thus our capacity to manage them effectively. Our ultimate goal is to unite scientists and managers who seek to safeguard biodiversity in drying inland freshwaters for the next 100 years.
Sven Matern, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany
sven.matern@igb-berlin.de
Elias Ehrlich, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany
This session aims to bring together research on different aspects of fish ecology that promotes the understanding of how to successfully conserve, manage and sustainably use freshwater fish. The topics can cover all aspects of trophic interactions, effects of environmental gradients and population dynamics, including physiological, behavioural or evolutionary insights that enhance our understanding of key drivers and future challenges of freshwater fish populations. Specifically, we would like to facilitate ideas on broader ecosystem approaches linking multiple trophic levels and encourage people from different disciplines to find their way to the session. This could include bottom-up and top-down interactions between fish and plankton as well as fish and their predators. Furthermore, we see potential for several other topics here, including the response of fish populations to environmental change, regime shifts, fisheries management and conservation tasks related to habitat management and migration
Jordi Catalan, CREAF – CSIC, Spain
j.catalan@creaf.uab.cat
Fengzhi He, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany
Leopold Füreder, University of Innsbruck, Austria
Xiling Deng, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, Frankfurt, Germany
Sonja Jähnig, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany
Sami Domisch, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany
Davnah Urbach, Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment, Switzerland
Life in high-mountain waters remains understudied despite that these ecosystems experience rapid environmental change, including warming, altered precipitation regimes, and increasing human activities. Most previous studies focusing on high-mountain streams were conducted in Europe and North America. Our knowledge of biodiversity in high-mountain aquatic ecosystems at a global scale, their importance, and their vulnerability to global change remains limited. This session aims to bring together scientists focusing on different subdisciplines of limnology to evaluate the status, trends, and drivers of change in aquatic biodiversity in high-mountain regions. Following Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment working group priority themes, contributions are expected to: identify changes in and threats to biodiversity across the planet; provide long-term monitoring guidelines; and discuss strategies for conservation, restoration, and sustainable management of high-mountain aquatic ecosystems. Presentations will highlight innovations in biodiversity research (e.g., eDNA), including genetic, taxonomic, and functional facets, and conservation of high-mountain aquatic ecosystems. Studies across taxonomic groups (from microbe to vertebrates), habitats (e.g., lakes, streams, and wetlands), small and large areas, and temporal scales (e.g., paleolimnology, future scenarios) are welcome together with experimental and observational approaches that enhance the knowledge and understanding of the high-mountain aquatic biodiversity under global change. We expect a diverse group of scientists to contribute to this session, presenting their research on high-mountain aquatic biodiversity from different regions worldwide. The session will provide an excellent platform to extend global research networks focusing on biodiversity in high-mountain aquatic ecosystems.
Vadim Panov, Regional Euro-Asian Biological Invasions Centre, Finland vepanov@gmail.com
Invasions of non-native species in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems are considered a global environmental problem. Aquatic ecosystems seem at particular risk from invasive alien species (IAS) given the threats to biodiversity and water resources. Biological invasions in freshwater ecosystems have a number of potential impacts on community structure and ecosystem function. The objective of this special session is to provide a forum for international scientists to address designated themes to exchange information on ongoing fundamental and applied research, establishing scientific collaboration and informing management and policy development in this increasingly important topic. This session will cover the following themes: invasion ecology of freshwater IAS; freshwater invasions in a time of global social and climate change; impacts of IAS; pathways and vectors for the spread of IAS; risk management, control and prevention of the secondary spread of IAS; international networking in research, information exchange and management of IAS.
Simon Belle, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden
simon.belle@slu.se
Cécilia Barouillet, INRAE UMR CARRTEL, France
cecilia.barouillet@gmail.com
Eric Capo, ICM-CSIC, Spain
Laura Epp, University of Konstanz, Germany
Carsten Meyer-Jacob, Queen’s University, OT, Canada
Ebuka Nwosu, GFZ Helmholtz Center Postdam, Germany
Frank Riedel, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Hucai Zhang, Yunnan University, China
Cheng Zhao, Nanjing University, China
Freshwater ecosystems are experiencing rapid and extensive changes driven by accelerated anthropogenic activities and climate warming, which alter run-off patterns, biogeochemical cycles, and biodiversity dynamics, potentially triggering cascading effects at regional and global scales. Multi proxies paleolimnological studies, combining traditional proxies and rapidly evolving sedimentary DNA approach, provide unique insights into paleoclimate variability and past ecological changes. These novel approaches have allowed us to give a broad perspective about past ecosystem functioning, food-web dynamics and biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems over long time scales. In this session, new scientific knowledge related to paleolimnology of freshwater ecosystems will be presented, aiming to explore the complexity of ecosystem responses to climate change and other anthropogenic stressors, and provide insights into future trajectories of freshwater ecosystems.
Biogeochemistry and Microbes
Núria Perujo, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Germany
nuria.perujo-buxeda@ufz.de
Anna Freixa, Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Spain
Aquatic microorganisms have been affected – and will continue to be so – by global climate change and their responses are a growing concern for aquatic ecosystems. We understand global climate change as the set of climatic alterations in temperature and precipitation patterns as well as an increased frequency of extreme climate events. Microbial biofilms that develop on riverbed surfaces (i.e. sediments, cobbles, leaves, etc.) are key players of freshwater ecosystems as they are the base of trophic networks and due to their small size and fast generation time they respond very quickly to environmental changes. The main goal of the session is to understand how microbial biofilms respond to climate change and their potential to act as early warning indicators of ecosystem health. This session calls for contributions on the effects of climate change on microbial aquatic biofilms, including microbial community composition, functional diversity, phenotypic microbial traits, biofilm functioning and physiological responses. Original field studies of biofilms across biogeographical regions, experiments that manipulate global-change-related variables, and modelling studies using microbial variables as proxies of ecosystem health are welcome. In an increasingly changing future, knowing how microbial communities – and their functions – respond to it will help us to predict the impacts of global change in freshwater ecosystems.
Rebecca North, University of Missouri, MO, USA
northr@missouri.edu
Mindy Morales, University of Vermont, VT, USA
The world-wide increase in frequency, biomass, duration, and distribution of cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs) suggests conditions are becoming more favorable for their growth. Eutrophication is the most parsimonious explanation; increased nutrients are fertilizing phytoplankton and allowing cyanobacteria- superior competitors- to “win.” In remote regions, however, increasing incidences of cyanoHABs are seemingly disconnected from nutrient inputs. We are finding cyanobacteria at unexpected times (e.g., winter) and places (e.g., oligotrophic lakes). We also find weak relationships between traditional water quality parameters and cyanotoxin concentrations. The goal of this session is to explore alternative drivers of cyanoHABs and their toxins. We encourage contributions that extend the traditional nutrient-focused understanding of cyanoHAB ecology. Contributions can include studies at the field scale, lab, modelling, and predictive studies, which investigate both basic and applied research questions related to freshwater cyanoHABs in a range of study systems including lakes, reservoirs, streams, rivers, estuaries, and ponds. Contributions should encourage us to remove our nutrient-centric blinders and question assumptions of when and where to expect cyanoHABs and associated cyanotoxins.
Xiufeng Zhang, Jinan University, China
wetlandxfz@163.com
Lars Rudstam, Cornell University, NY, USA
The goal of many biomanipulations is to reduce the abundance of planktivorous fish, either by addition of piscivorous fish or by manually removing or reducing the biomass of undesired fish. The method was originally intended to reduce grazing pressure on zooplankton, thereby increasing grazing pressure on phytoplankton by zooplankton, especially Daphnia, to increase water clarity and promote the growth of aquatic macrophytes. Biomanipulation has become a commonly used technique for improving water quality of lakes and reservoirs after external nutrient load reduction. From a management point of view, biomanipulation is likely to be most successful in the long term in shallow eutrophic lakes. With decades of successful applications as a method for lake restoration, its popularity is increasing in the Northern Hemisphere. However, the effectiveness is questionable in tropical and subtropical regions because Daphnia are less abundant and planktivorous fish may be omnivores and can produce eggs all year round making them harder to control. In addition, large phytoplankton in some eutrophic conditions are difficult to handle by the zooplankton, including Daphnia. Furthermore, in the scenario of global climate warming, biological invasion and the enhancing human activities, the percentage of omnivorous fish increases, which may lead to reduced control of zooplankton on phytoplankton. So, the success of biomanipulation may be challenged also in the temperate zone. In this special session we wish to promote cross-continent comparisons of grazing manipulation-based biotechnology for restoration of eutrophic waters. We encourage contributions discussing results from field studies, experiments, models, and theoretical analyses.
Katrin Attermeyer, WasserCluster Lunz, Austria
katrin.attermeyer@wcl.ac.at
Scott D. Tiegs, Oakland University, MI, USA
tiegs@oakland.edu
Maximilian Lau, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany
Eric Benbow, Michigan State University, MI, USA
Gwendoline David, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany
Mark O. Gessner, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany
Inland waters receive, process, and transport large amounts of organic matter in dissolved (DOM) and particulate (POM) form. Both fractions are important components in biogeochemical cycles but contribute differently to carbon and nutrient cycling through specific forms of transport, use by organisms, transformation and mineralization. POM comprises plant and animal remains (e.g. leaf litter, large wood, carcasses) and flocs, faeces, and other fine organic particles. The diversity of DOM and colloidal organic matter, although less obvious, is at least equally high. Furthermore, evidence is emerging that POM and DOM interact in inland waters, which can critically affect ecosystem functions such as carbon mineralization and burial. However, the distinct roles of processes, reactions and interactions of DOM and POM, as well as the consequences for the transformation and removal of carbon and nutrients in inland waters has not been widely acknowledged. Against this backdrop, this session aims at highlighting the particulate and dissolved world of aquatic organic matter. We invite contributions focusing on DOM and POM composition, decomposition and dynamics, microbial communities attached to litter and other organic particles, as well as their functioning, with the overarching goal of bringing together researchers from diverse backgrounds to exchange concepts and insights.
Christopher Bellas, University of Innsbruck, Austria
christopher.bellas@uibk.ac.at
Christian Wurzbacher, Technical University of Munich, Germany
c.wurzbacher@tum.de
Maiko Kagami, Yokohama National University, Japan
Julia Reiss, University of Roehampton, UK
julia.reiss@roehampton.ac.uk
Organisms that are invisible to the naked eye are the most abundant component of any freshwater community. These tiny organisms span domains and phyla and include viruses, prokaryotes and eukaryotes such as aquatic fungi. Microscopically small organisms do not only exceed macroscopic eukaryotes in terms of their numbers by far, they are also extremely biodiverse and contribute substantially to energy flows in freshwater ecosystems. For example, recent studies have detected several new groups of viruses in lakes and rivers, demonstrating that we still do not know their full diversity and the implications of virus infection for freshwater bacterial and microeukaryotic populations. Free-living freshwater bacteria are ubiquitous in freshwater systems all over the world and a main driver of ecosystem processes such as organic matter decomposition. They are a basal food source in the microbial food web and an important component fuelling freshwater food webs as a whole. In the same vein, aquatic fungi are very important as parasites and saprophytes in aquatic food webs. Freshwaters are subject to global change and hence it is vital to capture the biodiversity and function of these different microbes that underpin freshwater ecosystems.
Sebastian Sobek, Uppsala University, Sweden
sebastian.sobek@ebc.uu.se
Raquel Mendonça, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Brazil
fm.raquel@yahoo.com.br
Sediments are a metabolically highly active compartment of freshwater systems, and the cycling of organic matter in inland water sediments largely affect the global carbon cycle and the climate. Organic carbon burial in sediments removes carbon to long-term storage in the geosphere, and therefore has a cooling effect on climate. On the other hand, organic matter degradation in sediments produces greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide), which has a warming effect on climate. Despite the global significance of these fluxes, freshwater sediments remain poorly understood. While past studies have provided insights into many aspects of sediment organic matter cycling (e.g. the effectiveness of organic carbon burial, the extent of methane ebullition and oxidation, the magnitude of nitrous oxide production, the effect of drying-rewetting cycles), most of these insights are based on the small scale of individual lakes or sediment cores. The application of this small-scale knowledge at larger scales (regionally or globally) remains a challenge, and requires verification from other systems. In addition, the potential anthropogenic perturbation to sediment organic matter cycling in inland waters is currently unknown. Here we invite presentations and discussions with an empirical and theoretical focus related to freshwater sediments and their dual role as carbon sinks and sources of greenhouse gases. We welcome contributions reporting field measurements, laboratory experiments and modelling, and spanning spatial scales from individual sediment cores to the globe.
Zhe Li, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
lizhe@cigit.ac.cn
Mina Bizic, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany
mina.bizic@igb-berlin.de
Bertram Boehrer, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Germany
Yves Prairie, Université de Québec à Montréal, QC, Canada
Hans-Peter Grossart, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany
hanspeter.grossart@igb-berlin.de
Gases and their release from inland waters have recently received great interests in limnological research since they constitute key players in the carbon cycle: released gases such as carbon dioxide and methane are the most important contributors to the current greenhouse effect. However, the relevance of gases goes far beyond this. Oxygen is a central agent for the metabolism of higher organisms, while carbon dioxide is a requirement for photosynthesis. Some lakes store immense amounts of gas which, when suddenly released, threatens animals and humans on land. Degassing due to instantaneous pressure change and strong turbulence mixing upon discharge from reservoirs not only results in significant emissions of methane, but also causes oversaturated dissolved gases in water, threatening downstream biological communities. In addition, there is emerging evidence that several biological mechanisms can contribute to oxic methane production. This challenges our further understanding of interactions between inland waters and the atmosphere, in particular under global climate change scenarios. Presentations will cover a wide range of topics, such as the nature of gas production via microbial processes, transport of gases, solubility, ebullition, diffusive exchange at the air-water interface and gas tracing. Furthermore, presentations of methodological development or the application of novel methods ranging from micro-scale experiments to upscaling exercises will be included in this session.
Maria Dittrich, University of Toronto, ON, Canada
m.dittrich@utoronto.ca
Michael Hupfer, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany
Man Xiao, Nanjing Institute of Geography & Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
m.xiao@griffith.edu.au
David Hamilton, Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, QLD, Australia
Michele Burford, Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, QLD, Australia
Ingrid Chorus, Private address (ex Federal Environment Agency), Germany
ingrid.chorus@gmail.com
Hans Paerl, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Our understanding of cellular stoichiometry and genetic regulation of nutrient uptake is growing. So is our frustration not only about insufficient control of nutrient loading, but also about situations in which external loads have been reduced, but internal loads remain significant. To control them effectively, we need an understanding of biogeochemical processes in sediments and methods to manipulate them. Also, where blooms occur, cellular nutrient uptake mechanisms and nutrient allocation within the cell are important for understanding drivers of species dominance and – for nitrogen – levels of cyanopeptide occurrence. Nitrogen can also have a critical role for limiting phytoplankton biomass. Explicitly including nitrogen in bloom control strategies therefore needs more attention. With 3 blocks of on-site and 7 pre-recorded on-line presentations, supported by 6 posters, this session addresses the mechanisms that drive both cellular responses to nutrients and nutrient releases from sediments. From this information we aim to discuss and derive options for more effective eutrophication control, including a stronger focus on the management of nitrogen loads. We intend to collect input from participants to discuss hypotheses and to develop strategies for more effective eutrophication management.
Xuexiu Chang, University of Windsor, OT, Canada
xchang@uwindsor.ca
Rainer Kurmayer, University of Innsbruck, Austria
Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cHABs) are infamous for their adverse impacts on water quality and human health, which is caused by the many bioactive metabolites that cHABs produce including well-known toxins such as microcystins, anatoxin-a and saxitoxins. However, the impact that lesser known metabolites have on other organisms is poorly understood. Their benefit for ecological fitness and ecological diversification in cHAB communities is not yet understood. Molecular tools enable studying populations or communities focusing on genotypes with and without the genes for the production of specific metabolites relative to conditions for their growth and dominance. Our aim with this session is to collate the current state of knowledge from this novel research on the genetic basis of cyanotoxins and ecology. This session welcomes presentations that contribute to elucidating factors impacting the genetic regulation of cyanobacterial bioactive metabolites and their possible role on the ecological or evolutionary success of genotypes in cHAB communities.
Data and Models
Marco Cantonati, MUSE – Museo delle Scienze, Italy
marco.cantonati@muse.it
Kalina Manoylov, Georgia College, GA, USA
The monitoring and assessment of inland water quality based on benthic algae has become an important element of the methodological toolkit adopted by water authorities and in limnological research. The topic is particularly timely now that such environmental assessments are sparking growing interest worldwide and discussions and revisions of methods and procedures have been initiated. The integration of metagenomic methods into the established approaches is a particularly important development. We invite contributions to the session on all aspects of inland water assessments and monitoring based on benthic algae, continuing a long tradition of international symposia on the use of algae for monitoring rivers and comparable habitats. Thus, the session will provide an opportunity to review and discuss algae-based monitoring in different countries around the globe, as well as improvements to methods and techniques, their use in the implementation of legislation and regulations, and the discussion of novel approaches. We consider assembling a set of selected solicited or unsolicited papers presented at the session for publication in a special issue of an international journal, as has been the case in previous symposia organized on the topic.
Natacha Tofield-Pasche, EPFL, Switzerland
natacha.tofield-pasche@epfl.ch
Bastiaan Ibelings, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Automated buoys are deployed in many lakes worldwide to collect and transmit an increasingly wide array of data acquired by sensors. Floating platforms have the added advantage of providing safe, dry and weather-protected working conditions, and allow installing laboratory instrumentation directly on the lake. Such automatic data collection has been shown to promote interdisciplinary lake studies with complementary measurements at high vertical and temporal resolution. More and more the integration of these in-situ lake data are being paired with and complemented by remote sensing. As an example of a floating laboratory providing access to different disciplines, we cite LéXPLORE (www.lexplore.info) a partnership of five academic institutions constructed a multipurpose platform for a broad range of scientific investigations on Lake Geneva (France, Switzerland). The scope of this session is to explore scientific investigations based on data collected at high-frequency with automatic buoys or floating platforms. One goal is to learn valuable lessons of established buoys and pioneering platforms, in order to promote such infrastructure elsewhere. Examples of research topics that have benefitted from the collection of diverse types of lake data, thus promoting a deeper understanding across disciplines in natural sciences, are lake gas exchange dynamics, carbon cycling, remote sensing, plankton dynamics, including blooms of toxic cyanobacteria or fish recruitment. Such infrastructure should be part of the next 100 years of sensing and safeguarding lake ecosystems.
Marco Toffolon, University of Trento, Italy
marco.toffolon@unitn.it
Robert Ladwig, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, USA
Samantha K. Oliver, U.S. Geological Survey, WI, USA
Sebastiano Piccolroaz, University of Trento, Italy
Tom Shatwell; Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Germany
Smart monitoring technologies have seen a thriving development in the last decades. Earth observation is providing freely usable data at increasingly higher spatial and temporal resolution. Low-cost computational power has supported the use of brute force in the application of complex algorithms. Because of this, in general we are observing a shift of paradigm towards the development and application of data-driven models and hybrid mechanistic-statistical models, which require data for their training and validation. This is true for all fields of environmental science, including limnology, where the rising availability of high-quality data of different type and nature allows the application of models to an extent that was hardly imaginable before. Overall, the emerging field of theory-guided data science brings exciting novel research opportunities and applications, but the question remains: What is the perspective for the future? The session welcomes contributions dealing with the development and application of models of different type (e.g., machine-learning, statistical, deterministic, hybrid, etc.) using a variety of data (e.g., remote sensing, high-frequency data) in the field of limnology (e.g., lakes, ponds, lagoons, reservoirs, rivers, groundwater), with a particular focus on data-driven models and on the synergy between data science and modeling.
Gonçalo Duarte, University of Lisbon, Portugal
goncalofduarte@isa.ulisboa.pt
Afroditi Grigoropoulou, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany
Paulo Branco, University of Lisbon, Portugal
Maria Üblacker, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany
Freshwater ecosystems host a variety of complex processes that can be approximated through the distinct spatial and temporal patterns they create. In the Anthropocene, ecosystems are increasingly impacted by anthropogenic occupation and actions. Considering that all land areas are draining to a river course and that river networks are hierarchical, dendritic and directional, using a riverscape approach provides a sound methodological perspective for freshwater ecological studies. Moreover, exploring how patterns in species occurrences, environmental characteristics and human stressors vary across different spatial and temporal scales is of particular relevance for a better understanding of freshwater biodiversity and processes. This session aims to: i) showcase studies revealing spatial trends, threats, pressures or management applications concerning river ecosystems across distinct riverscales; ii) focus on spatio-temporal modelling efforts aiming at describing and/or predicting both ecological processes and biodiversity patterns; iii) connect researchers working on riverscape approaches to anthropogenic impacts on river ecosystem features and; iv) allow researchers to be exposed to concepts and methods used in multiple and distinct topics of freshwater ecology. This session also wishes to attract contributions regarding novel approaches of species distribution models and hierarchical models, with a special emphasis on spatially explicit methods. Theoretical, field, methodological, cross-topic and applied perspectives are welcome to spark debate towards acknowledging future research on freshwater ecosystems.
Behnam Zamani, Department of Water Quality Engineering, Technical University of Berlin
Email: b.zamani.gharehchaman@tu-berlin.de
Physics and biogeochemistry are inextricably linked in lakes. The physics provides the background and drives biogeochemistry, which, in turn, feeds back to the physics and on itself. Coupling hydrodynamic and biogeochemical models is per se challenging and progress in the approach depends on an effective communication between modelers on either side of the physics/biogeochemistry divide. This communication across the divide, is particularly important to predict impacts of climate change out to decades or centuries. Predictions of the consequences of climate change for lakes generally require moving our models into regimes, where calibration and validation data might no longer apply. Thus, it is not only critical to consider inherent uncertainties in the physical or biogeochemical models, but also those resulting from interactions across the divide, i.e., when models are coupled. This session will provide a communication platform to raise and discuss important questions on coupling of physical and biogeochemical models, where modelers of lake biogeochemistry ideally present results that are of interest to modelers of lake physics, and vice versa. Therefore, we would particularly welcome contributions to focus their efforts on crossing the current disciplinary divide rather than informing only their own discipline. To address and evaluate the gaps of modeling aspects and skills that might exist between the two groups of lake modelers, we seek contributions reflecting (i) issues at the boundaries between physics and biogeochemistry, (ii) challenges in advancing discipline-based models that have implications across the physics/biogeochemistry divide, and (iii) model uncertainties that affect predictions under climate change.
Alexander H. Frank, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany
alexander.frank@igb-berlin.de
Tobias Goldhammer, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany
Stable isotope signatures of the light elements CHNOS are well-established tracers for biologically mediated processes and functions in aquatic ecosystems and can be applied on different levels of ecological organization. Recently, the advent of more accessible analytical capabilities, as well as facilitation of sample preparation, have expanded the scope of target phases, molecules, and processes being monitored with increased coverage, enabling improved interpretation than previously possible. In this session, we showcase recent advances in the application of stable isotope signatures of CHNOS that have paved the way to unprecedented insights into key processes and their drivers in freshwater ecosystems. Examples include, but are not limited to photosynthesis and primary productivity, food webs and energy flow in trophic networks, organic matter turnover, and nutrient dynamics, novel biomarkers, and contamination problems such as microplastics.
Abolfazl Irani Rahaghi, Eawag, Switzerland
abolfazl.irani@eawag.ch
Tiit Kutser, University of Tartu, Estonia
During the first one hundred years the limnological research has been predominantly based on in situ sampling in a limited number of waterbodies. Broadening of research problems (climate change, global carbon cycle, etc.) as well as technological advances in the last decades (automated buoy systems; airborne, surface and underwater drones, etc.) opened new possibilities for inland water research and monitoring. The launch of Sentinel satellites in the frame of the Copernicus Programme opened a new era in satellite remote sensing – moving from one-off scientific missions to long-term monitoring with confirmed funding for decades to come. Advancements in numerical modelling allow better understanding of the processes in inland waterbodies. On the other hand, they allow limnological research and monitoring to reach a new level where remote sensing, in situ data, and modelling are merged like in operational climate and weather services. This session aims at presenting the latest achievements in inland water remote sensing and integrated use of in situ data, remote sensing, and models. In particular, we invite contributions that demonstrate the development and employment of remote sensing for limnological research and monitoring as well as in investigating the underlying physical and biological processes by means of model simulations. This session will also provide researchers a chance to shape the future of Copernicus inland water services as the outcomes will be used in preparing a Roadmap for Future Copernicus Water Services that is to be developed in the future.
Jens Nejstgaard, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany
jens.nejstgaard@igb-berlin.de
Stella Berger, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany
Maria Stockenreiter, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, Germany
Lisette de Senerpont Domis, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), The Netherlands
Meryem Beklioğlu, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
Paraskevi Pitta, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Greece
Robert Ptacnik, WasserCluster Lunz, Austria
Global climate change and other anthropogenic pressures have major impacts on our ecosystems, resulting in new challenges, requiring new scientific strategies. These strategies need to go beyond the classical scientific approaches. As such, they do not only need to yield understanding of ecosystem functioning and allow to predict future responses to increased anthropogenic forcing, but also need to actively suggest and test possible solutions to mitigate these pressures. Only then it is possible to take solution-oriented action for the prevention or restoration of negatively impacted ecosystems. Such new approaches include nature-based solutions and environmental engineering. Mesocosm studies allow for the required upscaling to gain complexity, closeness to nature and assessment of feasibility of solutions. We also propose that optimizing use of already collected data and collaboration across domains would boost the advancement of aquatic sciences. This session invites contributions ranging from curiosity driven basic experimental studies of aquatic ecosystems, modelling of such data, and presentations of novel approaches and experiments to actively mitigate negative effects on all types of aquatic systems, in celebration of the 100-yr anniversary of SIL. Since international networking between early career scientists is important to build tomorrows’ science, -with collaboration being the cornerstone of excellent mesocosm-based science-, we encourage students and early career scientists to present results and ideas to promote future collaboration. Such partnerships could be realized in open networks and funding possibilities such as the AQUACOSM-plus transnational Activities (www.aquacosm.eu). Please join us to look for truly new solutions, beyond our traditional borders.
Ecosystem Linkages
Stella A. Berger, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany
stella.berger@igb-berlin.de
Sabine Wollrab, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany
Globally, inland waters face rising temperatures, shifts in precipitation patterns and an increased frequency of extreme weather events such as flooding and droughts. Forecasting long-term effects of global change at larger spatial scales needs regional assessments of lakes, rivers, wetlands and ponds with a focus on connectivity between local aquatic systems and their surrounding terrestrial matrix. In this special session we invite researchers working on connectivity of aquatic systems from different angles. We welcome contributions of theoretical approaches such as meta-ecosystem theory as well as empirical studies for regional coverage of response patterns of aquatic ecosystems and its dependence on connectivity. Empirical studies can range from small-scale to large-scale experiments, and include field studies as well as long-term data of river-lake networks, wetlands and pond systems. Ideas on future environmental monitoring and interpretation of available data to support more effective integrated management of connected inland waters for the mitigation of eutrophication impacts or other environmental challenges are appreciated.
Dominik Martin-Creuzburg (Brandenburg University of Technology; Dominik.Martin-Creuzburg@b-tu.de
Ralf Schulz, University Koblenz-Landau, Germany
schulz@uni-landau.de
Andreas Lorke, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany
Alessandro Manfrin, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany
John Strand, Hushållningssällskapet Halland, Sweden
Martin Kainz, WasserCluster Lunz, Austria
Tarn Preet Parmar, University of Konstanz, Germany
Margaux Mathieu-Resuge, WasserCluster Lunz, Austria
Cornelia Twining, Eawag, Switzerland
The close connection between aquatic ecosystems and adjacent terrestrial land has been a long-standing paradigm of limnological research. Existing concepts, however, mainly focus on the terrestrial input into freshwater ecosystems and the consequences for aquatic life. The flux of resources and pollutants from aquatic to terrestrial systems has been less studied. Recently intensified research revealed that material fluxes mediated, e.g., by emerging insects and hydrological connectivity, are of high ecological relevance, particularly for the receiving ecosystem including ecosystem services. In addition, these fluxes are increasingly affected by anthropogenic and climatic stressors, such as micropollutants, toxic cyanobacterial blooms, invasive species, and hydrological alterations. The session invites contributions from all aspects of resource and stressor transfer from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems. We also invite contributions that assess the vulnerability of terrestrial systems to alterations of these fluxes by stressors acting on inland waters.
Emma Kritzberg, Lund University, Sweden
emma.kritzberg@biol.lu.se
Ryan Sponseller, Umeå University, Sweden
Martin Skerlep, Umeå University, Sweden
Einar Naumann recognized a century ago the importance of the surrounding landscape in shaping the physicochemical conditions and subsequently the ecological structure of freshwaters. Geology, land cover, and climate all have profound influences on what solutes and suspended matter reach aquatic systems. Now in this era of environmental change, shifts in material loading are observed due to changes in land-use, atmospheric deposition, temperature, precipitation, and extreme events such as fires, floods, and drought. It is crucial to understand how this diversity of change on land affects biogeochemical fluxes, ecosystem processes, and ecosystem services of receiving freshwater systems. In this session we aim to host presentations that explore novel links between landscapes and surface water chemistry, including organic carbon, nutrients, minor elements, and pollutants. We invite contributions that identify the trends, drivers, processes, variance of such links. We invite also submissions that examine chemical, biological, or physical impacts of these links.
Daniel Perkins, University of Roehampton, UK
daniel.perkins@roehampton.ac.uk
Matthias Liess, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Germany
matthias.liess@ufz.de
Noël Juvingy-Khenefou, IES Landau, Institute of Environmental Sciences, University Koblenz-Landau, Germany
Victor Saito, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil
Pavel Kratina, School of Biological & Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, UK
Freshwater ecosystems are exposed to a cocktail of environmental stressors. Among these, land use change is recognized as a key driver of global biodiversity loss, but other stressors also act in unison. Understanding the impact of such widespread change is therefore a pressing challenge. This session brings together researchers working on the effects of single and multiple environmental stressors across levels of biological organization: from individuals (e.g., impacts on physiological rates) to ecosystems (e.g., impacts on ecosystem functioning). Talks will encompass research conducted in both lotic and lentic systems, over broad spatial and temporal scales, and through the lens of multiple ecological theories. Doing so will aid our understanding of the general impacts of land use and other stressors and the underlying mechanisms at play, providing a solid basis for empirical and theoretical unification.
Inland Waters and Society
Karsten Rinke, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Germany
karsten.rinke@ufz.de
Karl-Erich Lindenschmidt, University of Saskatchewan, SK, Canada
David Hamilton, Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, QLD, Australia
Many studies on climate change impacts predict signifcant changes for lakes and reservoirs with respect to physical and thermal structure, biogeochemical processing and ecosystem dynamics. Therefore, we are facing a growing demand (and pressure) to develop adaptation strategies. Reservoirs offer flexible operational options and ongoing changes in climate and catchment structure require adaptive management in order to fulfil the multiple purposes they are needed for. Even more, the services from reservoirs will most likely be more important in a warmer world and the expectations on their service-provisioning will rise. This leads to a situation where, on the one hand, ecosystem services of reservoirs are increasingly demanded and exploited but, on the other hand, the safe operating space for the ecological integrity of reservoirs and their upstream/downstream river networks will shrink. This session is intended to explore the expected risks, potential adaptation strategies as well as new approaches to monitoring, forecasting, and adaptive management.
Renske Vroom, Radboud University, The Netherlands
renske.vroom@ru.nl
Sarian Kosten, Raboud University, The Netherlands
Humans are excellent ecosystem engineers and have historically modified and created water bodies to serve their manifold needs. This includes food production, water storage, energy production and modifications for recreational use. Human alterations of freshwater systems drastically affect hydrology and carbon cycling. These systems, from which emissions can be exceptionally high, have been estimated to contribute more than half of the global methane emissions. In addition, they increasingly contribute to global nitrous oxide emissions. These ecosystems often receive high amounts of carbon and nutrients, resulting in the accumulation of anoxic, methanogenic sediments and the establishment of conditions favourable for greenhouse gas production. The global areal extent of human-made freshwater systems is expected to increase due to urbanization and the demand for alternative food and energy sources. Moreover, sedimentation rates and greenhouse gas emissions are enhanced by eutrophication and climate feedbacks. However, greenhouse gas emissions from these systems remain understudied and this hampers accurate incorporation in global emission estimates. A better understanding of carbon cycling in human-made freshwater systems is also essential for construction and management strategies that effectively minimize greenhouse gas emissions. For this session, we invite speakers working on greenhouse gas emissions and carbon burial in human-made freshwater systems, including aquaculture ponds, urban and agricultural artificial water bodies, and reservoirs.
Michio Kumagai, Ritsumeikan University, Japan
mkt24354@se.ritsumei.ac.jp
Ryusuke Kimitsuki, University of Alberta, AB, Canada
Due to the rapid changes in society and global climate, we urgently need to prepare for near-term future risks, including severe ecosystem degradation as well as natural catastrophes. In this session, we are calling for young people (such as high school or university students) to join us and have the opportunity to openly discuss with senior scientists on how and what we can do to contribute to save our hydrosphere and its associated biodiversity and ecosystem services. Presentations referring to diverse global water issues and solutions are welcome. We will cover diverse problems including microplastics pollution, endangered species, eutrophication, floods and water shortages. The session will include talks on ideas about potential solutions to these problems, towards the overall objective of keeping our planet safe for future generations.
Clara Mendoza-Lera, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany
mendozalera@uni-landau.de
Anna Lupon, Center for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), Spain
Núria Catalán, Laboratoire des Sciences du Cimat et de l’Environement (LSCE-CNRS), France
Nina Schlotz, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany
The study of freshwaters is full of passionate and fascinating women, who have made vast contributions to our current understanding of freshwater ecosystems. Today, women represent more than half of the total limnologists in training and at early-career stages. However, as in many other scientific disciplines, far fewer women are full professors or are leading research departments and academic institutions. In this session, we aim to raise awareness on the importance of gender equity for the freshwater community, and particularly on the role of women in limnology. We welcome contributions that discuss key vulnerabilities that challenge women’s careers in freshwater ecology, and that identify activities, strategies and solution-based approaches promoting visibility and participation of women at all career stages. Improving the inclusivity of women in freshwater sciences is critical to meet environmental challenges based on different perspectives as well as to progress towards a safer and healthier scientific community.
Sandra Poikane, EC Joint Research Centre , Italy
sandra.poikane@ec.europa.eu
Ken Irvine, IHE-Delft, The Netherlands
Bryan Spears, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, UK
Stuart Warner, United Nations Environment Programme, Ireland
New sustainability ambitions are upon us, yet, our approach to managing freshwater ecosystems remains stuck in the past. Emerging international policy initiatives (e.g., the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) & Decade on Restoration; European Green Deal & Biodiversity Strategy 2030) call for a widening of the lens on freshwater management beyond the control of biophysical stressors and ecological responses to include sustainability- and use-based benefits (e.g., inclusivity, net zero carbon, and socio-economic gains). To achieve this will require improvements and coordination of target setting, design and implementation of restorative and preventative measures, and monitoring and assessment systems from catchment to global scales. Monitoring systems are lacking in some countries as are targets for historical (e.g., nutrient pollution) and novel pressures (climate change, digital economy wastes, etc.). There is an urgent need to understand the relationships between biophysical and ecological processes with wider sustainability indicators, accounting for social and economic ambitions and international commitments. This is essential to support countries as they develop sustainability-based monitoring and assessment systems for the first time, for example, as required by the UN SDG 6.3.2. This session will share international experiences on the development of sustainable freshwater management programmes. We welcome real-life critical evaluations of past successes and failures as well as new perspectives on enhancing sustainable freshwater management to meet the challenges and ambitions of the 21st Century. This session is supported by the UNEP coordinated World Water Quality Alliance Workstream on Ecosystem Restoration in partnership with the SIL Working Group on Lake Restoration.
Elisabeth I. Meyer, University of Münster, Germany
meyere@uni-muenster.de
Astrid Schwarz, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, Germany
This special session explores the early history of the Societas Internationalis Limnologiae (SIL). “What actually is limnology” was the question that would finally lead to the foundation of SIL. The initial impetus goes back to the early 1920s, when Einar Naumann and August Thienemann got involved in a momentous correspondence that resulted in a highly productive scientific program, which is still ongoing today. We invite to this session contributions dedicated to persons and places, visions and theories, methods and objects in the early period of limnology, which from the beginning was an international and interdisciplinary endeavor. Furthermore, we welcome contributions focusing on the social, political and national contexts of activities in and on aquatic environments in the first half of the 20th century, such as the economics of fish ponds, running waters as receiving streams, or the eco-sociological potential of dams. Questions that might be addressed include: What were the drivers that gave rise to the foundation of a limnological society? Which of the early scientific topics of SIL have persisted until today? To what extent have these topics shaped contemporary discussions about philosophical issues, such as the holism debate? In which ways did technological advances influence activities and developments in limnology?
Sabine Hilt, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany
sabine.hilt@igb-berlin.de
Soren Brothers, Royal Ontario Museum, OT, Canada
Claire Oswald, Ryerson University, OT, Canada
With half of the world’s population living in cities already today, urbanization is further increasing worldwide. Man-made channels, ponds and other artificial water bodies complement natural aquatic ecosystems in urban areas such as streams and rivers, lakes and groundwater. These urban water bodies provide important ecosystem services. At the same time, they are subject to strong human influences, specifically by massive hydromorphological modifications, chemical pollution, nutrient enrichment, elevated temperatures, noise, artificial light at night and the facilitation of species invasions. Urban waters can thus be viewed as hotspots of global environmental change. Understanding the response of urban inland waters to these multiple stressors is an ongoing challenge. One of the recent research foci are the interfaces between components, subsystems or compartments of the urban water system as a whole. Such interfaces exist at multiple spatial scales, ranging from micrometres in biofilms to metres in drinking water wells, or kilometers in treated wastewater channels linking sewage plants and receiving streams. Major hydrological, biogeochemical and biological processes such as bank filtration, nutrient transformations, benthic primary production or greenhouse gas emissions are located at these interfaces and are potentially affected by the multiple stressors characterizing urban environments. This session invites presentations on responses of urban inland waters to global change. Contributions can span from individual processes or species to communities and ecosystems. The goal is to contribute to an integrative analysis, understanding and modelling of urban inland waters to improve sustainable water resource and ecosystem management in urban areas.
Stressors
Núria Catalán, Laboratoire des Sciences du Cimat et de l’Environement (LSCE-CNRS), France
ncatalangarcia@gmail.com
Warwick F. Vincent, Laval University, QC, Canada
Ada Pastor, Aarhus University, Denmark
Weidong Kong, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Anne Kellerman, Florida State University, FL, USA
Rachael Morgan-Kiss, Miami University, OH, USA
Nicolas Valiente, University of Oslo, Norway
Laure Gandois, Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (UMR CNRS-UPS-INPT), France
Global climate change has focused attention on the cryosphere because of its sensitivity to warming. High latitude (Arctic and Antarctic) and high altitude (the ‘Third Pole’) environments are now the most rapidly warming regions of the world, with wide-ranging impacts on the cryosphere (glacier and ice sheet retreat, loss of ice-cover, permafrost thaw, snow to rain transformation) and associated landscape and hydrological processes (greening, thermokarst, runoff, water balance). The abundant lakes, rivers and wetlands in these regions are highly sensitive to all of these changes. Additionally, they encompass an enormous diversity of limnological conditions, including extreme environments and their associated biota that provide models for wider biogeochemical and ecological understanding. In this session, we aim to showcase studies on how climate-induced changes are affecting the structure and function of different types of aquatic ecosystems of polar and alpine sites, and analyses evaluating limnological similarities and differences among the Three Poles. Contributions will be welcome on topics such as biogeochemical cycling, ecosystem function, biodiversity, biogeography, sentinel taxa and food web ecology, with emphasis on climate impacts on polar and alpine aquatic ecosystems.
Erik Sperfeld, University of Greifswald, Germany
erik.sperfeld@uni-greifswald.de
Jason Stockwell, University of Vermont, VT, USA
Eleanor Jennings, Dundalk Institute of Technology, Ireland
Alexander Wacker, University of Greifswald, Germany
Interest in understanding the effects and consequences of environmental variability in abiotic and biotic drivers of change on ecological systems has grown in recent decades. This interest has arisen from a spectrum of observational scales – from growing concerns related to increases in the occurrence and frequency of climatic extremes to appreciation of the limits of using constant environmental conditions in experiments that naturally represent dynamic systems. Environmental variability may weaken or intensify the effects of antecedent environmental conditions on biological systems, and conversely, antecedent conditions may mitigate or exacerbate the effects of environmental variability. Hence, understanding the effects of such variability on the state of an ecosystem, and the potential cascading impacts on the physiology, demography and interactions of aquatic biota, is necessary for predicting the consequences of ongoing environmental change on aquatic communities, water quality, and ecosystem services. This session calls for contributions from across the range of approaches (theoretical, experimental, observational, and modeling) that can be used to investigate the effects of environmental variability and extremes on all aspects of freshwater ecosystems, from individual organisms to cross-lake system comparisons. Broadly defined, environmental drivers include seasonal or periodic fluctuations in temperature, oxygen, pH, light, nutrient supply, food quantity/quality, and disease, or extreme events such as droughts, heat waves, or storms. This session will offer a platform to share the most recent research and ideas in a topic area that is growing, but still underexplored, in aquatic ecology.
Pieter Spaak, Eawag, Switzerland
spaak@eawag.ch
Blake Matthews, Eawag, Switzerland
In the past century, many lakes have undergone extensive changes: untreated sewage and intensive agriculture led to severe pollution of lakes that became nutrient-rich (eutrophication). Many of these polluted lakes have been restored through countermeasures that were taken (re-oligotrophication), but irreversible changes to the communities of aquatic organisms are reported from many systems (e.g. extinction of species). On top of these changes, other stressors (e.g. Climate Change; invasive species; micro pollutants; micro plastics) influence lakes, and their impact is often unclear because different stressors interact. In this session we plan to bring together scientist that study changing lakes and their resilience to better understand these ecosystems, their biodiversity and functioning, as well as the utilisation of lake resources by people.
Elisabeth Gross, Université Lorraine, LIEC UMR 7360 CNRS, France
gross5@univ-lorraine.fr
Shallow aquatic systems are abundant in agricultural landscapes, and due to their high surface-to-volume ratio highly susceptible to suffer from climate warming and agricultural run-off, mixtures of nutrients and pesticides. Such systems include shallow lakes and ponds as well as small streams or ditches. They are important components in landscapes, providing habitat for diverse aquatic communities, representing important elements in habitat connectivity, and being biogeochemical hotspots relevant for e.g. carbon storage and/or greenhouse gas emissions. Their good ecological status – represented by clear water and the presence of diverse submerged macrophytes and associated fauna – is often threatened by multiple stressors acting locally (e.g., pollution, browning, sky glow) or globally (e.g., warming). This session welcomes presentations from laboratory or outdoor experiments, field observations and modelling approaches on multiple stressor effects influencing shallow aquatic systems, either standing or running waters. We welcome studies from different climatic regions and different geochemical settings. The aim of the session is to represent a wide range of different systems, identifying differences and similarities in response to single and combined stressors and stressor interactions. A common theme could be the identification of direct and indirect effects acting on different functional groups. Studies can focus on different ecological levels, from individual species responses to community or ecosystem effects. Findings could assist policymakers finding ‘safe operating spaces’ by identifying feasible mitigation options enhancing the resilience of shallow aquatic ecosystems in a changing world.
Katrin Wendt-Potthoff, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Germany
katrin.wendt-potthoff@ufz.de
Martin Blettler, National Institute of Limnology (INALI) CONICET-UNL, Argentina
Plastic pollution is mainly recognized in the oceans, but i relevant also in rivers, estuaries, lakes and wetlands. Composition of plastic debris, transport pathways and interaction with biota show similarities, but also important differences to marine systems, which are not yet well understood. Knowledge gaps result, among others, from inconsistent monitoring or sampling strategies and geographic bias. We therefore encourage presentations covering systematic assessments of all sizes of plastic in inland water systems, observations related to extreme weather or pandemic, and studies at the freshwater-ocean or freshwater-terrestrial interface. Moreover, plastic interactions with water-associated biota beyond ingestion will be of special interest.
Pieter Lemmens, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany; KU Leuven, Belgium
pieter.lemmens@igb-berlin.de
Biljana Rimcheska, Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria
Lena Fehlinger, WassercLuster Lunz, Austria
Sandra Brucet, Universitat Central de Catalunya and Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Spain
Ponds are the most numerous freshwater ecosystems on Earth. They are important habitats for aquatic biodiversity, provide vital ecosystem services, and are key elements of blue landscape connectivity. Ponds can also play a pivotal role in mitigating and adapting to global change. Despite their importance, ponds are mostly neglected in current policies and conservation programs. This is surprising since ponds are increasingly exposed to multiple anthropogenic stressors that undermine their ecological integrity and related ecosystem services, including social, environmental and economic aspects. Understanding how land-use intensity, connectivity and the ecological quality of ponds in landscapes feeds back to exacerbate or ameliorate local and regional anthropogenic impacts is crucial for the development of effective conservation strategies that aim to enhance the capacity of ponds to increase resistance and resilience to global change. The overarching aim of this session is to obtain a holistic picture of current research by synthesizing knowledge on how ponds and their biota respond to global change, how this translates in effects on ecosystem services, how local scale processes interact with regional landscape scale processes, and how management strategies can improve the capacity of ponds to mitigate and adapt to global change. We explicitly aim to interconnect early career researchers in fundamental research, approaches of citizen science, conservation and restoration management.