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Miguel B. Araújo Lab

Predicting the effects of environmental change on biodiversity

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IberianPonds

Testing changes in food web structures with aquatic mesocosms

The lab has recently established a unique mesocosm facility in the Iberian Peninsula, with funding from a large European research programme led by Miguel Araújo (IC&DT Call No 1/SAESCTN/ALENT-07-0224-FEDER-001755) that is due to completion in December 2014 . Mesocosms bring a small part of the environment under controlled conditions, although they are rarely replicated across regions because of high costs. Aquatic mesocosms are popular as they enable complete characterization of food webs from bacteria to vertebrates. Although lab experiments have enabled some progress towards understanding of the processes determining the structure and dynamics of ecological communities, they have rarely been generalized across regions with different climatic conditions. With this new and unique experimental mesocosm facility, we are now equipped to test assumptions and predictions regarding the structure and functioning of whole ecosystem food webs within each artificial pond and compare them across multiple experimental sites.

IberianPonds locations

Figure 1 – Distribution of mesocosm experimental sites along thermal gradient in the Iberian Peninsula. This system consists of 192 mesocosms deployed across six regions. Selected locations include Semi-arid (x2), Mediterranean (x1), Temperate (x1), and Alpine (x2) environments.

The mesocosms consists of 1000-L tanks that mimic small ponds. In each location, 32 mesocosms were installed ca. 3-5 meters apart. Mesocosms were initiated by adding 100kg of topsoil collected locally. We filled each mesocosm with local water; the final depth of the soil layer ranged from 5-8 cm as a result differences in water content of each soil. We inoculated mesocosms from late February to beginning of April 2014. In order to prevent confounding effects associated with the timing of installation we started with southern locations then moved north to track the rising temperatures and the beginning of spring. Following the addition of water, we left the mesocosms to settle without further manipulation for a month. The initial settling period allowed the establishment of primary producers (e.g., bacteria, microalgae), which were already present in the water, and insects (e.g., water striders) that independently colonized the ponds. Following the initial settling period, we inoculated the ponds with water collected from local natural and artificial ponds within a few kilometers from experimental site. This inoculation added further pool of species of producers (e.g., phytoplankton, benthic diatoms) and small consumers (e.g., zooplankton). Finally, we collected macroinvertebrates, macrophytes and sediment samples, adding a range of larger organisms such as molluscs. This sequential inoculation minimized potential differences among the sites associated with starting date of the experiments but also allowed to mimic a natural process of colonization in natural ponds. All mesocosms are left untouched until spring 2015 to allow establishment of aquatic food webs.

Biodiversity in the ponds

Rotifers (Keratella sp)
Microalgae (Pediastrum boryanum)
Water boatmen (family Corixidae)

Copepods (Acanthocyclops spp)
Microalgae (Pediastrum symplex)
Mosquitoes (family Culicidae)

Team: Prof. Miguel Araújo (Principal Investigator, PI); Dr. Miguel Matias (Co-PI and Post-doctoral Research Fellow); and Cátia Pereira (Technician)

Others talking about the Iberian Ponds project:

Naturlink: http://naturlink.sapo.pt/Noticias/Noticias/content/Peninsula-Iberica-Mega-experiencia-de-campo-pretende-determinar-o-impacto-das-alteracoes-climaticas-na-biodiversidade?bl=1

Ciência Hoje: http://www.cienciahoje.pt/index.php?oid=59274&op=all

 

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News

  • Highly cited researcher 2022
  • New project: NaturaConnect
  • Jury of Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity meets in Lisbon
  • Interview in "El Español"
  • Interview in Ambiente Magazine

Outreach

  • 200 anniversary of Alfred Russel Wallace
  • Is the planet full? TV programme
  • COP27 - Razones para optimismo?
  • Human disturbances affect the topology of food webs
  • Interview in Ambiente Magazine

Opportunities

  • La Caixa PhD studentship
  • Position available: Technician
  • Call for access to Iberian Pond data (2022)
  • First call AQUACOSM-PLUS
  • La Caixa Foundation PhD studentship on climate change and protected areas

Research Highlights

Human disturbances affect the topology of food webs

Biogeography of bird and mammal trophic structures

Strategy games to improve environmental policymaking

Response of an Afro-Palearctic bird migrant to glaciation cycles

Improvements in reports of species redistribution under climate change are required

Books

Biodiversidade 2030

Biodiversidade 2030

Ecological Niches and Geographic Distributions

Ecological Niches and Geographic Distributions

Spatial Conservation Prioritization

Spatial Conservation Prioritization

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