Subalpine lakes project – Phyto- and zooplankton diversity along an elevational gradient
Funding: Lower Austria
Project leader: Robert Ptacnik
Project summary:
Lakes in the Alps represent a considerable fraction of nutrient-poor lakes in Central Europe, with unique biodiversity and ecosystem properties. While some individual lakes are well-studied, less knowledge is available on large-scale patterns that are essential to generalise the understanding on their functioning. We sample 34 lakes in the montane region of the Alps (in Austria and Germany) for bacterio-, phyto- and zooplankton and in combination with 20 further lakes sampled by the EAWAG in Switzerland, we will study regional diversity patterns and their drivers along a longitudinal (650 km) and elevational gradient (400-1200 m).
Results:
Horváth, Zs., Vad, Cs. F., Preiler, C., Birtel, J., Matthews, B., Ptáčníková, R., & Ptacnik, R. (2017). Zooplankton communities and Bythotrephes longimanus in lakes of the montane region of the northern Alps. Inland Waters, 7(1), 3-13.
aquascale lab 