Geoecology (Heiri)Head of Research Unit Prof. Dr.Oliver HeiriOverviewMembersPublicationsProjects & CollaborationsProjects & Collaborations OverviewMembersPublicationsProjects & Collaborations Projects & Collaborations 8 foundShow per page10 10 20 50 FrozenEcosystems - Understanding Siberia's past with a combination of state-of-the-art and next-generation ice core methods Research Project | 3 Project MembersGlaciers are unique natural archives that contain geophysical and geochemical indicators of past environmental change, and ice cores from high-alpine glaciers have recently been analyzed also for microfossils, particularly pollen from terrestrial plants. Microfossils provide complementary information to other paleo indicators in ice cores and in combination with them allow reconstruction of large-scale vegetation changes, and past vegetation - fire - climate linkages. Background / Rationale: The vast boreal forests in Siberia are suffering severe degradation from climate change-related droughts, increasing fire risks, and human activities. However, paleoecological records for Siberia are scarce, usually reflect local source areas and often lack chronological precision to correlate them in detail with other paleoclimate and environmental data. Siberian high-alpine glaciers are underexplored natural archives for understanding vegetation and fire dynamics that preserve many climate and environment tracers, including microfossils that provide detailed ecosystem information at exceptional chronological precision. We will develop high-resolution records of ecosystem and fire dynamics from a new ice core from Belukha glacier, southern Siberia. Conventional, manual microscope-based identification of microfossils in ice cores and other archives is time-consuming, severely limiting the achievable temporal resolution. Hence, we will apply and further develop emerging automated detection and classification approaches for microfossil identification to overcome such limitations. Objectives: The project will provide 1) a new holistic view on millennial-scale boreal forest dynamics and drivers of past vegetation change from Siberia and 2) groundbreaking methodological advancements for automated image analyses for microfossils in ice core samples using automated detection and classification approaches. Specifically, we aim to generate a multiproxy vegetation and fire reconstruction from Belukha glacier spanning the Holocene and potentially extending to the Last Glacial period to assess supraregional ecosystems dynamics and the role of fire regimes during periods with extreme climate amplitudes. We aim to introduce a next-generation automated detection and classification approach of pollen and other microfossils to ice core research. After successful application to the Siberian ice core, characterized by low pollen diversity, we will test the approach on ice samples with various degrees of floristic diversity from around the world, and finally more complex samples from sediments which contain various non-pollen structures that complicate the analysis. Methods: We will apply state-of-the-art manual optical pollen and spore analyses to infer past vegetation and land use dynamics, as well as charcoal and black carbon analyses to achieve a multiproxy fire reconstruction. We will combine these established methods with a promising emerging technology for automated microfossil detection and classification that we will apply for the first time to ice cores. Due to the exceptional preservation of pollen and low contamination with other organic debris, ice cores are particularly well suited for further developing such methods before potential application to other natural archives with more complex interferences and matrices. Analyses will be conducted on an ice core for which many other proxy records (e.g., for temperature/ precipitation/ drought/ air pollution) have been obtained already. This will allow us to directly assess the relationship of reconstructed ecosystem patterns with other environmental records and enable testing of hypotheses regarding drivers of ecosystem change and feedback mechanisms between vegetation, fire, climate, and other environmental conditions. Expected results / Impact: We will generate an exceptionally long paleoecological ice core record for mid-latitudes from Siberia, providing an integrated view on how ecosystems have responded to centennial to millennial scale environmental change. The microfossil record will deliver a regional picture of vegetation history and allow us to assess how climate change, specifically projected future reduction in moisture, will affect boreal forest ecosystems and fire regimes in the region by providing an analogue reconstruction of the past. We will also advance image analysis for pollen and other microfossils by further developing and applying this methodology to ice core records, which will provide a tool for future investigations in glacier ice samples but also in more complex pollen samples from other environmental archives such as lake or marine sediment cores. Ultra-high-resolution, multi-indicator assessment of recent climate change impacts in remote Swiss mountain lake ecosystems Research Project | 1 Project MembersOngoing climate change is one of the most pressing environmental concerns, particularly also for ecosystem management and nature conservation. As coldwater ecosystems, mountain lakes are exceptionally vulnerable to climatic warming to the extent that they are considered "early warning systems", showing the evidence of climate impacts earlier than other ecosystem and lake types. However, considerably less attention has been given to understanding the impacts of recent climatic warming on Swiss mountain lakes compared with other similarly sensitive and vulnerable geo- and ecosystems (e.g. glaciers, alpine treeline, alpine meadows). This project will use an innovative, two-pronged palaeoecological approach to document how Swiss mountain lakes have responded to pronounced climatic warming experienced during recent decades, particularly in respect to summer temperatures. Palaeoecological reconstructions with an exceptionally high temporal resolution will be developed from the remains of organisms preserved in the sediments of 10 Swiss mountain lakes. The records will cover the past ca. 100-150 years with a particular focus on the past 30 years that are characterized by a pronounced rise in summer temperatures in the Swiss Alps. Analyses will focus on state-of-the-art and established palaeolimnological and palaeoenvironmental indicators such as chironomids and other aquatic insect remains, diatoms, cladocerans, pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs, but also on novel, recently developed approaches such as stable carbon isotope analysis of chitinous invertebrate remains. This work will be supported by geochronological ( 137 Cs, 210 Pb) and basic geochemical (e.g. organic matter content, bulk sediment delta C-13/delta N-15, XRF) analyses. For the examined indicators these records will reveal recent changes in species composition and functional groups (e.g. planktonic versus benthic forms), changing abundances of taxa typical for variations in nutrient availability, lakewater pH or deepwater oxygenation, and also show whether there is evidence for variations in carbon cycling in lacustrine foodwebs with increasing temperatures, based on carbon isotope analyses of sensitive invertebrate groups. Surface sediments will be collected from a further 15 lakes that have been sampled with similar methods 30 years ago and will be examined for diatom, chironomid and cladoceran assemblages. These analyses will reveal changes in assemblage composition between two time intervals bracketing the most recent summer temperature rise in the Alps, and will allow an assessment of whether assemblage changes in these indicator groups in the high-resolution records are representative for a larger number of lakes and lake types. Interpretations will be supported by indirect evidence on changes in other global change drivers that may have affected the study lakes, provided by the analysed palaeoecological proxies (e.g. in respect to land use (pollen), fish predation pressure (cladocerans) or pH (diatoms)), and by a systematic collection of documentary, instrumental and remote sensing data for the study sites. Final analyses of the project results will combine the two lines of evidence (downcore records, surface sediment data) and will be used to critically evaluate, and potentially revise, climate responses expected for these sensitive ecosystems based on presently available ecological and ecosystem knowledge. The project will provide a broad-scale, regional assessment of the effects of ongoing climatic warming on Swiss mountain lakes and one of the most ambitious and extensive palaoeecological assessments of recent climate change response of aquatic ecosystems to date. The project will therefore be relevant, and potentially influential, for a range of different research and stake holder communities not restricted to palaeoecologists, palaeolimnologists, and Quaternary geologists but also including the broader community of ecologists, geoscientists and ecosystem managers studying and assessing ongoing global change impacts on sensitive eco- and geosystems in the modern environment. Aquatischen Invertebraten/Chironomiden-Überreste in Sedimenten des Vierwaltstättersees Research Project | 1 Project MembersNot available Erfassung der Quell-Lebensräume im Biosphärengebiet Schwarzwald und Ableitung eines regional angepassten Schutzkonzeptes Research Project | 2 Project MembersQuellen sind ein sehr artenreicher und stark bedrohter Lebensraumtyp. Neben ihrer Störungsempfindlichkeit sind Quell-Lebensräume verletzlich gegenüber Klimaveränderungen. lhre Lebensgemeinschaft kann auch als Zeiger des Klimawandels genutzt werden. In einem Pilotprogramm sollen der Schutz und Erhaltung der Biodiversität natürlicher Quellen im BSG Schwarzwald sowie die Bewahrung der Ökosystemdienstleistungen angestrebt werden. Fur ein nachhaltiges Schutzkonzept fehlen bisher eine fundierte Datengrundlage und Bewertung des lst-Zustandes der Quellen. Dies soll in einem ersten Schritt anhand ausgewählter Quellen erreicht werden. Dabei sollen etablierte Kartier- und Bewertungsverfahren sowie methodische Grundlagen aus Untersuchungen in der Schweiz, Bayern und Hessen angewendet, verglichen und ggf. an die Situation im BSG - unter Abstimmung mit der LUBW - angepasst werden. Es werden verschiedene Typen der Quell-Lebensräume und biogeografische Unterschiede der Einzugsgebiete untersucht. Zu erhebende Parameter sind u.a. Struktur, Morphologie, chemisch-physikalische Parameter, Makrozoobenthos, Amphibien, Moose, Gefässpflanzen und endemische Arten. Ebenso werden Veränderungen der Parameter mit und ohne anthropogene Nutzung sowie Hinweise auf potentielle Veranderungen, verursacht durch Klimawandel, analysiert. Ausserdem soll ein eDNA-Monitoring fur typische ausgewählte Quellen-lndikatorarten etabliert werden. Ebenso wird ein begleitendes Monitoring und Langzeitbeobachtung bestimmter lndikator-Arten eingerichtet unter Einbindung universitärer Abschussarbeiten sowie von Citizen Science. Um die Akteure für Quellen und den Schutz ihrer Lebensgemeinschaft zu sensibilisieren, wird ein zielgruppenangepasstes Kommunikationskonzept fur Öffentlichkeit, Behördenvertreter (Forst, Landwirtschaft, etc.), NGO erarbeitet, welches u.a. Schulungen, Exkursionen, Vorträge, lnformationsbroschüren, Massnahmenkatalog und Handlungsleitfaden beinhaltet. Klima, Umwelt, Mensch im Thurgau (KUMiT): Bohrkernuntersuchungen im Kanton Thurgau Research Project | 3 Project MembersPaläoökologische Analysen erlauben die Rekonstruktion vergangener Umwelt- und Landschaftsveränderungen und können Einsichten in den Einfluss verschiedener Treiber (z.B. Klima, menschlicher Einfluss) auf heutige Landschaften und Ökosysteme liefern. Im Rahmen dieses Projektes werden hochaufgelöste Rekonstruktionen von Ökosystem- und Umweltveränderungen während den letzten ca. 12'000 Jahren im Kanton Thurgau anhand von neu beprobten Seesedimentsequenzen und naturwissenschaftlichen Analysen erarbeitet. Ziel der Arbeiten ist es, vor allem die Veränderungen in Vegetation, Seeökosystemzuständen und menschlichen Einflüssen auf die Umwelt seit dem Neolithikum detailliert zu erfassen und zu rekonstruieren. Dadurch wird es möglich sein, bekannte archäologische Funde und geschichtliche Ereignisse im Kanton Thurgau im Kontext der entwickelten Datensätze neu zu interpretieren, sowie Erkenntnisse über die Wechselwirkung Mensch-Natur-Umwelt während der letzten 12'000 Jahre zu erarbeiten, die deutlich über den heutigen Wissensstand hinausgehen. Diese Zusammenarbeit mit dem Amt für Archäologie, Kanton Thurgau, wird weitgehend aus Mitteln des Walter Enggist-Fonds finanziert. Long-term monitoring of springs in the Swiss National Park (SNP) Research Project | 1 Project MembersSprings and headwaters worldwide are faced with severe environmental changes caused by Global Climate Change. These changes will be more drastic in alpine regions. Increased temperatures, changed hydrological conditions and glacier retreats are the most prominent effects predicted. Rising water temperatures and a changed discharge regime will have dramatic consequences for springs and their springbrooks. The changed ecological conditions will have impacts on the composition of species assemblages. It is, yet, still unknown what the consequences will be for species composition and ecosystem functioning. Overall, biodiversity loss and a homogenization of species assemblages are expected. In protected areas springs are usually still pristine. They are important refuges for species which elsewhere are endangered. Protected areas can be seen as flagship areas within a widely managed, anthropogenically altered landscape. For venturing future predictions and proposing possible counteractions two prerequisites are needed: We need to know the status quo in springs and we need to conduct sophisticated long-term monitoring projects in order to understand future developments. Such a long-term monitoring will be done in the Swiss National Park in the upcoming years. Chironomid-based summer temperatures from the Eemian to the Holocene: Towards a European temperature reconstruction covering the past 130,000 years Research Project | 2 Project MembersProxy-based reconstructions of late Quaternary climate change are essential for assessing the relevance of climatic conditions for the development of landscapes, ecosystems and cultures as well as for understanding the influence of changing climate forcing factors on global and regional climates. However, for Central Europe, and notably for northern Switzerland and adjacent regions, only limited quantitative information is available on the amplitude of temperature changes during large sections of the past 130,000 years. Based on fossil chironomid records from sites in the northern Alpine region of Switzerland and adjacent regions, this project will develop a new palaeotemperature dataset that describes long-term (millennial-scale) summer temperature changes during this time interval. The presently available chironomid-temperature transfer function for the Alpine region will be expanded by analysing an additional 40 lakes to make it suitable for July air temperature reconstruction based on fossil chironomids in late Quaternary sediments from northern Alpine lowland and mid-elevation lakes. New Lateglacial chironomid records from two sites in Switzerland will be developed. Together with reconstructed temperatures obtained from previously analysed chironomid records in the study region, these data will be used to calculate a multi-site reconstruction of summer temperature change during the past 18,000 years. In collaboration with partner projects, new chironomid-based July air temperature reconstructions will also be developed from two lakes in southern Germany close to the Swiss border, covering the time interval of ca. 130,000-40,000 and ca. 40,000-14,000 years ago, respectively. Combined these records will describe July air temperature variations in the study region at multimillennial- to millennial-scale for the interval 130,000-18,000 years ago and at millennial- to multicentennial-scale for the past 18,000 years. The project will produce the first reconstruction of July air temperature change from central Europe covering a full interglacial-glacial-interglacial cycle based on a standardized and consistent methodology, and the longest chironomid-based temperature reconstruction available to date. It will therefore provide the user community (e.g., archaeologists, palaeoecologists, glaciologists, vegetation and climate modellers) with a new, high-quality palaotemperature dataset for the northern Alpine region. This dataset can be used to study the effects of past temperature change on the development of cultures, biomes and ecosystems in central Europe, and to assess the effect of variations in climate forcing factors on regional climate. Ausarbeitung Projektidee Parkforschung Schweiz Research Project | 1 Project MembersNatural springs are habitats that are very sensitive to anthropogenic impacts. They are threatened by human impacts or even destroyed by them, e.g. draining or cattle trampling. This is also true for springs in alpine areas. Many species in springs are adapted to relatively stable thermal conditions and low external disturbances. Alpine springs are known to harbour numerous endemic species. The goal of our research is to assess the value of parks in Switzerland (a) as refuges and stepping-stones for endangered and endemic species and (b) as model regions for a sustainable handling of springs. As model regions we selected the Swiss National Park (SNP), the Biosfera Val Müstair and the Naturpark Ela in the eastern alpine arc of Switzerland and the Biosphere Entlebuch and the Naturpark Diemtigtal in the inner alpine arc of Switzerland . The project is divided into two main parts (i.e. objectives) that build upon each other. The first part focuses on mapping and sampling the springs in the selected areas: How is the diversity in the individual springs and the diversity in a region? How large is the proportion of natural springs versus impacted spring habitats? Apart from the SNP and a few springs in the Biosfera Val Müstair this essential information has not been recorded before in the involved parks. The second part will use the gained results to develop management strategies for a sustainable handling of springs in the investigated parks. This transdisciplinary approach will include the institutions of the involved parks. The combination of the different methodologies will allow a comparative as well as a linking approach, highlighting the ecological network of especially valuable spring ecosystems. This can be used further for developing effective conservation strategies in the Alps. 1 1 OverviewMembersPublicationsProjects & Collaborations
Projects & Collaborations 8 foundShow per page10 10 20 50 FrozenEcosystems - Understanding Siberia's past with a combination of state-of-the-art and next-generation ice core methods Research Project | 3 Project MembersGlaciers are unique natural archives that contain geophysical and geochemical indicators of past environmental change, and ice cores from high-alpine glaciers have recently been analyzed also for microfossils, particularly pollen from terrestrial plants. Microfossils provide complementary information to other paleo indicators in ice cores and in combination with them allow reconstruction of large-scale vegetation changes, and past vegetation - fire - climate linkages. Background / Rationale: The vast boreal forests in Siberia are suffering severe degradation from climate change-related droughts, increasing fire risks, and human activities. However, paleoecological records for Siberia are scarce, usually reflect local source areas and often lack chronological precision to correlate them in detail with other paleoclimate and environmental data. Siberian high-alpine glaciers are underexplored natural archives for understanding vegetation and fire dynamics that preserve many climate and environment tracers, including microfossils that provide detailed ecosystem information at exceptional chronological precision. We will develop high-resolution records of ecosystem and fire dynamics from a new ice core from Belukha glacier, southern Siberia. Conventional, manual microscope-based identification of microfossils in ice cores and other archives is time-consuming, severely limiting the achievable temporal resolution. Hence, we will apply and further develop emerging automated detection and classification approaches for microfossil identification to overcome such limitations. Objectives: The project will provide 1) a new holistic view on millennial-scale boreal forest dynamics and drivers of past vegetation change from Siberia and 2) groundbreaking methodological advancements for automated image analyses for microfossils in ice core samples using automated detection and classification approaches. Specifically, we aim to generate a multiproxy vegetation and fire reconstruction from Belukha glacier spanning the Holocene and potentially extending to the Last Glacial period to assess supraregional ecosystems dynamics and the role of fire regimes during periods with extreme climate amplitudes. We aim to introduce a next-generation automated detection and classification approach of pollen and other microfossils to ice core research. After successful application to the Siberian ice core, characterized by low pollen diversity, we will test the approach on ice samples with various degrees of floristic diversity from around the world, and finally more complex samples from sediments which contain various non-pollen structures that complicate the analysis. Methods: We will apply state-of-the-art manual optical pollen and spore analyses to infer past vegetation and land use dynamics, as well as charcoal and black carbon analyses to achieve a multiproxy fire reconstruction. We will combine these established methods with a promising emerging technology for automated microfossil detection and classification that we will apply for the first time to ice cores. Due to the exceptional preservation of pollen and low contamination with other organic debris, ice cores are particularly well suited for further developing such methods before potential application to other natural archives with more complex interferences and matrices. Analyses will be conducted on an ice core for which many other proxy records (e.g., for temperature/ precipitation/ drought/ air pollution) have been obtained already. This will allow us to directly assess the relationship of reconstructed ecosystem patterns with other environmental records and enable testing of hypotheses regarding drivers of ecosystem change and feedback mechanisms between vegetation, fire, climate, and other environmental conditions. Expected results / Impact: We will generate an exceptionally long paleoecological ice core record for mid-latitudes from Siberia, providing an integrated view on how ecosystems have responded to centennial to millennial scale environmental change. The microfossil record will deliver a regional picture of vegetation history and allow us to assess how climate change, specifically projected future reduction in moisture, will affect boreal forest ecosystems and fire regimes in the region by providing an analogue reconstruction of the past. We will also advance image analysis for pollen and other microfossils by further developing and applying this methodology to ice core records, which will provide a tool for future investigations in glacier ice samples but also in more complex pollen samples from other environmental archives such as lake or marine sediment cores. Ultra-high-resolution, multi-indicator assessment of recent climate change impacts in remote Swiss mountain lake ecosystems Research Project | 1 Project MembersOngoing climate change is one of the most pressing environmental concerns, particularly also for ecosystem management and nature conservation. As coldwater ecosystems, mountain lakes are exceptionally vulnerable to climatic warming to the extent that they are considered "early warning systems", showing the evidence of climate impacts earlier than other ecosystem and lake types. However, considerably less attention has been given to understanding the impacts of recent climatic warming on Swiss mountain lakes compared with other similarly sensitive and vulnerable geo- and ecosystems (e.g. glaciers, alpine treeline, alpine meadows). This project will use an innovative, two-pronged palaeoecological approach to document how Swiss mountain lakes have responded to pronounced climatic warming experienced during recent decades, particularly in respect to summer temperatures. Palaeoecological reconstructions with an exceptionally high temporal resolution will be developed from the remains of organisms preserved in the sediments of 10 Swiss mountain lakes. The records will cover the past ca. 100-150 years with a particular focus on the past 30 years that are characterized by a pronounced rise in summer temperatures in the Swiss Alps. Analyses will focus on state-of-the-art and established palaeolimnological and palaeoenvironmental indicators such as chironomids and other aquatic insect remains, diatoms, cladocerans, pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs, but also on novel, recently developed approaches such as stable carbon isotope analysis of chitinous invertebrate remains. This work will be supported by geochronological ( 137 Cs, 210 Pb) and basic geochemical (e.g. organic matter content, bulk sediment delta C-13/delta N-15, XRF) analyses. For the examined indicators these records will reveal recent changes in species composition and functional groups (e.g. planktonic versus benthic forms), changing abundances of taxa typical for variations in nutrient availability, lakewater pH or deepwater oxygenation, and also show whether there is evidence for variations in carbon cycling in lacustrine foodwebs with increasing temperatures, based on carbon isotope analyses of sensitive invertebrate groups. Surface sediments will be collected from a further 15 lakes that have been sampled with similar methods 30 years ago and will be examined for diatom, chironomid and cladoceran assemblages. These analyses will reveal changes in assemblage composition between two time intervals bracketing the most recent summer temperature rise in the Alps, and will allow an assessment of whether assemblage changes in these indicator groups in the high-resolution records are representative for a larger number of lakes and lake types. Interpretations will be supported by indirect evidence on changes in other global change drivers that may have affected the study lakes, provided by the analysed palaeoecological proxies (e.g. in respect to land use (pollen), fish predation pressure (cladocerans) or pH (diatoms)), and by a systematic collection of documentary, instrumental and remote sensing data for the study sites. Final analyses of the project results will combine the two lines of evidence (downcore records, surface sediment data) and will be used to critically evaluate, and potentially revise, climate responses expected for these sensitive ecosystems based on presently available ecological and ecosystem knowledge. The project will provide a broad-scale, regional assessment of the effects of ongoing climatic warming on Swiss mountain lakes and one of the most ambitious and extensive palaoeecological assessments of recent climate change response of aquatic ecosystems to date. The project will therefore be relevant, and potentially influential, for a range of different research and stake holder communities not restricted to palaeoecologists, palaeolimnologists, and Quaternary geologists but also including the broader community of ecologists, geoscientists and ecosystem managers studying and assessing ongoing global change impacts on sensitive eco- and geosystems in the modern environment. Aquatischen Invertebraten/Chironomiden-Überreste in Sedimenten des Vierwaltstättersees Research Project | 1 Project MembersNot available Erfassung der Quell-Lebensräume im Biosphärengebiet Schwarzwald und Ableitung eines regional angepassten Schutzkonzeptes Research Project | 2 Project MembersQuellen sind ein sehr artenreicher und stark bedrohter Lebensraumtyp. Neben ihrer Störungsempfindlichkeit sind Quell-Lebensräume verletzlich gegenüber Klimaveränderungen. lhre Lebensgemeinschaft kann auch als Zeiger des Klimawandels genutzt werden. In einem Pilotprogramm sollen der Schutz und Erhaltung der Biodiversität natürlicher Quellen im BSG Schwarzwald sowie die Bewahrung der Ökosystemdienstleistungen angestrebt werden. Fur ein nachhaltiges Schutzkonzept fehlen bisher eine fundierte Datengrundlage und Bewertung des lst-Zustandes der Quellen. Dies soll in einem ersten Schritt anhand ausgewählter Quellen erreicht werden. Dabei sollen etablierte Kartier- und Bewertungsverfahren sowie methodische Grundlagen aus Untersuchungen in der Schweiz, Bayern und Hessen angewendet, verglichen und ggf. an die Situation im BSG - unter Abstimmung mit der LUBW - angepasst werden. Es werden verschiedene Typen der Quell-Lebensräume und biogeografische Unterschiede der Einzugsgebiete untersucht. Zu erhebende Parameter sind u.a. Struktur, Morphologie, chemisch-physikalische Parameter, Makrozoobenthos, Amphibien, Moose, Gefässpflanzen und endemische Arten. Ebenso werden Veränderungen der Parameter mit und ohne anthropogene Nutzung sowie Hinweise auf potentielle Veranderungen, verursacht durch Klimawandel, analysiert. Ausserdem soll ein eDNA-Monitoring fur typische ausgewählte Quellen-lndikatorarten etabliert werden. Ebenso wird ein begleitendes Monitoring und Langzeitbeobachtung bestimmter lndikator-Arten eingerichtet unter Einbindung universitärer Abschussarbeiten sowie von Citizen Science. Um die Akteure für Quellen und den Schutz ihrer Lebensgemeinschaft zu sensibilisieren, wird ein zielgruppenangepasstes Kommunikationskonzept fur Öffentlichkeit, Behördenvertreter (Forst, Landwirtschaft, etc.), NGO erarbeitet, welches u.a. Schulungen, Exkursionen, Vorträge, lnformationsbroschüren, Massnahmenkatalog und Handlungsleitfaden beinhaltet. Klima, Umwelt, Mensch im Thurgau (KUMiT): Bohrkernuntersuchungen im Kanton Thurgau Research Project | 3 Project MembersPaläoökologische Analysen erlauben die Rekonstruktion vergangener Umwelt- und Landschaftsveränderungen und können Einsichten in den Einfluss verschiedener Treiber (z.B. Klima, menschlicher Einfluss) auf heutige Landschaften und Ökosysteme liefern. Im Rahmen dieses Projektes werden hochaufgelöste Rekonstruktionen von Ökosystem- und Umweltveränderungen während den letzten ca. 12'000 Jahren im Kanton Thurgau anhand von neu beprobten Seesedimentsequenzen und naturwissenschaftlichen Analysen erarbeitet. Ziel der Arbeiten ist es, vor allem die Veränderungen in Vegetation, Seeökosystemzuständen und menschlichen Einflüssen auf die Umwelt seit dem Neolithikum detailliert zu erfassen und zu rekonstruieren. Dadurch wird es möglich sein, bekannte archäologische Funde und geschichtliche Ereignisse im Kanton Thurgau im Kontext der entwickelten Datensätze neu zu interpretieren, sowie Erkenntnisse über die Wechselwirkung Mensch-Natur-Umwelt während der letzten 12'000 Jahre zu erarbeiten, die deutlich über den heutigen Wissensstand hinausgehen. Diese Zusammenarbeit mit dem Amt für Archäologie, Kanton Thurgau, wird weitgehend aus Mitteln des Walter Enggist-Fonds finanziert. Long-term monitoring of springs in the Swiss National Park (SNP) Research Project | 1 Project MembersSprings and headwaters worldwide are faced with severe environmental changes caused by Global Climate Change. These changes will be more drastic in alpine regions. Increased temperatures, changed hydrological conditions and glacier retreats are the most prominent effects predicted. Rising water temperatures and a changed discharge regime will have dramatic consequences for springs and their springbrooks. The changed ecological conditions will have impacts on the composition of species assemblages. It is, yet, still unknown what the consequences will be for species composition and ecosystem functioning. Overall, biodiversity loss and a homogenization of species assemblages are expected. In protected areas springs are usually still pristine. They are important refuges for species which elsewhere are endangered. Protected areas can be seen as flagship areas within a widely managed, anthropogenically altered landscape. For venturing future predictions and proposing possible counteractions two prerequisites are needed: We need to know the status quo in springs and we need to conduct sophisticated long-term monitoring projects in order to understand future developments. Such a long-term monitoring will be done in the Swiss National Park in the upcoming years. Chironomid-based summer temperatures from the Eemian to the Holocene: Towards a European temperature reconstruction covering the past 130,000 years Research Project | 2 Project MembersProxy-based reconstructions of late Quaternary climate change are essential for assessing the relevance of climatic conditions for the development of landscapes, ecosystems and cultures as well as for understanding the influence of changing climate forcing factors on global and regional climates. However, for Central Europe, and notably for northern Switzerland and adjacent regions, only limited quantitative information is available on the amplitude of temperature changes during large sections of the past 130,000 years. Based on fossil chironomid records from sites in the northern Alpine region of Switzerland and adjacent regions, this project will develop a new palaeotemperature dataset that describes long-term (millennial-scale) summer temperature changes during this time interval. The presently available chironomid-temperature transfer function for the Alpine region will be expanded by analysing an additional 40 lakes to make it suitable for July air temperature reconstruction based on fossil chironomids in late Quaternary sediments from northern Alpine lowland and mid-elevation lakes. New Lateglacial chironomid records from two sites in Switzerland will be developed. Together with reconstructed temperatures obtained from previously analysed chironomid records in the study region, these data will be used to calculate a multi-site reconstruction of summer temperature change during the past 18,000 years. In collaboration with partner projects, new chironomid-based July air temperature reconstructions will also be developed from two lakes in southern Germany close to the Swiss border, covering the time interval of ca. 130,000-40,000 and ca. 40,000-14,000 years ago, respectively. Combined these records will describe July air temperature variations in the study region at multimillennial- to millennial-scale for the interval 130,000-18,000 years ago and at millennial- to multicentennial-scale for the past 18,000 years. The project will produce the first reconstruction of July air temperature change from central Europe covering a full interglacial-glacial-interglacial cycle based on a standardized and consistent methodology, and the longest chironomid-based temperature reconstruction available to date. It will therefore provide the user community (e.g., archaeologists, palaeoecologists, glaciologists, vegetation and climate modellers) with a new, high-quality palaotemperature dataset for the northern Alpine region. This dataset can be used to study the effects of past temperature change on the development of cultures, biomes and ecosystems in central Europe, and to assess the effect of variations in climate forcing factors on regional climate. Ausarbeitung Projektidee Parkforschung Schweiz Research Project | 1 Project MembersNatural springs are habitats that are very sensitive to anthropogenic impacts. They are threatened by human impacts or even destroyed by them, e.g. draining or cattle trampling. This is also true for springs in alpine areas. Many species in springs are adapted to relatively stable thermal conditions and low external disturbances. Alpine springs are known to harbour numerous endemic species. The goal of our research is to assess the value of parks in Switzerland (a) as refuges and stepping-stones for endangered and endemic species and (b) as model regions for a sustainable handling of springs. As model regions we selected the Swiss National Park (SNP), the Biosfera Val Müstair and the Naturpark Ela in the eastern alpine arc of Switzerland and the Biosphere Entlebuch and the Naturpark Diemtigtal in the inner alpine arc of Switzerland . The project is divided into two main parts (i.e. objectives) that build upon each other. The first part focuses on mapping and sampling the springs in the selected areas: How is the diversity in the individual springs and the diversity in a region? How large is the proportion of natural springs versus impacted spring habitats? Apart from the SNP and a few springs in the Biosfera Val Müstair this essential information has not been recorded before in the involved parks. The second part will use the gained results to develop management strategies for a sustainable handling of springs in the investigated parks. This transdisciplinary approach will include the institutions of the involved parks. The combination of the different methodologies will allow a comparative as well as a linking approach, highlighting the ecological network of especially valuable spring ecosystems. This can be used further for developing effective conservation strategies in the Alps. 1 1
FrozenEcosystems - Understanding Siberia's past with a combination of state-of-the-art and next-generation ice core methods Research Project | 3 Project MembersGlaciers are unique natural archives that contain geophysical and geochemical indicators of past environmental change, and ice cores from high-alpine glaciers have recently been analyzed also for microfossils, particularly pollen from terrestrial plants. Microfossils provide complementary information to other paleo indicators in ice cores and in combination with them allow reconstruction of large-scale vegetation changes, and past vegetation - fire - climate linkages. Background / Rationale: The vast boreal forests in Siberia are suffering severe degradation from climate change-related droughts, increasing fire risks, and human activities. However, paleoecological records for Siberia are scarce, usually reflect local source areas and often lack chronological precision to correlate them in detail with other paleoclimate and environmental data. Siberian high-alpine glaciers are underexplored natural archives for understanding vegetation and fire dynamics that preserve many climate and environment tracers, including microfossils that provide detailed ecosystem information at exceptional chronological precision. We will develop high-resolution records of ecosystem and fire dynamics from a new ice core from Belukha glacier, southern Siberia. Conventional, manual microscope-based identification of microfossils in ice cores and other archives is time-consuming, severely limiting the achievable temporal resolution. Hence, we will apply and further develop emerging automated detection and classification approaches for microfossil identification to overcome such limitations. Objectives: The project will provide 1) a new holistic view on millennial-scale boreal forest dynamics and drivers of past vegetation change from Siberia and 2) groundbreaking methodological advancements for automated image analyses for microfossils in ice core samples using automated detection and classification approaches. Specifically, we aim to generate a multiproxy vegetation and fire reconstruction from Belukha glacier spanning the Holocene and potentially extending to the Last Glacial period to assess supraregional ecosystems dynamics and the role of fire regimes during periods with extreme climate amplitudes. We aim to introduce a next-generation automated detection and classification approach of pollen and other microfossils to ice core research. After successful application to the Siberian ice core, characterized by low pollen diversity, we will test the approach on ice samples with various degrees of floristic diversity from around the world, and finally more complex samples from sediments which contain various non-pollen structures that complicate the analysis. Methods: We will apply state-of-the-art manual optical pollen and spore analyses to infer past vegetation and land use dynamics, as well as charcoal and black carbon analyses to achieve a multiproxy fire reconstruction. We will combine these established methods with a promising emerging technology for automated microfossil detection and classification that we will apply for the first time to ice cores. Due to the exceptional preservation of pollen and low contamination with other organic debris, ice cores are particularly well suited for further developing such methods before potential application to other natural archives with more complex interferences and matrices. Analyses will be conducted on an ice core for which many other proxy records (e.g., for temperature/ precipitation/ drought/ air pollution) have been obtained already. This will allow us to directly assess the relationship of reconstructed ecosystem patterns with other environmental records and enable testing of hypotheses regarding drivers of ecosystem change and feedback mechanisms between vegetation, fire, climate, and other environmental conditions. Expected results / Impact: We will generate an exceptionally long paleoecological ice core record for mid-latitudes from Siberia, providing an integrated view on how ecosystems have responded to centennial to millennial scale environmental change. The microfossil record will deliver a regional picture of vegetation history and allow us to assess how climate change, specifically projected future reduction in moisture, will affect boreal forest ecosystems and fire regimes in the region by providing an analogue reconstruction of the past. We will also advance image analysis for pollen and other microfossils by further developing and applying this methodology to ice core records, which will provide a tool for future investigations in glacier ice samples but also in more complex pollen samples from other environmental archives such as lake or marine sediment cores.
Ultra-high-resolution, multi-indicator assessment of recent climate change impacts in remote Swiss mountain lake ecosystems Research Project | 1 Project MembersOngoing climate change is one of the most pressing environmental concerns, particularly also for ecosystem management and nature conservation. As coldwater ecosystems, mountain lakes are exceptionally vulnerable to climatic warming to the extent that they are considered "early warning systems", showing the evidence of climate impacts earlier than other ecosystem and lake types. However, considerably less attention has been given to understanding the impacts of recent climatic warming on Swiss mountain lakes compared with other similarly sensitive and vulnerable geo- and ecosystems (e.g. glaciers, alpine treeline, alpine meadows). This project will use an innovative, two-pronged palaeoecological approach to document how Swiss mountain lakes have responded to pronounced climatic warming experienced during recent decades, particularly in respect to summer temperatures. Palaeoecological reconstructions with an exceptionally high temporal resolution will be developed from the remains of organisms preserved in the sediments of 10 Swiss mountain lakes. The records will cover the past ca. 100-150 years with a particular focus on the past 30 years that are characterized by a pronounced rise in summer temperatures in the Swiss Alps. Analyses will focus on state-of-the-art and established palaeolimnological and palaeoenvironmental indicators such as chironomids and other aquatic insect remains, diatoms, cladocerans, pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs, but also on novel, recently developed approaches such as stable carbon isotope analysis of chitinous invertebrate remains. This work will be supported by geochronological ( 137 Cs, 210 Pb) and basic geochemical (e.g. organic matter content, bulk sediment delta C-13/delta N-15, XRF) analyses. For the examined indicators these records will reveal recent changes in species composition and functional groups (e.g. planktonic versus benthic forms), changing abundances of taxa typical for variations in nutrient availability, lakewater pH or deepwater oxygenation, and also show whether there is evidence for variations in carbon cycling in lacustrine foodwebs with increasing temperatures, based on carbon isotope analyses of sensitive invertebrate groups. Surface sediments will be collected from a further 15 lakes that have been sampled with similar methods 30 years ago and will be examined for diatom, chironomid and cladoceran assemblages. These analyses will reveal changes in assemblage composition between two time intervals bracketing the most recent summer temperature rise in the Alps, and will allow an assessment of whether assemblage changes in these indicator groups in the high-resolution records are representative for a larger number of lakes and lake types. Interpretations will be supported by indirect evidence on changes in other global change drivers that may have affected the study lakes, provided by the analysed palaeoecological proxies (e.g. in respect to land use (pollen), fish predation pressure (cladocerans) or pH (diatoms)), and by a systematic collection of documentary, instrumental and remote sensing data for the study sites. Final analyses of the project results will combine the two lines of evidence (downcore records, surface sediment data) and will be used to critically evaluate, and potentially revise, climate responses expected for these sensitive ecosystems based on presently available ecological and ecosystem knowledge. The project will provide a broad-scale, regional assessment of the effects of ongoing climatic warming on Swiss mountain lakes and one of the most ambitious and extensive palaoeecological assessments of recent climate change response of aquatic ecosystems to date. The project will therefore be relevant, and potentially influential, for a range of different research and stake holder communities not restricted to palaeoecologists, palaeolimnologists, and Quaternary geologists but also including the broader community of ecologists, geoscientists and ecosystem managers studying and assessing ongoing global change impacts on sensitive eco- and geosystems in the modern environment.
Aquatischen Invertebraten/Chironomiden-Überreste in Sedimenten des Vierwaltstättersees Research Project | 1 Project MembersNot available
Erfassung der Quell-Lebensräume im Biosphärengebiet Schwarzwald und Ableitung eines regional angepassten Schutzkonzeptes Research Project | 2 Project MembersQuellen sind ein sehr artenreicher und stark bedrohter Lebensraumtyp. Neben ihrer Störungsempfindlichkeit sind Quell-Lebensräume verletzlich gegenüber Klimaveränderungen. lhre Lebensgemeinschaft kann auch als Zeiger des Klimawandels genutzt werden. In einem Pilotprogramm sollen der Schutz und Erhaltung der Biodiversität natürlicher Quellen im BSG Schwarzwald sowie die Bewahrung der Ökosystemdienstleistungen angestrebt werden. Fur ein nachhaltiges Schutzkonzept fehlen bisher eine fundierte Datengrundlage und Bewertung des lst-Zustandes der Quellen. Dies soll in einem ersten Schritt anhand ausgewählter Quellen erreicht werden. Dabei sollen etablierte Kartier- und Bewertungsverfahren sowie methodische Grundlagen aus Untersuchungen in der Schweiz, Bayern und Hessen angewendet, verglichen und ggf. an die Situation im BSG - unter Abstimmung mit der LUBW - angepasst werden. Es werden verschiedene Typen der Quell-Lebensräume und biogeografische Unterschiede der Einzugsgebiete untersucht. Zu erhebende Parameter sind u.a. Struktur, Morphologie, chemisch-physikalische Parameter, Makrozoobenthos, Amphibien, Moose, Gefässpflanzen und endemische Arten. Ebenso werden Veränderungen der Parameter mit und ohne anthropogene Nutzung sowie Hinweise auf potentielle Veranderungen, verursacht durch Klimawandel, analysiert. Ausserdem soll ein eDNA-Monitoring fur typische ausgewählte Quellen-lndikatorarten etabliert werden. Ebenso wird ein begleitendes Monitoring und Langzeitbeobachtung bestimmter lndikator-Arten eingerichtet unter Einbindung universitärer Abschussarbeiten sowie von Citizen Science. Um die Akteure für Quellen und den Schutz ihrer Lebensgemeinschaft zu sensibilisieren, wird ein zielgruppenangepasstes Kommunikationskonzept fur Öffentlichkeit, Behördenvertreter (Forst, Landwirtschaft, etc.), NGO erarbeitet, welches u.a. Schulungen, Exkursionen, Vorträge, lnformationsbroschüren, Massnahmenkatalog und Handlungsleitfaden beinhaltet.
Klima, Umwelt, Mensch im Thurgau (KUMiT): Bohrkernuntersuchungen im Kanton Thurgau Research Project | 3 Project MembersPaläoökologische Analysen erlauben die Rekonstruktion vergangener Umwelt- und Landschaftsveränderungen und können Einsichten in den Einfluss verschiedener Treiber (z.B. Klima, menschlicher Einfluss) auf heutige Landschaften und Ökosysteme liefern. Im Rahmen dieses Projektes werden hochaufgelöste Rekonstruktionen von Ökosystem- und Umweltveränderungen während den letzten ca. 12'000 Jahren im Kanton Thurgau anhand von neu beprobten Seesedimentsequenzen und naturwissenschaftlichen Analysen erarbeitet. Ziel der Arbeiten ist es, vor allem die Veränderungen in Vegetation, Seeökosystemzuständen und menschlichen Einflüssen auf die Umwelt seit dem Neolithikum detailliert zu erfassen und zu rekonstruieren. Dadurch wird es möglich sein, bekannte archäologische Funde und geschichtliche Ereignisse im Kanton Thurgau im Kontext der entwickelten Datensätze neu zu interpretieren, sowie Erkenntnisse über die Wechselwirkung Mensch-Natur-Umwelt während der letzten 12'000 Jahre zu erarbeiten, die deutlich über den heutigen Wissensstand hinausgehen. Diese Zusammenarbeit mit dem Amt für Archäologie, Kanton Thurgau, wird weitgehend aus Mitteln des Walter Enggist-Fonds finanziert.
Long-term monitoring of springs in the Swiss National Park (SNP) Research Project | 1 Project MembersSprings and headwaters worldwide are faced with severe environmental changes caused by Global Climate Change. These changes will be more drastic in alpine regions. Increased temperatures, changed hydrological conditions and glacier retreats are the most prominent effects predicted. Rising water temperatures and a changed discharge regime will have dramatic consequences for springs and their springbrooks. The changed ecological conditions will have impacts on the composition of species assemblages. It is, yet, still unknown what the consequences will be for species composition and ecosystem functioning. Overall, biodiversity loss and a homogenization of species assemblages are expected. In protected areas springs are usually still pristine. They are important refuges for species which elsewhere are endangered. Protected areas can be seen as flagship areas within a widely managed, anthropogenically altered landscape. For venturing future predictions and proposing possible counteractions two prerequisites are needed: We need to know the status quo in springs and we need to conduct sophisticated long-term monitoring projects in order to understand future developments. Such a long-term monitoring will be done in the Swiss National Park in the upcoming years.
Chironomid-based summer temperatures from the Eemian to the Holocene: Towards a European temperature reconstruction covering the past 130,000 years Research Project | 2 Project MembersProxy-based reconstructions of late Quaternary climate change are essential for assessing the relevance of climatic conditions for the development of landscapes, ecosystems and cultures as well as for understanding the influence of changing climate forcing factors on global and regional climates. However, for Central Europe, and notably for northern Switzerland and adjacent regions, only limited quantitative information is available on the amplitude of temperature changes during large sections of the past 130,000 years. Based on fossil chironomid records from sites in the northern Alpine region of Switzerland and adjacent regions, this project will develop a new palaeotemperature dataset that describes long-term (millennial-scale) summer temperature changes during this time interval. The presently available chironomid-temperature transfer function for the Alpine region will be expanded by analysing an additional 40 lakes to make it suitable for July air temperature reconstruction based on fossil chironomids in late Quaternary sediments from northern Alpine lowland and mid-elevation lakes. New Lateglacial chironomid records from two sites in Switzerland will be developed. Together with reconstructed temperatures obtained from previously analysed chironomid records in the study region, these data will be used to calculate a multi-site reconstruction of summer temperature change during the past 18,000 years. In collaboration with partner projects, new chironomid-based July air temperature reconstructions will also be developed from two lakes in southern Germany close to the Swiss border, covering the time interval of ca. 130,000-40,000 and ca. 40,000-14,000 years ago, respectively. Combined these records will describe July air temperature variations in the study region at multimillennial- to millennial-scale for the interval 130,000-18,000 years ago and at millennial- to multicentennial-scale for the past 18,000 years. The project will produce the first reconstruction of July air temperature change from central Europe covering a full interglacial-glacial-interglacial cycle based on a standardized and consistent methodology, and the longest chironomid-based temperature reconstruction available to date. It will therefore provide the user community (e.g., archaeologists, palaeoecologists, glaciologists, vegetation and climate modellers) with a new, high-quality palaotemperature dataset for the northern Alpine region. This dataset can be used to study the effects of past temperature change on the development of cultures, biomes and ecosystems in central Europe, and to assess the effect of variations in climate forcing factors on regional climate.
Ausarbeitung Projektidee Parkforschung Schweiz Research Project | 1 Project MembersNatural springs are habitats that are very sensitive to anthropogenic impacts. They are threatened by human impacts or even destroyed by them, e.g. draining or cattle trampling. This is also true for springs in alpine areas. Many species in springs are adapted to relatively stable thermal conditions and low external disturbances. Alpine springs are known to harbour numerous endemic species. The goal of our research is to assess the value of parks in Switzerland (a) as refuges and stepping-stones for endangered and endemic species and (b) as model regions for a sustainable handling of springs. As model regions we selected the Swiss National Park (SNP), the Biosfera Val Müstair and the Naturpark Ela in the eastern alpine arc of Switzerland and the Biosphere Entlebuch and the Naturpark Diemtigtal in the inner alpine arc of Switzerland . The project is divided into two main parts (i.e. objectives) that build upon each other. The first part focuses on mapping and sampling the springs in the selected areas: How is the diversity in the individual springs and the diversity in a region? How large is the proportion of natural springs versus impacted spring habitats? Apart from the SNP and a few springs in the Biosfera Val Müstair this essential information has not been recorded before in the involved parks. The second part will use the gained results to develop management strategies for a sustainable handling of springs in the investigated parks. This transdisciplinary approach will include the institutions of the involved parks. The combination of the different methodologies will allow a comparative as well as a linking approach, highlighting the ecological network of especially valuable spring ecosystems. This can be used further for developing effective conservation strategies in the Alps.
