Macroecological Patterns of Resilience Inferred from a Multinational, Synchronized Experiment

Didier L. Baho, Ülkü Nihan Tavşanoğlu, Michal Šorf, Kostantinos Stefanidis, Stina Drakare, Ulrike Scharfenberger, Helen Agasild, Meryem Beklioğlu, Josef Hejzlar, Rita Adrian, Eva Papastergiadou, Priit Zingel, Martin Søndergaard, Erik Jeppesen and David G. Angeler
Additional contact information
Didier L. Baho: Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7050, SE-750-07 Uppsala, Sweden
Ülkü Nihan Tavşanoğlu: Biology Department, Limnology Laboratory, Middle East technical University, 06800 Ankara, Turkey
Michal Šorf: Institute of Hydrobiology, Biology Center of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Na Sádkách 7, 370-05 České Budějovice 7, Czech Republic
Kostantinos Stefanidis: Department of Biology, University of Patras, University Campus, 26504 Rio, Greece
Stina Drakare: Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7050, SE-750-07 Uppsala, Sweden
Ulrike Scharfenberger: Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
Helen Agasild: Center for Limnology, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, 61117 Rannu vald, Tartumaa, Estonia
Meryem Beklioğlu: Biology Department, Limnology Laboratory, Middle East technical University, 06800 Ankara, Turkey
Josef Hejzlar: Institute of Hydrobiology, Biology Center of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Na Sádkách 7, 370-05 České Budějovice 7, Czech Republic
Rita Adrian: Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
Eva Papastergiadou: Department of Biology, University of Patras, University Campus, 26504 Rio, Greece
Priit Zingel: Center for Limnology, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, 61117 Rannu vald, Tartumaa, Estonia
Martin Søndergaard: Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Vejlsøvej 25, 8600 Silkeborg, Denmark
Erik Jeppesen: Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Vejlsøvej 25, 8600 Silkeborg, Denmark
David G. Angeler: Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7050, SE-750-07 Uppsala, Sweden

Sustainability, 2015, vol. 7, issue 2, 1-19

Abstract: The likelihood of an ecological system to undergo undesired regime shifts is expected to increase as climate change effects unfold. To understand how regional climate settings can affect resilience; i.e. , the ability of an ecosystem to tolerate disturbances without changing its original structure and processes, we used a synchronized mesocosm experiment (representative of shallow lakes) along a latitudinal gradient. We manipulated nutrient concentrations and water levels in a synchronized mesocosm experiment in different climate zones across Europe involving Sweden, Estonia, Germany, the Czech Republic, Turkey and Greece. We assessed attributes of zooplankton communities that might contribute to resilience under different ecological configurations. We assessed four indicator of relative ecological resilience (cross-scale, within-scale structures, aggregation length and gap size) of zooplankton communities, inferred from discontinuity analysis. Similar resilience attributes were found across experimental treatments and countries, except Greece, which experienced severe drought conditions during the experiment. These conditions apparently led to a lower relative resilience in the Greek mesocosms. Our results indicate that zooplankton community resilience in shallow lakes is marginally affected by water level and the studied nutrient range unless extreme drought occurs. In practice, this means that drought mitigation could be especially challenging in semi-arid countries in the future.

Keywords: climate change; eutrophication; ecological resilience; zooplankton communities; synchronized mesocosm experiment; discontinuity analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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