Trophic Cascades in Marine Ecosystems
ACRONYM
SeagrassTIME
Title
Trophic Cascades in Marine Ecosystems
General information
Eutrophication is one of the most serious impacts on coastal ecosystems worldwide. It is traditionally viewed as being controlled by light and nutrients availability. However, despite reduction of nutrient input alarmingly high loss of coastal habitats has been observed to endure. It is increasingly being accepted that bottom-up controls, such as abundance and diversity of herbivore grazers, may have a substantial role to play in an ecosystem s susceptibility to eutrophication.
Similarly, other unrecognised bottom-up controls (like ecosystem productivity and salinity) may directly influence ecosystem condition and responsiveness to eutrophication. Through field experiments and field surveys we aim to evaluate the ability of herbivores under different abiotic conditions to mitigate the effects of nutrient enrichment. Moreover, a numerical model will be generated from field, monitoring and literature data to predict the synergistic effect of eutrophication and herbivory on seagrass communities. This will improve our understanding of ecosystem stability, giving a sound basis that can be applied for European coastal zone management efforts towards sustainable ecosystems.
Start
August, 2008
End
July, 2012
Funding (total)
236000
Funding (GEOMAR)
236000
Funding body / Programme
-
EU
/ FP7 People 2007; Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship (IOF)
Coordination
Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel (GEOMAR), Germany
Contact
