Umeå Marine Sciences Centre launches Ecochange website
NEWS
Umeå Marine Sciences Centre at Umeå University officially launched a website for the research programme Ecochange on 16 June.
Ecochange is a part of the government's strategic research initiative on marine environmental research, and the programme is hosted by Umeå University.
The five year research programme EcoChange stated in 2010 and is a collaboration of Umeå University, Linnaeus University in Kalmar, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the Swedish Museum of Natural History. Ecochange is all about discovering and predicting what ecological consequences climate changes – e.g. increased temperature and precipitation – will have on the Baltic Sea, and how the Baltic Sea will respond to these consequences.
The main goal in EcoChange is to describe and analyse key processes and factors of importance for the future structure and function of the Baltic Sea ecosystem. Human-induced change factors are important components in that complex picture.
The research is divided into five integrated themes targeting different areas of the call:
Theme 1: Effects of changes of environmental drivers on the structure and productivity of the microbial food web Theme 2: Feedback of higher trophic levels and overharvesting Theme 3: Future changes in food web transport of legacy and emerging POPs Theme 4: Support for marine monitoring Theme 5: Integrated synthesis of the research
Three of five team leaders are affiliated with Umeå Marine Sciences Centre: Prof. Agneta Andersson, who is the programme coordinator of Ecochange and leader of Theme 5, Prof. Ulf Båmstedt, leader of Theme 4 and director of Umeå Marine Sciences Centre, and Prof. Mats Tysklind, leader of Theme 3 and board member Umeå Marine Science.
The effects of climate change in focus
At the present time, Umeå Marine Science Centre is conducting research work within Theme 5. Agneta Andersson is studying the river discharge’s effects of lighting conditions and production in the sea.
"With the help of the personnel and boats at Umeå Marine Science Centre, we will conduct tests in Rånefjärden (northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia) during the summer,"says Agneta Andersson. “We will also use the Centre’s laboratories and chemistry section for the reprocessing of samples that we take in the project. The infrastructure at Umeå Marine Science Centre is a strong foundation for performing research."
Comparative studies in southern Sweden
Climate change can impact different areas of the Baltic Sea in various ways, since the conditions in the different ocean basins differ. One of the main objectives of Ecochange is to perform a comparative study between the Gulf of Bothnia and the Baltic Proper. Therefore, performing Linnaeus University in Kalmar is carrying out parallel sampling in the coastal area at Emån outlet during the summer.
Simulated climate change and automatic enivironmental sensors
In team 4, which is led by Prof. Ulf Båmstedt, the goal is to further develop the use of automatic environmental sensor buoy systems for marine environmental monitoring and implement computerized simulated ecosystems to simulate the effects of various climate change scenarios.
“Umeå Marine Sciences Centre provides the necessary infrastructure, personnel, research facilities, and has a significant importance for Ecochange," says Ulf Båmstedt. "It is very positive for our research staff to participate such in a major research programme with broad, international cooperation, and varied and meaningful tasks."
