A warmer Future world: effects on plankton commUnities and paThogens in mediterranean vUlneRable Ecosystems (FUTURE)

Global warming is altering the dynamic and structure of aquatic ecosystems. The Mediterranean region is considered as one of the most sensitive areas regarding global warming and Mediterranean artificial lakes and coastal lagoons are considered particularly vulnerable environments that deserve attention as they provide fundamental goods and ecosystem services. Temperature rise is expected to cause plankton biodiversity loss and to favor the selection of smaller-sized organisms and pathogenic bacteria. This may produce strong alteration in the food web efficiency and energy flux in artificial lakes and coastal lagoons and, consequently, on the all related goods and services, such as good quality of water for agriculture and drinking in artificial lakes or fishing in lagoons. Despite it represents a health, social and economic emergency, only very few studies have focused on the responses of an entire plankton community to heating in coastal lagoons and nothing has been made for lakes in the Mediterranean basin so far.

In this context, the main objective of this project is to investigate the effects of the forecasted climate warming on Mediterranean natural plankton communities, including several trophic levels, from bacteria to mesozooplankton. Specifically, we are evaluating the effects of warming on the plankton community biodiversity, the plankton food web size-structure and the abundance of potentially pathogenic and antibiotic resistant bacteria. To increase knowledge on the ecological responses of Mediterranean aquatic ecosystems to warming, two different natural plankton communities from a Mediterranean artificial lake and a coastal lagoon are considered. We are addressing our goals by running laboratory experiments and field monitoring activities. Laboratory experiments allow to directly investigate the entire plankton community responses to warming under experimentally controlled conditions. Field activities permit investigating the entire plankton community dynamics over the seasonal variations of temperature. Moreover, for investigating effects of warming on biodiversity, we are applying two different approaches to analyze the field and experimental samples: i) a traditional approach, such as optical microscopy and flow cytometry, and ii) a more advanced technological approach, such as the Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS), studying environmental DNA.

All the project activities are addressed by the synergistic collaboration and expertise of two highly interdisciplinary Research Units. Moreover, the data management and dissemination activities take advantage of the facilities, services and tools offered by LifeWatch research infrastructure, both National node and ERIC level, to guarantee the long-term sustainability of the project outputs and foster their visibility to different national and international stakeholders.

Research units

1. University of Sassari – Principal Investigator Dr Silvia Pulina (DADU UNISS, Sassari)
2. National Research Council of Italy – Associated Investigator Dr Andrea Di Cesare (IRSA CNR, Verbania)

Call
PRIN 2022

Project duration
24 months

Main ERC field
LS - Life Sciences

ERC subfields
1. LS8_1 Ecosystem and community ecology, macroecology
2. LS8_2 Biodiversity
3. LS8_12 Microbial ecology and evolution

Keywords
Warming, Climate change, Plankton communities, Pathogenic bacteria, Antibiotic resistance, Mediterranean