The excessive growth of cyanobacteria in surface waters around the world poses a threat to public health and can lead to high societal costs. The mechanisms leading to cyanobacterial blooms are complex and involve an various ecological and hydrodynamic mechanisms. In this project we aim to predict cyanobacterial blooms in ensemble runs with two established process-based water quality models, PCLake (developed by PBL and NIOO) and BLOOM (developed by Deltares).
https://nioo.knaw.nl/en/ensemble-modelling-algal-blooms-polluted-lakes-p...
Most Arctic-nesting birds are long-distance migrants, wintering in tropical or temperate regions, many of those in The Netherlands (e.g., 85% of the flyway population of barnacle geese). Because climate is warming more rapidly in the Arctic than elsewhere on earth (Arctic amplification), the question arises how these birds can cope with these changes.
https://nioo.knaw.nl/en/arcticbarnies-how-can-arctic-nesting-geese-cope-...
For many species, there is only a short period in the annual cycle in which conditions are suitable for reproduction or growth. This period is often determined by other species, at a lower trophic level: the timing of herbivore growth is constrained by the phenology of the vegetation, predator reproduction by herbivore abundance, etc. Spring temperatures have increased over the past 35 years, and this has affected the phenology of many species. An important question is whether all levels in multi-trophic interactions are affected at the same rate, i.e. whether synchronization in maintained under large-scale climate change.
ERC Advanced Grant to Prof dr Marcel E. Visser; 1/1/2014-31/12/2018
Climate warming promotes intra-continental range shifts of plants, animals and microbes from lower to higher latitudes and altitudes. Plants may shift their ranges independent of their co-evolved aboveground and belowground biota, however little is known about how these communities re-assemble in the new range and how that process influences community dynamics and ecosystem functioning.
ERC Advanced Grant to Prof dr Wim van der Putten