Water Objective WA-2.4

Food webs, trophic interactions and freshwater ecosystem functions and services

Water Objective WA-2.4 contributes to CEH Science Strategy Challenge II (to Identify processes linking physical and chemical changes in the environment with ecosystem responses) by elucidating how trophic interactions can control complex environmental processes and feedbacks that affect the properties of freshwaters.

Water Objective WA-2.4 aims to:

  • Determine the spatial heterogeneity of different trophic levels in freshwaters
  • Determine how genetic diversity influences the structure and function of freshwaters
  • Analyse the potential impacts of viruses on freshwaters
  • Define the functional role of target organisms in different aquatic ecosystems
  • Determine the impacts of invasive species on freshwater ecosystems
  • Define the response of net algal growth rates to grazing pressure interacting with environmental variables
  • Determine the ecological factors for conservation of rare species 

These activities also inform and are informed by other research activities in the Water Programme and by aspects of the Biogeochemistry and Biodiversity Programmes and the Environmental Information Data Centre.

 

Areas of research

Water Objective WA-2.4 undertakes research which is supported by a wide range of stakeholders, such as Natural England, Scottish Natural Heritage, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Countryside Council for Wales, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, the National Biodiversity Network and the European Union.

Areas of research relevant to Objective WA-2.4 include:

  • Food web structure and function
  • Assessing spatial heterogeneity in lakes

Collaborative research projects

WA-2.4 contributes to many collaborative projects. Examples include:

  • Determining the occurrence of viruses in relation to phytoplankton blooms in freshwater
  • Trophic mismatch in lakes