Phytoplankton Ecology

Our research addresses mechanisms and consequences of phytoplankton biodiversity changes in coastal and open seas. We primarily work in the Baltic Sea, a highly dynamic marine environment that is characterised by strong gradients in salinity, temperature and nutrient availability. These gradients create a complex environment for phytoplankton and make the region particularly susceptible to climate change and anthropogenic perturbations. Using a variety of different approaches, we investigate the response of phytoplankton communities and populations to these changes in environmental conditions.

Data from microscopy based monitoring, metabarcoding of eukaryotic plankton communities and imaging flow cytometry provide insights into the development of algal blooms, shifts in phytoplankton community composition in response to climate change as well as to short-term events such as heat waves and storms. With physiological experiments using cultured phytoplankton isolates and resurrected resting stages from “sediment archives”, we study adaptations to environmental conditions and trait changes of phytoplankton populations in the past.

Research topics

• Climate change related shifts in plankton communities and marine food webs
• Phytoplankton life cycles and adaptations
• Phytoplankton dynamics in shallow waters of the Baltic Sea (S²B)
• Expansion of harmful algal blooms in the Baltic Sea
• High frequency sampling and assessment of phytoplankton communities using an Imaging FlowCytobot (IFCB) and AI-based taxonomic identification (S²B - Work package "Autonomous sampling")
• Assessment of phytoplankton diversity in the open Baltic Sea as part of the IOW long-term monitoring programme
• Phytoplankton monitoring at the coastal site Heiligendamm