| title: | Microbial diversity and activity in the sediments and water column of shallow lakes |
|---|---|
| reg no: | ETF6080 |
| project type: | Estonian Science Foundation research grant |
| status: | accepted |
| institution: | University of Tartu |
| head of project: | Veljo Kisand |
| duration: | 01.01.2005 - 31.12.2007 |
| description: | Sediment resuspension is one of the most characteristic physical processed in shallow lakes with a relatively large wind fetch. Wind induced resuspension carries the sedimented material (aggregates) together with attached organisms back to the water column and therefore influences largely the whole functioning of such ecosystems. Aggregates are heavily colonized by several heterotrophic microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, algae, protozoa) and are greatly enriched in organic and inorganic nutrients as compared to the surrounding water. Therefore the aggregates might be a key link in elemental cycles of turbid and shallow lake ecosystems. Aims of the study are: -to compare of microbial communities of the upper sediment layer, community attached to resuspended particles and free-living microbes in the water column of a shallow lake; -to compare microbial activities in the above mentioned microhabitats in order to better understand their ecological role in nutrient cycling and organic matter turnover. Results of the proposed project could be important for understanding the lakes’s productivity, for understanding of elemental cycles in such lakes and for management purposes. |
| project group | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| no | name | institution | position | |
| 1. | Anu Kisand | Institute of Zoology and Botany at Estonian University of Life Sciences | senior technical assistant | |
| 2. | Veljo Kisand | University of Tartu | Marie Cure post doc, from 2005 senior researcher at TU IT | |
| 3. | Tanel Tenson | University of Tartu | senior scientist | |