Effects of stressor hierarchies on river microbial communities during degradation and recovery from drought (A02)

• Subject Area: Hydrogeology, Hydrology, Limnology, Urban Water Management, Water Chemistry, Integrated Water Resources Management
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 426547801

Project A02 aims at obtaining a better understanding of the evaluation of multiple stressor effects on sediment microorganism in rivers. It proposes (i) the new concept of stressor hierarchies, stating that a stressor like energy flux controls the impact of other stressors like temperature and salinity, and (ii) the development of a knowledge-based microbial assessment index for river ecosystem health. The two approaches are integrated in the framework of the Asymmetric Response Concept and applied in the investigation of degradation and recovery from drought from controlled lab experiments to near-natural field flumes and the field.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1439: Multilevel response to stressor increase and release in stream ecosystems (RESIST)
• Applicant Institution: Universität Duisburg-Essen
• Project Heads: Dr. Verena Brauer; Professor Dr. Rainer Udo Meckenstock