Responses of parasitic protist communities and their effects on their macroinvertebrate hosts under different degradation and recovery conditions (A23*)

• Subject Area: Microbial Ecology and Applied Microbiology ; Ecology and Biodiversity of Animals and Ecosystems, Organismic Interactions
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 426547801

Project A23 will investigate potential differences in macroinvertebrate host response to stressors and stressor combinations (salinity, temperature), when infected and uninfected with parasitic protists in lab-based microcosm experiments. We also aim to identify differences between parasitic protist communities from differently stressed (salinity, temperature, drought) and recovering environments, including a comparison between environmental and macroinvertebrate samples in collaborative field-based macrocosm experiments and field studies.

• 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 Head: Professorin Dr. Sonja Rückert