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Light or heavy oxygen?

12.08.2019

In order to characterise a lake comprehensively, it is also necessary to understand the material flows. Dr. Alexander Frank from the GeoZentrum Nordbayern at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg is particularly interested in oxygen fluxes, i.e. how much oxygen aquatic algae release during photosynthesis and how much of this oxygen is directly reused by the algae and other aquatic organisms. Since both processes affect the isotope composition of the dissolved oxygen in different ways, the microbiologist uses a method to analyse the isotope signature. ... [»]

IGB is researching the effects of climate change at the Lake Lab

The LakeLab in Lake Stechlin of Brandenburg, Germany, is a large experimental setup of the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB). Here, scientists are studying the effects of climate change on lakes.

In the LakeLab, 24 lake-water basins each 9 metres in diameter and around 20 metres deep are isolated from the rest of the lake. In these experimental cylinders, future climatic scenarios will be simulated and their effects on the lake researched. Will the biodiversity change as a result of climate change? Will there be an enrichment of nutrients? Will more greenhouse gasses be released? – These are only a few of many questions the researchers of IGB intend to answer.

The LakeLab is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF), the Senate of Berlin (Department for Economy, Technology and Research), and the Leibniz Association. It is a winner of the 2012 competition «Germany – Land of Ideas».