HR4RS stamp
Irene Vega
The URJC has obtained funding, through highly recognized competitive calls, to promote two research projects with the aim of studying various lakes of glacial origin in the Iberian Peninsula. On the one hand, the FRESHRESTORE project, funded by the European program BiodivRestore COFUND Action and that promotes research and conservation of biodiversity at a European level, and, on the other hand, the FRESCO project of the Community of Madrid Talent program, which supports outstanding research projects and the attraction of research talent in R+ centers d.
The main objective of these projects will be to contribute to improving the understanding of the changes in the structure and functioning of trophic webs (food webs or food cycles) along an anthropic gradient -from natural systems to systems with different human interventions, such as the presence of prey - and according to the richness of fish species. The ability to predict environmental changes will improve knowledge about the main factors and mechanisms responsible for the functioning of aquatic ecosystems and the preservation of the biodiversity of these biomes.
The researchers responsible for the design and coordination of the sampling campaign belong to the Biodiversity and Conservation Area of the URJC: Dr. Javier Sánchez-Hernández, principal investigator of the FRESHRESTORE project, and Dr. Ignasi Arranz, principal investigator of the FRESCO project. In addition, Carlos Jiménez Corbacho, a technician specializing in fish communities, and Ariadna García Astillero, a doctoral student whose thesis topic is aligned with the projects involved, are part of the research team.
“The projects are in an initial phase focused on data collection and laboratory analysis. A first sampling campaign has been carried out in three lake systems, in the Grande and Cimera lagoons and in the Sanabria lake. In the 2023 sampling campaign, the sampling effort will be increased to cover a total of eight lakes of glacial origin in the center of the Iberian Peninsula, in the Sierra de Gredos and the Sierra de Segundera", point out the researchers responsible. of both projects.
The singularity of this sampling campaign is that, to date, such a complete and comprehensive study has not been carried out, covering all taxonomic groups (from plankton to fish) and all domains (from littoral to deep water) in the territory. Spanish as the one carried out by the URJC research team. “Exhaustive sampling will be carried out to obtain all the information on each of the trophic levels in order to obtain reliable information on the structure and functioning of the lacustrine trophic webs. The methodology used in the sampling follows the specifications of the standardized protocols for the capture of biological samples (plankton, benthic invertebrates, and fish) in lake systems using different techniques, such as plankton nets, Ekman dredges - designed for the collection of sediment samples from soft bottoms such as clay or mud- and Nordic-type gillnets”, the researchers explain.
"Additionally, in Lake Sanabria, the electric fishing technique will be used to obtain complementary information on the fish community both in the shore area and at the entrance and exit of the Tera River, since they are areas where they take refuge. the juveniles. Regarding invertebrates, nets will be used to sample each type of habitat, including plankton communities in the water column and macroinvertebrates on the shore," they add.
International collaborations and forecast results
To carry out this research, there will be several research groups of international relevance that will participate in the sampling campaign and subsequent analysis of biological samples. Collaborating scientists include Dr. Antti P. Eloranta (University of Jyväskylä, Finland), who has the necessary facilities and equipment to perform some of the analyzes in the laboratory. In addition, Dr. Matthew Cobain (University of Jyväskylä) and Kim Magnus Bærum (Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Norway) will participate in the sampling campaign.
The first samples are already being analyzed and work is also being done on a scientific publication with the main results and conclusions. “We depend on water as a resource and aquatic ecosystems offer us important ecosystem services such as water purification or recreational activities. Our work will contribute to making decisions and developing adequate conservation and management strategies to guarantee the preservation of aquatic ecosystems, their biodiversity and ecosystem services that they provide us”, emphasize those responsible for the projects.