The department is (or was) involved in the following funded projects:
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Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning
EU Network of Excellence (01.02.2004 - 31.01.2009)
Dr. S. Forster
Concerted study of the marine biodiversity and of its repercussion on the functionning of coastal ecosystems. The project involves 56 institutes across Europe and is co-ordinated at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology, NIOO-CEME in Yerseke (NL).
Fauna of the Sokotra archipelago
Dr. Wolfgang Wranik
The archipelago of Socotra (Jemen), situated at the entrance of the Gulf of Aden, is one of the world's most isolated landforms, on a geological time scale. It thus forms a special environment with some unique fauna and flora species. The main focus of the project are studies of the fauna on the islands of Socotra, Abd al Kuri, Samha and Darsa, in order to improve the taxonomical knowledge and to support local environment protection efforts. additional information (in English)
Taxonomic studies of molluscs and decapode crustaceans in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden
Dr. Wolfgang Wranik
The project is focused on taxonomic studies and distribution assessments of molluscs and a variety of decapode crustaceans. New insights into species formation and isolation processes as well as colonisation trends from both, the southern Red Sea and the western Gulf of Aden are collected and analysed. These information will also contribute to an ongoing programme in Jemen which intends to evaluate the status of the coastal ecosystems and to monitor environmental changes and the exploitation of natural ressources in view of developing long-term protection concepts.
Oceanic seamounts: an integrated study
EU project (01.12.2002 - 30.11.2005)
Dr. Barbara Springer, Stephan Werk
The project integrates physical, biogeochemical and biological research to gather new knowledge on seamount ecosystems, their taxonomic composition and food web. One of the main scopes of OASIS is to produce comprehensive and science-based management guidelines for offshore marine ecosystems such as seamounts.
Flume Facility Co-operation Network for Biological Benthic Boundary Layer Research
EU-Infrastructure network (01.12.2001 - 30.11.2005)
Dr. Michael Friedrichs, Florian Peine
This infrastructure network funded by the EU aims to facilitate better co-operation, efficient exploitation of resources and the creation of a high-level scientific community, to form the basis for technological and scientific development in the field of marine ecosystem functioning and modelling. Biological flume facilities are playing an increasingly important role in fundamental and applied ecosystem research. Since no flume tank is suitable for every type of research, it is important to select the right type of flume design and equipment for specific research questions. Co-operation on an international level is therefore essential. The network comprises the majority of biological flume facilities within Europe, ensuring a good variety in flume design, measuring equipment and available resources and expertise. Yearly scientific workshops (held in Rostock 2003) complement travel funds for exchange visits between the partner intitutes. The co-ordination is managed at the Centre for Estuarine and Marine Ecology (CEME) within the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO) which runs a separate hompage for the BioFlow network at www.bioflow-eu.net.
Dynamics of natural and anthopogenic sedimentation
BMBF, German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (01.01.2004 - 31.05.2005)
Dr. Martin Powilleit, Dr. Michael Friedrichs, Florian Peine, Dr. Kai Ziervogel
In this project, the mechanisms of sediment distribution in the Mecklenburg Bight are studied in an interdisciplinary approach, in close co-operation with colleagues at the Institute of Baltic Research in Warnemünde (IOW) which also co-ordinates the project. The parameterisation of the results obtained in the previous phase is a top priority in this second project period, in order to make the data available for the sediment transport model. In addition, repeated field sampling campaigns are used to assess the recolonisation and recovery potential of the macrofauna species affected by the test dumping of dredged harbour material which occurred in the course of DYNAS 1.
The southern Baltic Sea and its coast in change
DBU-center, German Federal Environment Foundation (01.06.2001 -
31.07.2005)
Dr. Peter Frenzel, Kerstin Rieder, Martin Feike
The Baltic Sea is the largest brackish water body on earth. It covers 415,000 km2 and has a volume of 22,000 km3.
There are nine countries with 70 million inhabitants in the Baltic Sea region with a coast line of approximately
20,000 km. About 100 million people live within the water catchment area. Different economical and political
conditions in the surrounding countries have resulted in different levels of use as well as protection of the
natural resources. As a semi-enclosed marginal sea the Baltic Sea ecosystem responds especially sensitively to
all manmade changes.
The young ecosystem of the Baltic Sea is in continuous natural change; however, man is more and more changing
the natural conditions. Fisheries, agriculture, settlements, tourism, industry and the growing ship traffic all
pose potential or actual threats to the Baltic Sea environment: Nutrients from point as well as diffuse sources
within the water catchment area will lead to eutrophication. Toxic substances such as heavy metals or harmful
organic substances may cause poisoning in organisms on all trophic levels. Dams and bridges may slow down the
water exchange, e.g. between the North Sea and Baltic Sea. Coastal defence measures will change coastal
morphodynamics and the evolution of the coastal line. Natural and manmade changes are sometimes hard to
discriminate (e.g. climate change) and make thorough investigations necessary.
In cooperation with the Universities of Kiel, Rostock, and Greifswald one habilitation and 14 PhD-scholarships
were granted by the DBU to young scientists who are now conducting
their research within a broad spectrum of topics ranging from social, economic, biological and geological
studies. The general idea is to create a network between the scientists and their disciplines. Workshops are
being held regularly to discuss results or to debate different topics regarding Baltic Sea research and
conservation. Furthermore, a public symposium is organized once a year to further promote the work and raise
awareness for the need for an interdisciplinary approach within Baltic Sea research.
The different studies are interconnected. Three scholars are doing their research at the Rostock Marine Biology department:
"The use of ostracodes and foraminifera of the southern Baltic as bio-indicators"
Dr. Peter Frenzel (Habilitation scholarship)
This research work funded by the DBU intends to develop, improve and test methods to use Ostracodes and Foraminifera as bio-indicators in the coastal waters of the southern Baltic. The Ostracodes occur in high population densities and they display a high diversity, which makes them suitable for coastal monitoring purposes. Both groups of organisms generate hard structures that are easily fossilised and therefore accessible as palaeo-milieu-indicators. Hence, this study wants to discriminate between anthropogenic influences and natural changes, in order to detect long-term trends.
"Carbon fluxes across beaches of contrasting levels of exposition, with special focus on meiofauna
organisms"
Kerstin Rieder (PhD scholarship)
The coastal area of the southern Baltic Sea is characterised by a variety of different sandy beaches that strongly differ in their degree of exposure. In contrast to more silty sediments, where the macrozoobenthos plays a major role in the carbon cycle of the sediment, sandy sediments are characterised by the dominance of the meiobenthic community. The meiofauna is a main component of the benthic microbial loop and is able to control bacterial abundances, benthic protozoan biomass and thus also the turnover rates of organic carbon in the sediment. In contrast to their ecological importance, combined studies on the distribution pattern of the meiofauna and their abiotic and biotic driving factors are rare, since sandy beaches are very dynamic and complex environments. Here is shown seasonal meiofauna distribution pattern on a sandy beach with two areas different in their degree of exposure in the southern Baltic Sea. To gain data on food availability primary production measurements were done using glass microelectrodes. Wave energy controlled meiofauna abundance and taxonomic composition only in the area mostly exposed to the open sea, while due to a higher food availability, indicated by chl a and primary production rates, the sheltered area was characterised by high numbers of meiobenthic organisms. The most abundant meiobenthic group in both areas was the Nematoda. At the sheltered area the nematode abundances were triggered by the microphytobenthic primary production, while at the exposed site wave energy led to a generally deeper location of the nematodes. The spatial association between the nematodes and the microphytobentos suggested a strong trophic interaction between both compartments.
"The impact of stranded detritus on the beach ecosystem"
Martin Feike (PhD scholarship)
The largest part of the southern Baltic Sea coast is characterised by expanded sand beaches. These form an interface between the aquatic milieu on the one and terrestrial ecosystems on the other side. Because of their intense recreational use, sand beaches are largely influenced and modified by anthropogenic effects. To-date, no scientific knowledge exists on these effects for the southern Baltic. Detritus in the surf zones, made of stranded macrophytes and macrozoobenthos, constitute one of the most apparent forms of organic material along wide stretches of the coastlines. This detritus is a major food source for a specialised faunal community. The nutrient fluxes into the sediment that occur underneath the detritus patches are yet unknown. These fluxes, but also the decay process, will be studied in detail during this scholarship.
Ostracodes as indicator organisms for environmental changes in the Timor Basin
funded by the International Bureau at the BMBF (IDN 01/010)
Dr. Peter Frenzel
Contributing scientists: Dr. A. Müller (University of Canberra, Australia)
Prof. Dr. G. Arlt (University of Rostock)
K. T. Dewi (Marine Geological Institute, Bandung, Indonesia)
Quartary, marine ostracode communities from the Timor Basin and adjacent regions are being documented and analysed for their potential as indicator organisms for palaeo-oceanographical changes. The study area is of special value due to its palaeo-oceanographical importance as a major strait, and because its high biodiversity with many poorly known species. Sea surface level alterations and climate changes are assumed to have played an essential role in controlling these communities.
Dynamics of natural and anthopogenic sedimentation
BMBF, German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (01.06.2000 - 31.05.2003)
Dr. Martin Powilleit, Michael Friedrichs, Florian Peine
This associated project is designed to contribute to a profound understanding of sedimentation processes in the Bay of Mecklenburg. This will be the object of a multidisciplinary cooperation of sedimentologists, benthos- and microbiologists, sediment physicists and physical oceanographers, under the co-ordination of the Institue of Baltic Research (IOW). The application of a coupled 3D-current model, which will be extended by a sediment transport module, holds a key position in this project. The parameterisation of the models by experimental determination of critical velocities of different sediment types related to conditions of lithofacies, physico-chemical environment and micro- and benthic biological processes is very importand. Field measurements will be carried out in key areas in front of the coast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Based on a test dumping of dredged material with known properties, the behaviour of anthropogenically disturbed sediments will be examined experimentally and compared with natural deposits. The special task of the associated researchers in the Marine Biology department is to quantify the biodeposition and bioresuspension effects induced by benthic macrofauna organisms, both due to active behavior and to interactions between the near-bed current regime, biogenic structures and the sedimen surface. These experiments will mainly be done in the flume channels of the department. In addidtion, a second task is to study the near-bed aggragate formation and transport, as well as critical erosion thresholds in correlation to microbial biofilms.
Relevant structure-building macrofauna organisms in coastal waters of th region Mecklenburg - Western
Pommerania
Regional ministry of Environmental Protection, Regional Office for Environment Issues and Geology LUNG
(01.11.2001 - 31.12.2002 + 01.06.2003 - 30.09.2004)
Dr.Martin Powilleit
The macrofauna community composition of 4 differing target areas will be monitored on a small spatial scale for seasonal changes in the years 2001 and 2002. The study sites are selected to represent coastal shallow-water communities of the area which are dominated by structure-building species. One of the aims of this project is to optimise monitoring strategies in terms of sampling frequencies, numbers of replicate samples per station, distribution of sampling stations across the study area, and sampling calendar. On the other hand, the project ants to fill gaps in the existing sampling site distribution in order to improve the data set for GIS maps (cf. DYNAS) of the benthic macrofaunal species present in the study area of Mecklenburg-Western Pommerania.
Makrozoobenthos of the Mecklenburg Bight - effects of dumped dredge material
A project with the Federal Institute of Hydrology (bfg) Koblenz
Dipl. Biol. Jörn Kleine, Dr.Martin Powilleit
Motivated by the offshore test dumping of harbour dredge material in the course of the research project DYNAS, a study of the tolerance capacity of selected macrobenthic fauna organisms regarding burial was initiated. A collection of video clips was created to document some typical species and individual aspects of a dumping event.