Phytoplankton Ecology

Our research addresses mechanisms and consequences of phytoplankton biodiversity changes in coastal and open seas. Using a variety of approaches including time series analyses of monitoring data, physiological experiments with cultured phytoplankton isolates, analyses of intraspecific genetic and phenotypic diversity and resurrection of past populations from resting stages in “sediment archives”, we investigate the response of phytoplankton communities and populations to environmental change.  The data is used in ecosystem models projecting phytoplankton changes under different scenarios of future environmental conditions and assessing phytoplankton driven ecosystem functions.

Research topics and projects

• Phytoplankton life cycles and adaptation
• Adaptation to climate change based on resting stages and sedimentsarchives (PHYTOARK & CyaReMo)
• Expansion of harmful and toxic algal blooms in the Baltic Sea
• Climate change related changes in the plankton community composition and food web (Baltic Proper spring bloom)
• DNA methods in phytoplankton monitoring
• Phytoplankton monitoring
• Phytoplankton culure collection