Universitaet Bern Institute of Plant Sciences swissuniversity.ch  
Palaeoecology


 

Isotope measurements on chitinous invertebrate remains

We study the stable carbon isotopic composition of aquatic invertebrate remains in lake sediment records to provide information on past changes in the importance of methane as a carbon source for aquatic foodwebs, and for reconstructing past changes in the carbon cycle of lakes. Furthermore, we also explore the potential of stable hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen isotopic measurements on lacustrine invertebrate remains for reconstructing past changes in lacustrine foodwebs and past climate changes. This work was initiated by the ERC Starting Grant Project RECONMET (2010-2014).


Fieldwork at Lake Glimmeren, Sweden, to measure methane concentrations and obtain sediment samples for C-13 analysis

 
 Participants


Internal:
Oliver Heiri, Päivi Rinta, Jos Schilder, Tabea Stötter, Marina Morlock, Maarten van Hardenbroek

External:
Markus Leuenberger (OCCR), Paul Bodelier (NIOO Wageningen), Jonathan Grey (Queen Mary University London), Roger Jones (University of Jyväskylä), Paula Kankaala (University of Eastern Finland), David Bastviken (University of Linköping), Beth Okamura (Natural History Museum London), Mat Wooller (University of Alaska Fairbanks)

 News

Oliver Heiri is co-convener of the session Methane in freshwater systems: production, oxidation and emission at the 9th Symposium for European Freshwater Science July 5-10 2015 in Geneva, Switzerland

Oliver Heiri is co-convener of the session Strengthening the palaeolimnological contribution to global change at the 2015 ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting Feb 22-27 2015 in Granada, Spain

Marina Morlock has completed her MSc thesis with the title Stable carbon isotopes of cladoceran and bryozoan remains in Lake Gerzensee: implications for their use to reconstruct past methane abundance. In January 2015 she started as a PhD student in the Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology group of the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern

Tabea Stötter has defended her PhD thesis on January 30 2015. The title of the thesis is Methane-derived carbon in recent and ancient lake sediments - Analyses of lipids and invertebrate remains

Päivi Rinta has defended her PhD thesis on December 12 2014. The title of the thesis is Lacustrine methane cycling in different environments - Observations from a multi-lake survey and a sediment record

Marina Morlock wins poster prize at the 15th Swiss Gobal Change Day, 2.4.2014

Oliver Heiri has been invited to present at the Academia Europaea Annual Congress in Barcelona, 16-18 July 2014

Jos Schilder has defended his PhD thesis on July 11 2014. The title of the thesis is Methanogenic carbon in Daphnia tissue as an indicator of lacustrine methane budgets - observarions from the field, experiments and the fossil record. 

 Funding

This project has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 239858
 Types of Chitinous Remains

Bryozoan

Bryozoan statoblast


Chironomid

Chironomid head capsule

Recent publications

  • van Hardenbroek, M; Leuenberger, M; Hartikainen, HL; Okamura, B; Heiri, O
    Bryozoan stable carbon and hydrogen isotopes: relationships between the isotopic composition of zooids, statoblasts and lake water. Hydrobiologia (2015).

  • Rinta, P; Bastviken, D; van Hardenbroek, M; Kankaala, P; Leuenberger, M; Schilder, J; Stötter, T; Heiri, O
    An inter-regional assessment of concentrations and δ13C values of methane and dissolved inorganic carbon in small European lakes
    Aquatic Sciences 77 (4):667-680 OCT 2015 [pdf]

  • Schilder, J; Tellenbach, C; Most, M; Spaak, P; van Hardenbroek, M; Wooller, MJ; Heiri, O
    The stable isotopic composition of Daphnia ephippia reflects changes in δ13C and δ18O values of food and water 
    Biogeosciences 12: 3819-3830
     JUN 2015 [pdf]

  • Schilder, J; Bastviken, D; van Hardenbroek, M; Leuenberger, M; Rinta, P; Stötter, T; Heiri, O
    The stable carbon isotopic composition of Daphnia ephippia in small, temperate lakes reflects in-lake methane availability
    Limnology and Oceanography 60 (3): 1064-1075 MAY 2015 [pdf]

  • van Hardenbroek, M; Lotter, AF; Bastviken, D; Andersen, TJ; Heiri O
    Taxon-specific δ13C analysis of chitinous invertebrate remains in sediments from Strandsjön, Sweden
    Journal of Paleolimnology 52 (1-2) 95-105 AUG 2014

  • Catalan, J; Pla-Rabés, S; Wolfe, SP; Smol, JP; Rühland, KM; Anderson, NJ; Kopáček, J; Stuchlík, E; Schmidt, R; Koinig, KA; Camarero, L; Flower, RJ; Heiri, O; Kamenik, C; Korhola, A; Leavitt, PR; Psenner, R; Renberg, I
    Global change revealed by palaeolimnological records from remote lakes: a review
    Journal of Paleolimnology 49 (3): 513-535 MAR 2013

  • Schilder, J; Bastviken, D; van Hardenbroek, M; Kankaala, P; Rinta, P; Stötter, T; Heiri, O
    Spatial heterogeneity and lake morphology affect diffusive greenhouse gas emission estimates of lakes
    Geophysical Research Letters 40 (24): 5752–5756 NOV 2013

  • Heiri, O; Schilder, J; van Hardenbroek, M
    Stable isotopic analysis of fossil chironomids as an approach to environmental reconstruction: state of development and future challenges
    Fauna Norvegica 31: 7-18 2012

  • van Hardenbroek, M; Heiri, O; Parmentier, FJW; Bastviken, D; Ilyashuk, BP; Wiklund, JA; Hall, RI; Lotter, AF
    Evidence for past variations in methane availability in a Siberian thermokarst lake based on δ13C of chitinous invertebrate remains
    Quaternary Science Reviews 66: 74-84 2012

  • van Hardenbroek, M; Lotter, AF; Bastviken, D; Duc, NT; Heiri, O
    Relationship between δ13C of chironomid remains and methane flux in Swedish lakes
    Freshwater Biology 57: 166-177 2012

  • Verbruggen, F; Heiri, O; Reichart, GJ; Blaga, C; Lotter, AF
    Stable oxygen isotopes in chironomid and cladoceran remains as indicators for lake-water δ18O
    Limnology and Oceanography 56: 2071-2079 2011

Recent presentations

  • Schilder, J; M. van Hardenbroek, P. Bodelier, E.P. Kirilova, M. Leuenberger, A.F. Lotter, O. Heiri
    Productivity changes affect the importance of methanogenic carbon in the food web of a small temperate lake
    ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting. 22-27.2.2015, Granada, Spain. 

  • Heiri, O
    Carbon isotopic composition of chitinous invertebrate remains: An indicator for reconstructing past changes in methane cycling in lakes?
    Current Topics in Geosciences Seminar series, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel. 20.5.2015, Basel, Switzerland. 

  • Heiri, O
    Environmental impacts on the importance of methanogenic carbon in lake foodwebs: evidence from lake sediment studies
    Aquatic Sciences Division Spring Seminar, University of Jyväskylä, 14-15.4.2015, Jyväskylä, Finland. 

  • Heiri, O
    Traces of methane in lake sediment records: examples based on δ13C analyses of individual sediment components
    CH-QUAT Annual Meeting 2015, University of Bern. 28.3.2015, Bern, Switzerland.

  • Heiri O
    New challenges call for new approaches: An example focusing on past production of methane in lakes
    Academia Europaea 26th Annual Conference. 16-18.7.2014, Barcelona, Spain. Invited presentation.

  • Heiri, O
    Stable carbon isotopes in chitinous invertebrate remains: Reconstruction of past methane availability and food web changes in lake ecosystems
    Department of Biology, University of Fribourg. 13.5.2014, Fribourg, Switzerland.

  • Heiri, O
    Reconstructing methane production and methane availability in lakes using δ13C of individual sediment components
    Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research Plenary Meeting, 10.2.2014, Bern Switzerland.

  • Heiri, O
    Environmental reconstruction and transfer functions: A discussion of some recent criticism of the approach
    12th international Subfossil Chironomid Workshop 10-13.6.13, New Forrest, UK.

  • Rinta, P; D. Bastviken, M. van Hardenbroek, M. Leuenberger, J. Schilder, T. Stötter, O. Heiri
    Late summer CH4 and DIC concentrations and δ13C in small European lakes
    AGU Fall Meeting, 9.-13.12.2013, San Francisco, USA.

  • Schilder, J; D. Bastviken, M. van Hardenbroek, P. Kankaala, P. Rinta, T. Stötter, O. Heiri
    Diffusive methane flux from lakes has a distinct within-lake spatial distribution
    European Geosciences Union General Assembly, 7-12.04.2013, Vienna, Austria.

  • Stötter, T; M. van Hardenbroek, P. Rinta, J. Schilder, C.J. Schubert, O. Heiri
    Can lipids in lake sediments help to reconstruct changes in methane availability and methane fluxes in boreal and temperate lakes?
    American Geophysical Union General Assembly, 9.-13.12.2013, San Francisco, USA.

  • Stötter, T; M. van Hardenbroek, P. Rinta, J. Schilder, C.J. Schubert, O. Heiri
    Can lipids in lake sediments help to reconstruct changes in methane availability and methane fluxes in boreal and temperate lakes?
    12th International NCCR Climate Summer School, 1.-6.9.2013, Grindelwald, Switzerland.

  • Stötter, T; M. van Hardenbroek, P. Rinta, J. Schilder, C.J. Schubert, O. Heiri
    Can lipids in lake sediments help to reconstruct changes in methane availability and methane fluxes in boreal and temperate lakes?
    Conference on isotopes “Isotopes of Carbon, Water, and Geotracers in Paleoclimate Research” 26.-28.8.2013, Bern, Switzerland.

  • Heiri, O
    Carbon isotope analysis of invertebrate remains: A new approach for reconstructing variations in methane availability in lakes?
    EAWAG Dübendorf, 11.9.2012, Dübendorf, Switzerland. 

  • Heiri, O
    Methan in Feuchtgebieten - Emissionen in der Vergangenheit, Gegenwart und Zukunft. Naturforschende Gesellschaft in Bern, 27.11.2012. Bern, Switzerland. Oral presentation. 

  • Rinta, P; van Hardenbroek, M; Schilder, J; Stötter, T; Heiri, O
    Exploring methane in central and northern European lakes
    11th International NCCR Climate Summer School, 9.-14.09.2012, Monte Verita, Switzerland.

  • Rinta, P; van Hardenbroek, M; Schilder, J; Stötter, T; Heiri, O
    Environmental factors affecting methane concentrations in Central and Northern European lakes.
    10th Swiss Geoscience Meeting November 16-17 2012, Bern, Switzerland

  • Schilder, J; Bastviken, D; van Hardenbroek, M; Rinta, P; Stötter, T; Heiri, O
    Diffusive flux of methane and other greenhouse gases from lakes has a distinct within-lake distribution.
    10th Swiss Geoscience Meeting November 16-17 2012, Bern, Switzerland

  • Schilder, J; Heiri, O; van Hardenbroek, M; Lotter, A
    A spineless approach - nitrogen isotopes in chitinous invertebrate remains indicate past changes in nitrogen source.
    13th Swiss Global Change Day, April 4 2012, Bern, Switzerland

  • Stötter, T; van Hardenbroek, M; Rinta, P ; Schilder, J; Schubert, CJ; Heiri, O
    Can lipids help to reconstruct changes in methane availability and methane fluxes in lakes?
    10th Swiss Geoscience Meeting November 16-17 2012, Bern, Switzerland

  • van Hardenbroek, M; Wooller, MJ; Rinta, P; Schilder, J; Stötter, T; Heiri, O
    Exploring stable isotope composition of Cladocera and Bryozoa using flotsam from lakes.
    10th Swiss Geoscience Meeting November 16-17 2012, Bern, Switzerland


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