Within the ERC Starting Grant Project RECONMET the stable carbon isotopic composition of aquatic invertebrate remains will be studied to provide information on past changes in the importance of methane as a carbon source for aquatic foodwebs. The project will study lake ecosystems in Switzerland, Finland, Germany, and Sweden to assess the extent to which the distinct carbon isotopic composition of methane can be traced in organic invertebrate remains from lakes with different methane concentrations and output. The aim is to develop carbon isotopic measurements on organic invertebrate remains as a new approach for reconstructing past changes in foodweb structure, methane availability, and methane fluxes in lakes.

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

Publications

• Eggermont, H; Heiri, O
  The chironomid-temperature relationship: expression in nature and palaeoenvironmental implications
  Biological Reviews 87: 430-456 2012

• 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

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

• van Hardenbroek, M; Heiri, O
  Stable carbon isotopes of invertebrate remains reveal past methane availability in lakes
  Symposium on Methane in lakes and wetlands - microbial production, ecosystem uptake, climatological significance. September 12 2011, Bern, Switzerland

• van Hardenbroek, M; Lotter, A; Bastviken, D; Heiri, O
  Stable carbon isotopes of invertebrate remains reveal past changes in lake carbon cycling
  5^th International Limnogeology Congress, August 31- September 3 2011. Constance, Germany