Extreme events such as heatwaves are an increasingly common feature of climate change, driving major ecological disruptions worldwide. Heatwaves can push species beyond their tolerance limits, leading to species loss, consumer dietary shifts, and loss and rewiring of interactions in the food web. These changes may decrease ecosystem productivity and gradually deteriorate the stability of ecological communities as the magnitude and frequency of heatwaves increases. Forecasting and managing the impact of heatwaves calls for urgent improvement in our understanding of how they threaten our ecosystems. This project will predict the vulnerability and adaptive capacity of coastal ecosystems to heatwaves, using the Baltic Sea as a case study system, by combining state-of-the-art experiments with DNA analysis and food web modelling. The gained insights from the project will be important for managing and safeguarding our valuable coastal resources.

2024

2028