Impact of climate change on the dynamics of interaction networks and on the ecological patterns of microbial diversity in aquatic ecosystems

• Grant number: 21/14192-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: April 01, 2022
• End date: August 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Ecosystems Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Valeria Maia Merzel
• Grantee: Leandro Nascimento Lemos
• Host Institution: Centro Pluridisciplinar de Pesquisas Químicas, Biológicas e Agrícolas (CPQBA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Paulínia , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 19/08474-8 - Freshwater ecosystems under climate change: impacts across multiple levels of organisation, AP.PFPMCG.TEM

Abstract

The effects of climate change on a microbial community scale and their relationships with different trophic levels have been little explored in the context of aquatic ecosystems. These limitations are caused by the difficulty (I) to carry in situ experimentation on natural ecosystems, (II) obtaining data in large-scale (geographic) to observe effects of climate change, and (III) the use of analytical and integrative methods to process large genomic data on a Big Data scale in the scope of microbiome studies. Based on this context, the main purpose of this project is to investigate the impact of changes in rainfall and temperature levels on the structure and dynamics of the microbial networks (Bacteria, Archaea, Fungia, and Protozoa) and on the alpha and beta taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity in natural microcosm systems (eg, bromeliads) and mesocosm experiments. To achieve this objective, an ecological framework based on integrative and Bioinformatics analysis will be developed using computational tools and analytical methods available in the literature. The results of this project will allow us to elucidate the response of microbial communities at different trophic, functional, and taxonomic levels on the climate change responses in continental aquatic systems from the use of a multidisciplinary and integrative approach. (AU)