Boknis Eck (BE) is located in the southwestern Baltic Sea at the entrance to the Eckernförde Bay. One special characteristic of this site is the seasonal change between oxic and hypoxic / sporadic anoxic conditions in the deeper water column. This dynamic in oxygen levels makes Boknis Eck an ideal model site to study the impact of deoxygenation on microbial activity and the resulting changes in metabolic turnover rates in the natural habitat.
For this purpose, we carry out incubation experiments in the laboratory, but also use our Mini Chamber Lander to perform comparative in situ experiments. Microbiological turnover rates are monitored and molecular biological transcriptional analyses accompany our experiments. Here, our intention is to better understand how microbially mediated metabolic processes impact ecosystem functioning. The globally increasing expansion of oxygen minimum zones highlight the need for such studies, allowing better prediction of possible feedbacks and forecasting microbially mediated element cycling in the future oceans.
Staff
Dr. Nicole Adam-Beyer ∙ Dr. Stefanie Böhnke-Brandt ∙ Rebecca Bährle
