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UK scientists to revolutionise lake research in £2.5m global project
 
 Date: 2012-09-17  Page Views:
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A consortium of scientists from six UK universities and research institutes has been awarded a £2.5m grant to create the world's first satellite-based global lake surveillance system, to monitor how lakes and reservoirs are being affected by environmental change.

Funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the consortium project, entitled GloboLakes, will be led by Dr Andrew Tyler, Head of Biological & Environmental Sciences at the University of Stirling.

Dr Tyler says, "There are approximately 304 million lakes worldwide which are important for biodiversity and provide many ecological goods and services vital to human survival, such as the supply of fresh water, food and energy. They are also important for the facilitation of carbon cycling, flood alleviation and recreational pursuits."

Previous research has already shown how the ecological structure and function of lakes can be damaged by external changes such as the influx of certain nutrients, increased sediment load and climate change. Frequently the changes lead to algal blooms that can deplete oxygen concentrations and produce toxins that are harmful to human health.

"Yet despite their importance and sensitivity to change", says Dr Tyler, "only a very small number of lakes have been studied consistently and in any detail.

"This world-leading research will enable us to observe the conditions of over 1000 lakes around the globe in a consistent way and also retrospectively, by using archived images from over a decade ago. This will allow us to gain deeper insight into their responses to environmental change and enable us to develop an early warning system to detect the onset of harmful algal blooms."

GloboLakes will revolutionise lake research, allowing monitoring to be carried out on an unprecedented scale and will provide the power to detect even the smallest changes. Additionally, by monitoring other environmental conditions, the project will produce a step-change in scientists' ability to understand and attribute the causes of change within lakes - a task which has been arduous thus far.

Professor Stephen Maberly, Head of the Lake Ecosystem Group at the NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, concludes, "This project will help to cement the UK's position at the forefront of international research on freshwater ecosystems and will benefit the environment, society and industry.

"Information garnered will provide essential knowledge on the condition and response of lakes to environmental change, which will prove invaluable for the monitoring and management of lakes and reservoirs in the future."

The University of Stirling will be heading the consortium, which includes the universities of Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, the NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory. The ambitious project is also made possible by the enthusiastic collaboration of over twenty partner organisations around the world.

Source:

http://www.nerc.ac.uk/press/releases/2012/23-globolakes.asp

Provided by:

Institute of Remote Sening and Digital Earth,CAS;The Lanzhou Branch of the National Science Library/The Scientific Information Center for Resources and Environment,CAS

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