Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated with Great Lakes Northern Forests Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Powell Center is offering a funding opportunity for research on “Synthesizing patterns and drivers of changes in lake zooplankton community dynamics worldwide.” This research will integrate a temporal and spatial freshwater zooplankton dataset with extant in-situ and remote sensing data and modeling products. Researchers will create a harmonized, openly accessible and flexible dataset that is interoperable with existing limnological and hydrological data sets and adheres to FAIR and TRUST principles. Infrastructure, such as Shiny App, to encourage use of these data will be developed. To advance the understanding of the role of zooplankton in ecosystem function, researchers will use the data set to consider 1) what aspects of zooplankton community structure are sensitive and widely applicable indicators of environmental change and whether these characteristics vary by location and lake characteristics; 2) whether commonly used space for time substitution captures reproducible patterns in zooplankton community dynamics; 3) how zooplankton body size varies and whether this trait can be related to fundamental ecosystem characteristics; 4) how zooplankton respond to climate change.