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Investigate the role of conductivity variation on stickleback morphology in South Greenland

Lay summary

Climate change can affect the physical and chemical properties of an environment. In lake ecosystems, rising temperatures can affect water balance, flushing rates, connectivity among lakes and the ocean, and chemical fluxes from the surrounding watershed. During my fieldwork in Southern Greenland, I will focus on water conductivity as it can be a useful proxy of elements that are important for bone growth, such as calcium, as well as on how a fish species, the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), does or does not adapt to climate-mediated variation in water conductivity of lakes in Southern Greenland.

Southern Greenland is an ideal location for this because it was fully submerged during the last glacial maximum but following ice sheet retreat, deglaciation and a vertical uplift, the landmass emerged from the ocean about 10,000 years ago. The landscape is characterised by numerous freshwater lakes marine three-spined sticklebacks have colonised. Ongoing climate change is both creating new lakes where ice sheets once covered landmass and changing the conductivity of existing lakes via a combination of effects on evaporation, mineral input from glacial melting, weathering, and flushing rates.

During the trip I will collect 30 sticklebacks from each of 16 lakes. I will then measure certain physical characteristics in each fish, e.g., number of armour plates, and use a fin clip to extract DNA. Additionally, I will also collect water samples to measure conductivity and chemical properties. All the data are than being used to connect the fishes’ genetic information and physical appearance to the environment they live in. Overall, the field campaign is an exciting opportunity to study present-day evolution in naturally occurring replicated ecosystems that are threatened by climate change.

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