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Climate change is projected to cause elevated precipitation in northern Europe, leading to increased runoff of terrestrial matter to coastal areas. The consequences for food web production and ecosystem function remain unclear. A mesocosm experiment was performed to investigate the impacts of elevated terrestrial matter input, using a natural plankton community from the northern Baltic Sea with added young-of-the-year perch as planktivorous top consumer. Addition of terrestrial matter caused water browning and increased dissolved organic carbon and inorganic nutrient concentrations. Phytoplankton primary production showed a negative response to terrestrial matter due to decreased light availability, while heterotrophic bacterial production increased. The trophic balance, calculated as the difference between primary production and heterotrophic bacterial production, indicated that net-heterotrophy was triggered by terrestrial matter enrichment. Primary production was identified as the main basal energy source for fish. Addition of terrestrial matter reduced the food web efficiency, calculated as the ratio between fish production and basal production (primary production?+?heterotrophic bacterial production). Furthermore, stable isotope analysis of seston and fish indicated that the added terrestrial matter was not efficiently incorporated in the food web and only marginally altered the food web trophic positions. The results suggest that the main food chain consisted of phytoplankton, mesozooplankton, and fish, and that the ecosystem production was overall light driven. Under a changing climate, several negative effects can be expected, including a poorer light climate, reduced ecosystem production and net-heterotrophy. These alterations have potentially significant consequences for ecosystem functioning, fish production, and thus ecosystem services.

Här presenteras resultaten från forskningsprojektet ”Eutrofiering och närsalter iBottniska viken - Ett ekosystem i förändring”. Projektet är ett av fyra syntesprojektsom genomförts inom forskningssatsningen Avloppsvatten och övergödning.

Med de fyra syntesarbeten ville Naturvårdsverket och Havs- och vattenmyndighetenfå sammanfattad och analyserad kunskapsläge och kunskapsbehovinom områdena avloppsvatten och övergödning. Det övergripande syftet medsynteserna var att bidra till policyutveckling inom hållbar vattenhantering så attvi uppnår miljömålen på lång sikt och att miljöns tillstånd förbättras. Utlysningenvar inriktad på tre områden varav ett var om övergödning i kust och hav i Bottniskaviken.

Projektet har finansierats med medel från Naturvårdsverkets miljöforskningsanslag.

Rapporten har skrivits av Agneta Andersson, Siv Huseby, Joakim Ahlgren,Karolina Eriksson och Sonia Brugel från Umeå universitet.

Rapporten har granskats för vetenskaplig kvalitet av Jens Fölster (SLU) samtför praktisk relevans av Lars Åkesson (Havs- och vattenmyndigheten), Anneli Sedin(Länsstyrelsen i Västerbotten) samt Kerstin Rosén Nilsson (Naturvårdsverket).

Författarna svarar för rapportens innehåll.

This report presents results from a project investigating the use of microbes as indicators of mercury (Hg) pollution in sediments. Microbes respond rapidly to environmental change, making them excellent bioindicators. However, to ensure reliable results, it is essential to analyze microbial communities soon after sampling to prevent degradation or loss of activity.

To address this, a portable molecular sequencing laboratory, OmiBox, was developed, enabling near in situ analysis of microbial taxonomic composition and gene expression. Additionally, microbial community composition was studied in Hg-contaminated fiber banks in the Gulf of Bothnia. The results revealed that certain taxonomic groups, such as bacteria from the phyla Campylobacterota and Desulfobacterota, were enriched in fiber-rich, Hg-polluted sediments.

The study also included tolerance experiments comparing bacteria from clean and contaminated sediments in response to Hg addition. Bacteria from polluted sites exhibited significantly greater tolerance, suggesting evolved resistance and retained microbial functionality. Nonetheless, Hg-contaminated sediments pose ecological risks, as methylmercury (MeHg) can bioaccumulate and magnify through the food web.

This project contributes a framework for understanding how bacterial community structure and function respond to Hg pollution in sediments, offering valuable tools for environmental monitoring and assessment.

Kemiska föroreningar orsakar problem världen över. Miljögifter som hamnat i akvatiska miljöer ackumuleras ofta till nivåer som har skadliga effekter på organismerna och hela ekosystemen. Inom EU-lagstiftningen används biomarkörer för att analysera statusen på naturliga miljöer. Mikroorganismer skulle kunna vara väl lämpade som bioindikator, eftersom de i stort sett finns överallt på jorden och snabbt svarar på miljöförändringar.

Målsättningen med detta projekt var att klarlägga om bakterier kan användas som indikator för kontaminerade sediment. Vi fokuserade på kvicksilver, som är ett vanligt förekommande miljögift i fiberrika sediment i Bottniska viken. Inom projektet utvecklades ett portabelt molekylärt sekvenseringslaboratorium (Omibox), experiment utfördes för att testa effekter av terrestra organiska ämnen samt mikroorganismers toleransnivåer för kvicksilverbelastning. Därutöver utfördes fältstudier i gradienter av kvicksilverbelastade områden i Bottniska viken för att hitta möjliga indikatorer i bakteriesamhället.

The Baltic Sea is one of the largest brackish water environments on earth and is characterised by pronounced physicochemical gradients and seasonal dynamics. Although the Baltic Sea has a long history of microscopy-based plankton monitoring, DNA-based metabarcoding has so far mainly been limited to individual transect cruises or time-series of single stations. Here we report a dataset covering spatiotemporal variation in prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbial communities and physicochemical parameters. Within 13-months between January 2019 and February 2020, 341 water samples were collected at 22 stations during monthly cruises along the salinity gradient. Both salinity and seasonality are strongly reflected in the data. Since the dataset was generated with both metabarcoding and microscopy-based methods, it provides unique opportunities for both technical and ecological analyses, and is a valuable biodiversity reference for future studies, in the prospect of climate change.

Measurements of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), nitrogen (DON), and phosphorus (DOP) concentrations are used to characterize the dissolved organic matter (DOM) pool and are important components ofbiogeochemical cycling in the coastal ocean. Here, we present the first edition of a global database (CoastDOMv1; available at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.964012, Lønborg et al., 2023) compiling previously published and unpublished measurements of DOC, DON, and DOP in coastal waters. These data are complementedby hydrographic data such as temperature and salinity and, to the extent possible, other biogeochemical variables(e.g. chlorophyll a, inorganic nutrients) and the inorganic carbon system (e.g. dissolved inorganic carbon andtotal alkalinity). Overall, CoastDOM v1 includes observations of concentrations from all continents. However,most data were collected in the Northern Hemisphere, with a clear gap in DOM measurements from the SouthernHemisphere. The data included were collected from 1978 to 2022 and consist of 62 338 data points for DOC,20 356 for DON, and 13 533 for DOP. The number of measurements decreases progressively in the sequenceDOC > DON > DOP, reflecting both differences in the maturity of the analytical methods and the greater focuson carbon cycling by the aquatic science community. The global database shows that the average DOC concentration in coastal waters (average ± standard deviation (SD): 182±314 µmolC L⁻¹; median: 103 µmolC L⁻¹) is13-fold higher than the average coastal DON concentration (13.6 ± 30.4 µmol N L⁻¹; median: 8.0 µmol N L⁻¹),which is itself 39-fold higher than the average coastal DOP concentration (0.34 ± 1.11 µmol P L⁻¹; median:0.18 µmol P L⁻¹). This dataset will be useful for identifying global spatial and temporal patterns in DOM and willhelp facilitate the reuse of DOC, DON, and DOP data in studies aimed at better characterizing local biogeochemical processes; closing nutrient budgets; estimating carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous pools; and establishing abaseline for modelling future changes in coastal waters. 

Växtplankton, som utgör grunden i den marina näringsväven, har länge använts för att mäta miljöförändringar. Just nu sker det en snabb utveckling av DNA-metoder för miljöövervakning. 

Forskningsprojektets syfte har varit att utveckla DNA-streckkodning av marina växtplankton som ett verktyg för miljöövervakning. DNA-metoden har visat sig ha en stor potential för att visa planktonsamhällenas sammansättning och diversitet, samt som en mätare på förändringar i miljön. Men projektet har även fångat upp förekomster av organismer som inte tillhör växtplankton. 

Forskningsprojektet även visat på att metoden behöver vidareutvecklas, då den bara fångar upp 50 % av den genetiska variationen inom en växtplanktonart (ASV, amplicon sequence variants), vilket gör gränsdragningen mot andra arter svår. 

Projektet har finansierats med medel från Naturvårdsverkets miljöforskningsanslag som finansierar forskning till stöd för Naturvårdsverkets och Havs- och vattenmyndighetens kunskapsbehov.

Climate change is having many negative impacts worldwide. Increased rainfall caused by climate change has become a serious issue in the northern parts of the world. With more rainfall, a larger amount of brown-colored decaying plant material is transported from the land to oceans, making the seawater browner. The brown color reduces the amount of sunlight that penetrates into the seawater, which can decrease the growth of microscopic plant-like organisms called phytoplankton that rely on sunlight to grow. Phytoplankton are an important food source for ocean animals, such as tiny creatures called zooplankton. This study explored the effects of seawater browning on phytoplankton and zooplankton in the northern Baltic Sea.

Microplastics (MPs) have the potential to modify aquatic microbial communities and distribute microorganisms, including pathogens. This poses a potential risk to aquatic life and human health. Despite this, the fate of ‘hitchhiking’ microbes on MPs that traverse different aquatic habitats remains largely unknown. To address this, we conducted a 50-day microcosm experiment, manipulating estuarine conditions to study the exchange of bacteria and microeukaryotes between river, sea and plastisphere using a long-read metabarcoding approach. Our findings revealed a significant increase in bacteria on the plastisphere, including Pseudomonas, Sphingomonas, Hyphomonas, Brevundimonas, Aquabacterium and Thalassolituus, all of which are known for their pollutant degradation capabilities, specifically polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. We also observed a strong association of plastic-degrading fungi (i.e., Cladosporium and Plectosphaerella) and early-diverging fungi (Cryptomycota, also known as Rozellomycota) with the plastisphere. Sea MPs were primarily colonised by fungi (70%), with a small proportion of river-transported microbes (1%–4%). The mere presence of MPs in seawater increased the relative abundance of planktonic fungi from 2% to 25%, suggesting significant exchanges between planktonic and plastisphere communities. Using microbial source tracking, we discovered that MPs only dispersed 3.5% and 5.5% of river bacterial and microeukaryotic communities into the sea, respectively. Hence, although MPs select and facilitate the dispersal of ecologically significant microorganisms, drastic compositional changes across distinct aquatic habitats are unlikely.

Mixing of entire microbial communities represents a frequent, yet understudied phenomenon. Here, we mimicked estuarine condition in a microcosm experiment by mixing a freshwater river community with a brackish sea community and assessed the effects of both environmental and community coalescences induced by varying mixing processes on microeukaryotic communities. Signs of shifted community composition of coalesced communities towards the sea parent community suggest asymmetrical community coalescence outcome, which, in addition, was generally less impacted by environmental coalescence. Community stability, inferred from community cohesion, differed among river and sea parent communities, and increased following coalescence treatments. Generally, community coalescence increased alpha diversity and promoted competition from the introduction (or emergence) of additional (or rare) species. These competitive interactions in turn had community stabilizing effect as evidenced by the increased proportion of negative cohesion. The fate of microeukaryotes was influenced by mixing ratios and frequencies (i.e. one-time versus repeated coalescence). Namely, diatoms were negatively impacted by coalescence, while fungi, ciliates, and cercozoans were promoted to varying extents, depending on the mixing ratios of the parent communities. Our study suggests that the predictability of coalescence outcomes was greater when the sea parent community dominated the final community, and this predictability was further enhanced when communities collided repeatedly.

Climate change is projected to cause alterations in northern coastal systems, including humification and intensified nutrient loads, which can lead to ecosystem imbalances and establishment of new bacterial species. Several potential pathogens, such as different species of Legionella, hide in the environment between infections, some by living inside protozoan host cells. Knowledge about the occurrence of Legionella in natural waters is missing, which disable risk assessments of exposure. We performed a study of the species diversity of Legionella in the northern Baltic Sea (Gulf of Bothnia) during early summer to map their occurrence and to identify possible environmental drivers. We detected Legionella and potential protozoan hosts along gradients of the Gulf of Bothnia. We also for the first time present third generation full-length 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing (Nanopore) to resolve environmental species classification of Legionella, with a method suitable to study all bacteria. Our data show that full length 16S rRNA sequences is sufficient to resolve Legionella while the standard short Illumina sequences did not capture the entire diversity. For accurate species classification of Legionella, harmonization between the Nanopore classification methods is still needed and the bias toward the well-studied Legionella pneumophila need to be resolved. Different Legionella species occurred both in the Bothnian Sea and in the Bothnian Bay and their abundance were linked to humic substances and low salinity. The relative abundance of Legionella was higher in the humic-rich northern waters of the Bothnian Bay. The link between Legionella species and humic substances may be indirect via promotion of the heterotrophic microbial food web, allowing Legionella species and similar bacteria to establish. Humic substances are rich in iron, which has been shown crucial for growth of Legionella species and other pathogens. Considering climate change projections in this regional area, with increased humification and freshwater inflow, this bacterial niche containing potential pathogens might become more widespread in the future Baltic Sea. This study demonstrates the significance of DNA sequencing to monitor public health relevant bacteria like Legionella species in the environment. Including sequencing of bacteria and protozoa in the environmental monitoring programs could be used to identify ecosystem imbalances, which enable appropriate responses to emerging diseases.