Global warming is rising at an unprecedented rate; increasing temperature and changing precipitation patterns affect the functioning of lake ecosystems. Yet, little is known about the interactive effects of temperature rising and increasing DOC entrance with flush floods on zooplankton community stability when these stressors occur simultaneously. An in-situ mesocosm experiment was conducted to examine the impacts of warming and DOC increase on zooplankton community stability. Zooplankton communities were exposed to heating (ambient+ 4 C°, no DOC), DOC pulse (ambient, 8 mg C L^-1), and a combination of them as mixed treatment (ambient+ 4 C° & 8 mg C L^-1) compared to control (ambient + no DOC). We hypothesized that stressors would affect zooplankton community stability, zooplankton community (a) would show no “resistance” to disturbance of both individual stressors, (b) would be “resilient” to “recover” shortly within experimental time, and (c) the combined effect of DOC and temperature increase would be greater than individual effects of the both stressors. Our study builds a foundation for under-standing the effects of global warming and increasing humic substances on zooplankton community stability. It highlights that concomitant impacts of more than one stressor should be considered important in predicting the response of the communities besides their individual effects.

Primary Presenter: Dilvin YILDIZ, Middle East Technical University (dilvinim@gmail.com)

Authors:

Gulce YALCIN, Middle East Technical University  (g.saydam@gmail.com)

Sarah Hasnain, Middle East Technical University  (sarah.s.hasnain@gmail.com)

Erik Jeppesen, Aarhus University  (ej@ecos.au.dk)

Ali Ger, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte  (aligerger@gmail.com)

Meryem Beklioğlu, Middle East Technical University  (meryem@metu.edu.tr)