Spring is in the air, and many research activities are picking up at Erken. This spring, it’s not only researchers who think it’s fun to work at Erken, but the farm nearby has brought new cow neighbors who are extremely curious. The cows are still getting used to their new surroundings, so if you are visiting Erken, you may encounter them on the road, so please drive slowly and carefully.
A comprehensive dataset containing information on Zooplankton collected throughout the lake water column at Erken has been compiled and is now available on the SITES Data Portal (Open access to Zooplankton from Erken dataset).
Are you interested in participating in a coordinated mesocosm experiment that investigates effects of terrestrial inputs of mineral particles on carbon and nutrient transformations, food web dynamics and metabolism across lakes?
From November 10–12, the SITES Secretariat, Station Managers, Thematic Program Leads, and representatives from all SITES stations gathered in Umeå for a three-day meeting dedicated to collaboration, knowledge sharing, and strategic planning.
The meeting opened with updates from the nine SITES research stations, highlighting ongoing projects, recent developments, and future plans across the stations.
Dr. Jorrit Mesman is one of the authors of the paper "Timing of spring events changes under modelled future climate scenarios in a mesotrophic lake". In this interview, the author shares insights with the SITES Community about the project and experience using SITES open data.
Many Swedish lakes have become greener and browner over the past century, largely due to human activities such as land use change and modern forestry. These changes are likely to have major consequences for lake ecosystems, yet many questions remain unanswered. To help close this knowledge gap, Magnus Huss (SLU, Uppsala) and Karin Nilsson (SLU, Umeå) are investigating how forest fertilizers and dissolved organic matter (DOM) leaking from soils affect plankton communities in Swedish lakes.
Recent news has highlighted the impact of strong winds this summer on drinking water in the Stockholm area; SVT Stockholm on 20 Aug: Så har blåsiga sommaren tvingat stockholmare att snåla med vatten (translation: This is how the windy summer has forced Stockholmers to be frugal with water) and
All ecosystems including lakes are teeming with viruses that infect bacteria. These specific type of viruses are known as phages. Despite being very small, phages play a considerable role in modulating nutrient cycling in the lake environment through the impact they have on their bacterial hosts. Phages also contribute to transferring genes within the bacterial community and by doing so they affect evolutionary and ecological dynamics of their bacterial host. Many aspects of phage-bacteria interactions are still unknown and need specifically developed datasets.
As of 1st of January 2025, Dolly Kothawala is the new Station Manager of the Erken Laboratory. Welcome Dolly to the SITES Community!
Tell us about your background
Are you interested in conducting mesocosm experiments on lakes? SITES AquaNet provides a standardized infrastructure for running mesocosm studies across various lakes. This system features floating platforms with mesocosm enclosures, automatic sensors linked to a data-logging system, and handheld sensors for precise measurements. In this video you can find more information about SITES AquaNet!