Research

Global size patterns in Aquatic Poikilotherms

We are conducting research on relationships between size of the flies (mostly Diptera, Chironomidae) and environmental temperatures. We have found that flies are growing larger, inversely proportionally to the environmental temperature, i.e. the further  away from the equator, the larger flies are. We think that this pattern might be caused by the decreasing oxygen availability in the warmer water. The lower oxygen availability is, the lower is the metabolic rate of Chironomidae flies larvae, which are normally aquatic. We hope to use this results to better understand impact of the ongoing climate change on insects and aquatic communities in general. Learn more at in our paper. or check out media coverage of our research in The Guardian We are examining relations between Chironomidae size and ambient temperatures using microcosm approach, as well as analysing time series of Chirononomidae subfossill remnants in the cores of Quaternary (Pleistocene-Holocene) sediments from lakes in Spain and further afield. This research project is funded "Ramon y Cajal Fellowship, RyC2021-031144I” by the Spanish State Research Agency (Agencia Estatal de Investigación).

Impact of microplastic on carbon sequestering in coastal sediments

As a part of the of the Marie Curie Doctoral Network "Plastic Underground" (Integrated Cross-Sectoral Solutions to Micro- and Nanoplastic Pollution in Soil and Groundwater Ecosystems (grant number 101072777) (2022-2026) together with Tiana Renard we are working on the impact of the microplastic pollution on the ecosystem functions within costal and terrestrial sediments. We are building upon  the expertise our group have developed working in the analysis of biogeochemical processes in freshwater sediments. We are working to test the hypothesis that microplastic input into the sediment is leading to the reduced carbon sequestering in the sediments of the marshes and sea grass meadows. We are conducting our microcosm experiments in the EBD-CSIC Sevilla and field experiments in the Parque Natural Bahia de Cadiz.

Evolution of the blood feeding in Chironomidae

Blood-feeding in flies (Diptera) is one of the longest -enduring and most important types of the insect-vertebrate relations. Existing potentially for over 200 million years, blood-feeding of flies have shaped numerous facets of the vertebrates' evolution and behavior' – from frogs hiding from eavesdropping frog-biting midges (Corethrellidae) to the economic development of the countries being slowed down by the spread of malaria by mosquitos.

Therefore, understanding of the blood feeding evolution are of a large interest. One of the most interesting aspect in the evolution of blood-feeding in flies is a rampant loss and re-gaining of the functional mouthparts in “non-biting” midges (Diptera, Chironomidae). All of the extant non-biting midges (but for the two relic genera) are, as they name suggest, not only do not bite anyone, but also do not feed as adults at all. Nevertheless, growing fossil record of this group shows that two relic genera still possessing functional mandibles are rather a norm than anomaly. Through the 210 million years of the group’s history representatives appeared to lose and regain the use of mandibles over four times. This represents an interesting case of losing a complex, character, yet apparently retaining a regulatory apparatus required for it re-acquirence. Development in the evo-devo methods and mounting fossil records will allow the prospective student to disentangle this complex riddle, using molecular, phylogenetic and palaeontological methods. This project is conducted in cooperation with André Amaral, Joachim T. Haug, and Natascha Turetzek. Examples of the open access papers, produced at the preliminary stages of the project can be found here here, here and here.

Scanning the Past

In this joint beamtime allocation group, funded by German-Electron synchrotron facility (DESY), we are focusing on reconstructing trophic and other biotic interactions in the deep past, by high-throughput scanning of the insects fossils with synchrotron radiation (mostly in amber fossils).

This is a collaborative project, for me primarily with Joachim T. Haug and Jörg Hammel, but also many others. So far this project (on my side of the research) have yielded unexpectedly high diversity of the fly larvae and diversity of the ecosystem functions performed by them in Baltic Amber forest. We also have described an new family of true flies - Christelenkidae, showed that caddisflies can get entrapped in amber under water and discovered a first adult mantidfly in Baltic amber.

Understanding biodiversity change in Breitenbach stream

Our team works on the one of the best existing dataset on the diversity and community dynamic of the freshwater fauna in the world - Breitenbach stream dataset, collected by Prof. Rüdiger Wagner and hist team over 42 years (1969-2010).

We have published one paper showing a strong and directional fluctuation in the aquatic insects communities' in Breitenbach (Baranov et al., 2020). This paper deals with a consequence of climate change in a central-European stream over the course of 42 years. It is a record of the aquatic insects’ diversity and abundance in a single German stream, collected every week over 42 years, by a set of the emergence traps. I have analysed the data and was shocked to find out that central Germany is warming faster than the European average, with the mean annual temperature increasing by 1.88°C in the last 42 years. On the backdrop of warming, the frequency of the very dry years also has increased. As a result of the climatic changes, the abundance of the monitored aquatic insects (Mayflies, Stoneflies and Caddisflies) has decreased by 81.6%. Additionally, species richness (+8.5%), Shannon diversity (+22.7%), evenness (+22.4%), and interannual turnover (+34%) have all increased. I have interpreted this as the consequence of the displacement of cold-water specialists with more diverse warm-water generalists. This paper showcases the dire need of the conservation of aquatic invertebrates and their ecosystem functions. It also shows that climate change can severely threaten biotic communities, even in an otherwise pristine nature reserve. For all these reasons, but also because of the growing public alarm regarding the biodiversity crisis, this paper has received significant media attention as well as influencing policy making regarding the insect decline in Germany. German policymakers and conservationists have argued, based among other sources on our paper, for the need for more measures to stop and reverse insect decline. Role of the funding for habitat protection was emphasized, based on my research (Schoof et al., 2020).

Currently we are working on the follow up papers together with the researchers from GBOL III project.