Objective Human induced environmental gradients have a strong effect on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Despite the valuable ecosystem services (such as biogeochemical cycling and xenobiotic degradation) provided by microbial communities, environmental conservation policies usually neglect microbial diversity. This can be in part attributed to our poor understanding of microbial community responses to anthropogenic influences in natural landscapes. Urban ecosystems are key examples of environments that are strongly impacted by anthropogenic activity. In addition to our need to understand how microbial communities respond to urbanization, urbanization gradients are also excellent model systems to study how the taxonomic and functional diversity and composition of microbial communities respond to anthropogenic stress in general. In the here proposed project, we will study microbial communities in freshwater ponds located across well characterized urbanization gradients in Belgium. We will apply metagenomics in a molecular trait based approach in an effort to determine the influence of human induced environmental gradients on the biogeochemical cycling and xenobiotic degradation pathways in microbial communities. Also, we will analyse the role of the mobilome - mobile genetic elements such as plasmids and transposons - as a source of rapid evolution in microbial communities under anthropogenic stress. We will take a metacommunity approach in order to quantify the relative importance of local (environmental) and regional (spatial) processes in shaping bacterial communities across the studied gradients. Our proposed study is unique as it combines the nascent theory of evolving metacommunities with a high throughput molecular approach, metagenomics, to better understand the impact of urbanization on microbial community structure and function. Fields of science natural scienceschemical scienceselectrochemistryelectrolysisnatural sciencesbiological sciencesevolutionary biologynatural sciencesbiological sciencesfreshwater biologynatural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculeslipidsnatural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2014-EF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2014 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF Coordinator KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN Net EU contribution € 172 800,00 Address Oude markt 13 3000 Leuven Belgium See on map Region Vlaams Gewest Prov. Vlaams-Brabant Arr. Leuven Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00
