Dean Jacobsen Group

Aquatic Biodiversity and water quality in the Himalayan Upper Mustang Region of Nepal (“Mustang”)

The study concerns the Upper Mustang region of Nepal, exceeding 4000 m. The region is ecologically as well as culturally unique as it is a part of the dry Tibetan eco-region, in rain shadow of the Himalayas. Climate change and human activities such as widespread road construction is affecting the farming practices and threatening aquatic systems, and accentuating elusiveness of water resources, as many springs are drying up. The Upper Mustang represents a unique and un-studied, “white spot” on the map in terms of freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity. Our proposed project is a “bioblitz” type study that will include sampling sites across a gradient of altitudes and geological conditions. We will focus on four habitat types: the Kali Gandaki river itself, tributaries, springs and ponds. The specific research objectives are 1) To obtain baseline information on occurrence and distribution patterns of aquatic biodiversity across habitat types, altitudes, and geological settings in the Upper Mustang region. 2) To assess the impact of different human land-uses and other activities on freshwater biodiversity and water quality. The study will be the first to fill a critical knowledge gap, documenting aquatic biodiversity in the Upper Mustang region. The project period is 2025-2027, and is a continuation of the collaboration between the University of Copenhagen and Kathmandu University, and funded by the Carlsberg Foundation.
Contact: Dean Jacobsen

Road Construction and Socio-Ecological Effects on Springs and Streams in Nepal (PhD-project for Bhumika Thapa)

Springs and small streams are the main source of water for the people living in the mountains of Nepal. However, these vital sources are drying due to different causes, and one of these is road development. The haphazard road construction practices in Nepal have started to get notice from media and in public awareness. However, no scientific studies have been conducted till now to understand the level and implications of this impact. In Western Nepal, this study will explore 1) How does rural road construction affect the spring and stream environment and their biological communities? 2) How do these impacts differ among regions in Nepal? 3) How do ecological impacts depend on the type of road construction, and change over time? 4) How is people’s use of springs and streams affected by construction activities and the ecological status of these freshwater sources? Biological samples of aquatic fauna (macroinvertebrates) and benthic microbes (algae and bacteria in the periphyton) will be sampled, environmental physiochemical parameters measured, and socioeconomic data collected to understand the level of impact. The project is innovative and transdisciplinary because we will address the social as well as scientific aspects to see the impact. The research findings will be valuable in visualizing the level of damage caused by road development and in developing an environmentally friendly road construction policy in Nepal. The project period is 2024-2027, and is a collaboration between the University of Copenhagen Tribhuvan University and others, and funded by the Schlumberger Foundation.
Contact: Bhumika Thapa

Developing models to quantify minimum flow requirements to support biodiversity and good ecological quality in streams (PhD project for Nathalie Brandt Zak)

Environmental flows (E-flows) describe the flow regime required to sustain a healthy stream ecosystem while at the same time balancing competing fresh water needs of human society. Implementation of E-flows into stream management stimulates a transition towards a scienced-based and holistic distribution of freshwater resources between humans and nature. A fundamental requirement for promoting a sustainable use of freshwater resources is the establishment of minimum flow requirements to safeguard biodiversity in streams and rivers. The project goals are to i) generate ecologically meaningful hydrologic metrics, ii) quantify relationships between hydrologic metrics and stream biodiversity and ecological quality (empirical flow-ecology models), and iii) use the empirical flow-ecology models to define minimum flow requirements capable of supporting freshwater biodiversity and good ecological quality. I aim to address the following research questions: 1) How can hydrological regimes and extreme events best be parameterized in terms of minimizing variation in hydrologic metric values and their potential for ecological impact? 2) How can flow-ecology relationships be described for Danish streams to predict minimum flow requirements for macroinvertebrates and fish? 3) To what extent is observed flow-ecology relationships mimicked by existing Danish and international indicators of ecological quality? 4) How can empirical E-flow models be optimized to best fit freshwater management requirements in the transition towards sustainable freshwater use and more efficient wastewater treatment? The project period is 2024-2027, is a collaboration between University of Copenhagen, Norwegian Institute for Water Research – Denmark, Novafos, Aarhus University, among others, and is funded by Innovation Fond Denmark.

Contact: Nathalie Brandt Zak

BSc courses (in Danish)

• Block 1: Biodiversitet
• Block 3: Almen Økologi
• Block 5: Makrofauna i ferskvand (Coordinator)
• Block 5: Feltkursus III in Limnology

MSc courses (in English)

• Block 1: Thematic Course 1: Ecology and management of nature and semi-natural areas (Coordinator); 
• Block 4: Freshwater Ecology