Danny C P Lau

I am a researcher and docent at the Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Division of Ecology and Biodiversity. My research is about food webs and biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems, and their responses to climate change and anthropogenic stressors.

My research is centred on understanding aquatic food webs and biodiversity, and how they respond to environmental alterations caused by global change. Currently I focus on northern freshwater ecosystems, as they provide essential services for humans and wildlife, but are increasingly threatened by human activities and particularly climate change. My research aims to address the complex challenges these ecosystems are facing.

I am interested in both the fundamental and the applied aspects of aquatic ecology. These aspects specifically include: (i) the development of ecological concepts related to aquatic food webs and animal nutrition; (ii) method development for tracking trophic support and energy/nutrient transfer using ecological tracers such as stable isotopes and fatty acid biomarkers; and (iii) bioassessment of cumulative impacts of anthropogenic stressors – e.g., land use, acidification, browning, atmospheric nitrogen deposition, climate change – on surface waters.

Recent research projects

Newly funded

Climate-induced changes in the biodiversity and function of Arctic/alpine streams and their landscapes (BIOFUN) – Lead 

Arctic freshwater food systems: Influence of warming winters and increased snow cover (FROST) – Module lead

Ongoing

Development of an indicator for assessing oligotrophication-induced cyanotoxin production and accumulation in food webs of Arctic/alpine lakes (TOXINDICATOR) – Lead

Rapid climate change is driving shifts in the nutritional quality of aquatic food webs across the circumpolar North – Collaborator

Ecological change in Arctic/alpine lakes – Food web effects of ongoing climate-change induced oligotrophication (ARCWEB) – Lead

How do stoichiometry and nutritional quality of plankton communities in coastal ecosystems alter with climate change? – Lead

Effects of browning of coastal waters on marine food web function and quality – Co-lead

REFINE – Improved assessment of climate impact and eutrophication in arctic lakes – Collaborator

Global change depletes pelagic food webs in northern lakes (Web4Food) – Collaborator

Full list of publications in Google Scholar

Publications (2017-present)

Peer-reviewed articles

• Lau, D. C. P., Bergström, A.-K., Chaguaceda, F., Eklöf, K., Goedkoop, W., Grosbois, G., & Strandberg, U. Freshwater browning – trends, drivers, and impacts on food webs. In M. Bundschuh (Ed.), Aquatic Food Webs in the Anthropocene. Elsevier. Accepted.
• Bandara, T., Brugel, S., Lau, D. C. P., Jurgensone, I., Griniene, E., Garbaras, A., Butkus, L., Bučinskas, L., Fridolfsson, E., Carstensen, J., & Andersson, A. Blooms of filamentous cyanobacteria reduce zooplankton quality and pelagic food web efficiency. Limnology and Oceanography, accepted.
• Goedkoop, W., Adler, S., Huser, B., Gardfjell, H., & Lau, D. C. P. Climate change-induced landscape alterations increase nutrient sequestration and cause severe oligotrophication of subarctic lakes. Global Change Biology, accepted.
• Johnson, R. K., Goedkoop, W., & Lau, D. C. P. (2025). Multi-decadal trends in northern lakes show contrasting responses of phytoplankton and benthic macroinvertebrates to climate change. Global Change Biology, 31, e70274.
• Paltsev, A., Bergström, A. K., Vuorio, K., Creed, I. F., Hessen, D. O., Kortelainen, P., Vuorenmaa, J., de Wit, H. A., Lau, D. C. P., Vrede, T., Isles, P. D. F., Jonsson, A., Geibrink, E., Kahilainen, K. K., & Drakare, S. (2024). Phytoplankton biomass in northern lakes reveals a complex response to global change. Science of The Total Environment, 173570.
• Goedkoop, W., Futter, M., Huser, B., Agstam-Norlin, O., & Lau, D. C. P. (2024). REFINE–Förbättrad bedömning av klimatpåverkan och närsaltsförändringar i fjällsjöar. Naturvårdsverket, Stockholm, Sweden. ISBN 978-91-620-7164-6
• Chaguaceda, F., Lau, D. C. P., Goedkoop, W., Fadhlaoui, M., Lavoie, I., & Vrede, T. (2024). Zooplankton in northern lakes show taxon‐specific responses in fatty acids across climate‐productivity and ecosystem size gradients. Limnology and Oceanography, 69(4), 947-960.
• Bergström, A.-K., Creed, I. F., Paltsev, A., de Wit, H. A., Lau, D. C. P., Drakare, S., Vrede, T., Isles, P. D. F., Jonsson, A., Geibrink, E., Kortelainen, P., Vuorenmaa, J., Vuorio, K., Kahilainen, K. K., & Hessen, D. O. (2024). Declining calcium concentration drives shifts toward smaller and less nutritious zooplankton in northern lakes. Global Change Biology, 30, e17220.
• Lau, D. C. P., Brua, B., Goedkoop, W., & Culp, J. M. (2023). Fatty-acid based assessment of benthic food-web responses to multiple stressors in a large river system. Environmental Pollution, 337, 122598.
  Preprint at SSRN: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4393620
• Lento, J., Lau, D. C. P., Brittain, J. E., Culp, J. M., & Goedkoop, W. (2023). Macroinvertebrate traits in Arctic streams reveal latitudinal patterns in physiology and habits that are strongly linked to climate. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 11, 1209612.
• Velle, G., Bodin, C. L., Arle, J., Austnes, K., Boggero, A., Bojkova, J., Fornaroli, R., Fölster, J., Goedkoop, W., Jones, I., Juggins, S., Lau, D. C. P., Monteith, D., Murphy, J., Musazzi, S., Shilland, E., Steingruber, S., Wiklund, M.-L., & de Wit, H. (2023). Responses of benthic invertebrates to chemical recovery from acidification. ICP Waters Report 153/2023. NIVA-rapport. Norwegian Institute for Water Research, Oslo, Norway. ISBN 978-82-577-7617-6.
• Bandara, T., Brugel, S., Andersson, A., & Lau, D. C. P. (2023). Retention of essential fatty acids in fish differs by species, habitat use, and nutritional quality of prey. Ecology and Evolution, 13(6), e10158.
• Hedberg, P., Lau, D. C. P., Albert, S., & Winder, M. (2023). Variation in fatty acid content among benthic invertebrates in a seasonally driven system. Limnology and Oceanography Letters, 8(5), 751-759.
• Grosbois, G., Lau, D. C. P., Berggren, M., Montoro, M., Goedkoop, W., Messier, C., Hjältén, J., & del Giorgio, P. (2023). Land and freshwater complex interactions in boreal forests: A neglected topic in forest management. In M. M. Girona, H. Morin, S. Gauthier, & Y. Bergeron (Eds.), Boreal Forests in the Face of Climate Change - Sustainable Management. Advances in Global Change Research, 74, Springer-Nature, Cham: Springer. ISBN 978-3-031-15987-9.
• Bergström, A.-K., Lau, D. C. P., Isles, P. D., Jonsson, A., & Creed, I. F. (2022). Biomass, community composition and N:P recycling ratios of zooplankton in northern high-latitude lakes with contrasting levels of N deposition and DOC. Freshwater Biology, 67(9), 1508-1520.
• Guo, J., Brugel, S., Andersson, A., & Lau, D. C. P. (2022). Spatiotemporal carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus stoichiometry in planktonic food web in a northern coastal area. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 272, 107903.
• Bandara, T., Brugel, S., Andersson, A., & Lau, D. C. P. (2022). Seawater browning alters community composition and reduces nutritional quality of plankton in a sub-Arctic marine ecosystem. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 79(8), 1291-1301.
• Wang, T.-W., Lau, D. C. P., Chan, T.-Y., & Chan, B. K. K. (2022). Autochthony and isotopic niches of benthic fauna at shallow-water hydrothermal vents. Scientific Reports, 12, 6248.
• Lento, J., Culp, J. M., Levenstein, B., Aroviita, J., Baturina, M. A., Bogan, D., Brittain, J. E., Chin, K., Christoffersen, K. S., Docherty, C., Friberg, N., Ingimarsson, F., Jacobsen, D., Lau, D. C. P., Loskutova, O. A., Milner, A., Mykrä, H., Novichkova, A. A., Ólafsson, J. S., Schartau, A. K., Shaftel, R., & Goedkoop, W. (2022). Temperature and spatial connectivity drive patterns in freshwater macroinvertebrate diversity across the Arctic. Freshwater Biology, 67(1), 159-175.
• Huser, B. J., Futter, M. N., Bogan, D., Brittain, J. E., Culp, J. M., Goedkoop, W., Gribovskaya, I., Karlsson, J., Lau, D. C. P., Rühland, K. M., Schartau, A. K., Shaftel, R., Smol, J. P., Vrede, T., & Lento, J. (2022). Spatial and temporal variation in Arctic freshwater chemistry—Reflecting climate‐induced landscape alterations and a changing template for biodiversity. Freshwater Biology, 67(1), 14-29.
• Lau, D. C. P., Christoffersen, K. S., Erkinaro, J., Hayden, B., Heino, J., Hellsten, S., Holmgren, K., Kahilainen, K. K., Kahlert, M., Karjalainen, S. M., Karlsson, J., Forsström, L., Lento, J., Mjelde, M., Ruuhijärvi, J., Sandøy, S., Schartau, A. K., Svenning, M.-A., Vrede, T., & Goedkoop, W. (2022). Multitrophic biodiversity patterns and environmental descriptors of sub‐Arctic lakes in northern Europe. Freshwater Biology, 67(1), 30-48.
• Lau, D. C. P., Jonsson, A., Isles, P. D., Creed, I. F., & Bergström, A.-K. (2021). Lowered nutritional quality of plankton caused by global environmental changes. Global Change Biology, 27(23), 6294-6306.
  Video summary
  Research highlight in Nature Climate Change:
  Armarego-Marriott, T. (2021). Plankton lose fats. Nature Climate Change, 11, 900.
• Olid, C., Zannella, A., & Lau, D. C. P. (2021). The role of methane transport from the active layer in sustaining methane emissions and food chains in subarctic ponds. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 126(3), e2020JG005810.
• Goedkoop, W., Choudhury, M. I., Lau, D. C. P., & Grandin, U. (2021). Inverting nutrient fluxes across the land-water interface–Exploring the potential of zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) farming. Journal of Environmental Management, 281, 111889.
• Tao, L. S. R., Mak, Y. K. Y., Ho, V. C. M., Sham, R. C.-t., Hui, T. T. Y., Lau, D. C. P., & Leung, K. M. Y. (2021). Improvements of population fitness and trophic status of a benthic predatory fish following a trawling ban. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8, 614219.
• Ramberg, E., Burdon, F. J., Sargac, J., Kupilas, B., Rîşnoveanu, G., Lau, D. C. P., Johnson, R. K., & McKie, B. G. (2020). The structure of riparian vegetation in agricultural landscapes influences spider communities and aquatic-terrestrial Linkages. Water, 12(10), 2855.
• Tao, L. S. R., Lau, D. C. P., Perkins, M. J., Hui, T. T. Y., Yau, J. K. C., Mak, Y. K. Y., Lau, E. T. C., Dudgeon, D., & Leung, K. M. Y. (2020). Stable-isotope based trophic metrics reveal early recovery of tropical crustacean assemblages following a trawl ban. Ecological Indicators, 117, 106610.
• Bergström, A. K., Jonsson, A., Isles, P. D., Creed, I. F., & Lau, D. C. P. (2020). Changes in nutritional quality and nutrient limitation regimes of phytoplankton in response to declining N deposition in mountain lakes. Aquatic Sciences, 82(2), 1-16.
• Lento, J., Goedkoop, W., Culp, J., Christoffersen, K., Fefilova, E., Guðbergsson, G., Lárusson, K. F., Liljaniemi, P., Ólafsson, J.S., Sandøy, S., Zimmerman, C., Christensen, T., Chambers, P., Heino, J., Hellsten, S., Kahlert, M., Keck, F., Laske, S., Lau, D. C. P., Lavoie, I., Levenstein, B., Mariash, H., Rühland, K., Saulnier-Talbot, E., Schartau, A. K., & Svenning, M. (2019). State of the Arctic Freshwater Biodiversity. Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna International Secretariat, Akureyri, Iceland. ISBN 978-9935-431-77-6
• Bidleman, T. F., Andersson, A., Brugel, S., Ericson, L., Haglund, P., Kupryianchyk, D., Lau, D. C. P., Liljelind, P., Lundin, L., Tysklind, A., & Tysklind, M. (2019). Bromoanisoles and methoxylated bromodiphenyl ethers in macroalgae from Nordic coastal regions. Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, 21(5), 881-892.
• Kupryianchyk, D., Giesler, R., Bidleman, T. F., Liljelind, P., Lau, D. C. P., Sponseller, R. A., & Andersson, P. L. (2018). Industrial and natural compounds in filter‐feeding black fly larvae and water in 3 tundra streams. Environmental toxicology and chemistry, 37(12), 3011-3017.
  Grieve, A., & Lau, D. C. P. (2018). Do autochthonous resources enhance trophic transfer of allochthonous organic matter to aquatic consumers, or vice versa?. Ecosphere, 9(6), e02307.
• Brett, M. T., Bunn, S. E., Chandra, S., Galloway, A. W., Guo, F., Kainz, M. J., Kankaala, P., Lau, D. C. P., Moulton, T. P., Power, M. E. Rasmussen, J. B., Taipale, S., Thorp, J. H., & Wehr, J. D. (2017). How important are terrestrial organic carbon inputs for secondary production in freshwater ecosystems?. Freshwater Biology, 62(5), 833-853.
• Lau, D. C. P., Vrede, T., & Goedkoop, W. (2017). Lake responses to long‐term disturbances and management practices. Freshwater Biology, 62(4), 792-806.
   

Datasets

• Chaguaceda, F., Lau, D. C. P., Goedkoop, W., Fadhlaoui, M., Lavoie, I., & Vrede, T. (2024). Zooplankton fatty acids across large environmental gradients in Sweden : Raw data for Chaguaceda et al (2024) Limnology and Oceanography [Data set].
• Winder, M., Hedberg, P., Lau, D. C. P., & Albert, S. (2023). Data for: Variation in fatty acid content among benthic invertebrates in a seasonally driven system. Dryad, Dataset.
  Bandara, T., Brugel, S., Andersson, A., & Lau, D. C. P. (2022). Dataset on seston and zooplankton fatty-acid composition, zooplankton and phytoplankton biomass, and environmental conditions of coastal and offshore waters of the northern Baltic Sea. Data in Brief, 42, 108158.
   

Popular science articles

• Bandara, T., Brugel, S., Andersson, A., & Lau, D. C. P. (2024). How might browner seawater affect marine organisms? Frontiers for Young Minds, 12:1310250.
• Hedberg, P., Lau, D. C. P., Albert, S., & Winder, M. (2023). Bottenlevande djur rustade för framtiden. Havsutsikt.

Climate Impacts Research Centre