Annual Report 2010

The Walter ad Andrée de Nottbeck Foundation was established in 1970 and 2010 was thus the Foundation’s 40th year of activity.

Harri Kuosa was the Foundation’s Research Professor in Baltic Sea Ecology for the fourth year of his second five-year-period.

The new Professorship in Baltic Sea Biology was advertised as vacant during the autumn. It was applied for by 13 persons. Allan Johansson is the Foundation’s deputy in the nomination group for the Professorship.

The Foundation’s expert group, consisting of Allan Johansson, Harri Kuosa, Åke Niemi, Jorma Kuparinen and two members from Sweden, Prof. Ulf Båmstedt (Umeå University) and Prof. Ragnar Elmgren (Stockholm University), continued its work planning the Foundation’s forthcoming objective for supporting aquatic science.

The FiDiPro Project, in which the role of dissolved organic matter in coastal waters are studied, was lead by Prof. David Thomas. He moved to Finland in June for the next 3½ years in order to be able to work full-time in the project. Two visiting scientists, Prof. Paul Withers and Dr. Colin Stedmon, participated in the FiDiPro Project with support of the Foundation. The Foundation’s budget for the FiDiPro Project was € 8.000.

Because of the Foundation’s 40th anniversary, a Nordic course on Taxonomy of Algae was arranged by the Nordic Marine Academy. The course took place at the Tvärminne Zoological Station on November 14-26, with a symposium on November 20. The course was coordinated by Janne-Markus Rintala with the aid of Heidi Hällfors. Invited teachers were, among others, Prof. Öivind Moestrup (Copenhagen; he visited Tvärminne for the first time in 1966), Prof. Lars Edler (Lund; first visit at Tvärminne as a student in 1972) and Prof. Jacob Larsen (Copenhagen; first visit at Tvärminne in 1985). All three have visited Tvärminne several times financed by the Foundation which shows the importance of long-term financing of algolgical research in the context of international taxonomy on algae. The participants in the course came from Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden.

Magnus Lindström organised the international symposium for visual sciences ”Visionarium IX” at Tvärminne, on 7-10 October. Altogether 30 persons partcipated in the symposium and 24 lectures or poster presentations were delivered. The participants came from Finland (11 persons), Germany (5), Russia (11), Scotland (1) and Sweden (2).

The history of the Foundation 2000-2010 was compiled by Åke Niemi together with Harri Kuosa and the secretary.

The Foundation donated € 2.000 to the Tvärminne Zoological Station for purchasing literature on taxonomy of algae.

The book ”Cher Maréchal – Chère Madame” was bought to each person of the Board and the Scientific Committée. The book written in Finnish by Kyllikki Helenius comprises a short history of the von Nottbeck family and further the author’s Finnish translation of the correspondence between Marchal Mannerheim and Mrs. Andrée de Nottbeck during the period of 1941 to 1951.

The tax-free sum of a grant was raised to € 18.702,60 € per year, or € 1.558,55 € per month. The Foundation decided thus to raise the granted sums retroactively with € 300 from the beginning of 2010. The recipients of grants (longer than 3 months) were insured in The Farmers' Social Insurance Institution (MELA/LPA).

RESEARCH IN 2010

The principal aim of the research, namely to elucidate the function and changes of the ecosystems of the Baltic Sea, was continued mainly as in previous years. One major project, two minor projects and eight individual studies were supported. Further, seven pro gradu grants were given. The grants and other support were as follows.

1. Project leaders’ grants, totally € 13.000 – Prof. Harri Kuosa, € 3.000 for extraordinary project management – the project leaders Riitta Autio, Jaanika Blomster, Anke Kremp, Outi Setälä and Maiju Lehtiniemi, € 2.000 each.

2. The project Sea Ice Ecology (SIE) was supported with a sum of € 115.818, including € 62.775 for grants and € 53.043 € for other expenses. The project consists of two subprojects: a) Baltic Sea ice biogeochemistry – the role and importance of photochemistry and bacterial processes and b) Biodiversity of Baltic Sea ice algae and ciliates. The whole project and subproject a) was led by Doc. Riitta Autio, subproject b) by Doc. Jaanika Blomster. The following scientists participated in the SIE project with support of the Foundation:

– MSc Eeva Eronen-Rasimus (grant period January to March, € 5.175) – Bacterial community dynamics in relation to biogeochemistry in the Baltic Sea ice. Eronen-Rasimus collected all data sets needed to complete her PhD thesis and she processed and analysed almost all samples, except the last four clone libraries, from the tank experiment conducted in 2008. She has also started to write the first two manuscripts for her thesis. Further, she had some international collaboration with Canadian and Norwegian colleagues. Eronen-Rasimus was employed by the Finnish Environment Institute during the spring of 2010 and thereafter she was on maternity leave. She presented the poster Eronen, E., Autio, R., Majaneva, M., Piiparinen, J., Rintala, J.-M. Lyra, C. & Kaartokallio, H.: Effects of Different DOM Sources on The Bacterial Community Composition in The Baltic Sea Ice: A Mesocosm Experiment at the "International symposium on sea ice in the physical and biogeochemical system", held in Tromsø, Norway, 31.5.-4.6.2010 and at the ”International Polar Year Oslo Science Conference”, held in Oslo, Norway, 8-13.6.2010.

– MSc Markus Majaneva (whole year grant, € 20.700) – Biodiversity of Baltic Sea ice algae and ciliates. Majaneva worked mainly on the articles for his PhD thesis. Two manuscripts are almost ready to be published and two are in preparation. He participated in the Baltic Sea ice cruise on R/V Aranda in March. Majaneva presented Majaneva, M., Rintala, J.-M., Piisilä, M., Fewer, D.P. & Blomster, J.: Small-subunit rRNA Gene Revealed High Protistan Diversity in the Baltic Sea Ice and Wintertime Water at the ”International Polar Year Oslo Science Conference”, held in Oslo, Norway 8-13.6.2010. He also participated in the ”Workshop on Molecular Evolution” at MBL, Woods Hole, USA, 25.7.-13.8.2010. He acted as an assistant at a course on litoral ecology in August and September and he taught at the Nordic course on Taxonomy of Algae in November, both held at the Tvärminne Zoological Station.

– MSc Susann Müller (Haase) (grant period January-June, € 10.350) – Baltic Sea ice biochemistry; the role and importance of photochemistry and bacterial processes. Material collected in 2008 and 2009 was treated. The data from tank experiments conducted in Finland and Germany was processed. One manuscript was written dring the year. Susann Müller participated in the Baltic Sea ice cruise on R/V Aranda in March. Material collected during the cruise was partly analysed. During the latter part of 2010, Susann Müller was on maternity leave. She participated with the poster Haase, M., Granskog, M.A. & Vähätalo, A: Behaviour of organic dissolved matter (DOM) during sea ice formation at the "International symposium on sea ice in the physical and biogeochemical system", held in Tromsø, Norway, 31.5.-4.6.2010.

– MSc Jonna Piiparinen (whole year grant, € 20.700) – Spatial variability in sea ice bacterial processes studied from Gulf of Finland to Bothnian Bay and the impact of UVA radiation on bacteria. Jonna Piiparinen worked mostly on her PhD thesis. One paper was published and one needed re-writing. She participated in the ”International symposium on sea ice in the physical and biogeochemical system”, held in Tromsø, Norway, 31.5.-4.6.2010. She participated with the poster Sympagic ecology of drift- and fast-ice in the brackish Bothnian Bay, Baltic Sea at the ”International Polar Year Oslo Science Conference”, held in Oslo, 15-20.6.2010.

– PhD Janne-Markus Rintala (grant period January-March, € 5.850) – Biodiversity of Baltic Sea ice algae and ciliates. Janne-Markus Rintala worked with the photosynthesis and taxonomy of ice algae. He published, together with other authors, three papers dunrin 2010. He participated in the Baltic Sea ice cruise on R/V Aranda in March. He participated also in the ”International symposium on sea ice in the physical and biogeochemical system”, held in Tromsø, Norway, 31.5.-4.6.2010. Rintala was responsible for the planning and practical arrangements of the Nordic course on Taxonomy of Algae, arranged at the Tvärminne Zoological Station on November 14-26. Rintala was employed as a teacher at the Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, during April-December.

3. The project BALDINO: Biodiversity and ecology of bloom forming and potentially harmful dinoflagellates the Baltic Sea was supported with a sum of € 59.801,55, including € 44.500 for grants and € 15.301,55 € for other expenses. The project was led by Doc. Anke Kremp. The subproject The distribution of potentially toxic planktonic dinoflagellates and their toxins in the northern Baltic Sea was led by PhD Outi Setälä. The following researchers participated in the BALDINO project with support of the Foundation:

– MSc Sari Lehtinen (whole year grant, 20.700 €) – Accumulation and analysis methods of PST toxins produced by Alexandrium ostenfeldii in the aquatic food webs of Föglö archipelago. Sari Lehtinen studied the dinoflagellate Alexandrium ostenfeldii which produces neurotoxins (PSTs) The species occurred abundantly in the waters around Föglö, Åland Islands, in July and August 2010. The content of toxins was measured with different methods to elucidate how the toxins occur in the natural food webs. Lehtinen participated with the poster Lehtinen, S., Setälä, O., Kremp, A., Lehtonen, K. & Erler, K.: Accumulation and metabolic effects of PST toxins produced by Alexandrium ostenfeldii on blue mussels during a bloom in Aland archipelago, SW coast of Finland in the ”14th International Conference on Harmful Algae”, held at Hersonissos on Crete, Greece, 1-5.11.2010.

– FM Pia Tahvanainen-Mäenpää (whole year grant, € 20.700) – The toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium ostenfeldii in the Baltic Sea – intraspecific diversity and implications for expansion. Tahvanainen-Mäenpää concluded the practical work of two studies of the phylogeny and the genetical structure of the dinoflagellate Alexandrium ostenfeldii in the Baltc Sea. Two manuscripts were prepared on the results of this work. She participated with the posters Tahvanainen-Mäenpää, P., Figueroa, R. , Blomster, J., Nagai, S. & Kremp, A.: Spatial and temporal genetic variation of Alexandrium ostenfeldii in the Baltic Sea. and Kremp, A., Tahvanainen-Mäenpää, P., Krock, B., Suikkanen, S., Kankaanpää, H., Sillman, P., Nagai, S. & Teen Lim, P.: Phylogenetic relationships, morphological variation and toxicity patterns in the Alexandrium ostenfeldii/peruvianum species complex in the ”14th International Conference on Harmful Algae”, at Hersonissos, Crete, Greece, 1-5.11.2010. Tahvanainen-Mäenpää visited the “Marine Research Institute of Peru, Lima, Instituto del Mar del Perú” on 25.5-10.6.2010. She gave a presentation on ”Alexandrium ostenfeldii in the Baltic Sea”. She also visited Dr. Satohi Nagai´s laboratorium of ”Harmful Algal Bloom Division, Research Institute of Fisheries and Environment of Inland Sea, Hiroshima, Japan”, 10.9-5.10.2010 where she gave a lecture on Toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium ostenfeldii in the Baltic Sea –special emphasis on genetic diversity. Tahvanainen-Mäenpää participated in GENECO’s (International Research School on Genomic Ecology) winter and summer meetings in Lund, Sweden, in January and August 2010.

– MSc Johanna Oja (grant during July and August, € 3.100) worked with sampling of Alexandrium ostenfeldii in Föglö and preparing the samples for further investigation.

4. The project The strategy and success of invasive species in the Baltic food web was supported with a sum of € 28,530,33, including € 23.400 for grants and € 5.130,33 € for other expenses. The project was led by Doc. Maiju Lehtiniemi. The following researcher participated in the project with support of the Foundation:

– PhD Tarja Katajisto (grant during January-September, € 13.050) – Resting eggs as an essential life history characteristic for a successful invader. Tarja Katajisto assessed the distribution of Cercopagis pengoi resting eggs in the sediments in the different parts of the Baltic Sea, in the open sea and near shore areas. By combining this distribution data with results from hatching experiments it was possible to estimate the recruitment from different areas. The species has formed an egg bank which has the potential to act as a long-term survival strategy.

5. Other research projects were supported with a sum of 117.509,79 €, including € 107.600 for grants and € 9.909,79 for other expenses. The following researchers were supported by the Foundation:

– MSc Janica Borg (whole year grant, € 20.700) – Littoral fish communities and their habitats in an altered Baltic Sea ecosystem. Janica Borg investigated the littoral fish communities on hard bottoms and the effect of macroalgal fragmentation on fish communities. The first article of the PhD thesis was finalised for submitting. Janica Borg participated with the poster Feeding ecology of flounder, Platichthys flesus (L.), in a shattered environment at the Nordic Marine Science Conference 2010 in Strömstad, Sweden, 13-16.9.2010.

– MSc Heidi Hällfors (whole year grant, € 20.700) – The ecology and distribution of dinoflagellates in the Baltic Sea. Seija Hällfors wrote manuscripts for her PhD thesis on dinoflagellates in the Baltic Sea. She gave a presentation on Rintala, J.-M., Hällfors, H., Hällfors, S., Hällfors, G., Majaneva, M. & Blomster, J.: The geographical distribution and seasonal occurrence of a new dinoflagellate in the Baltic Sea: Heterocapsa arctica subsp. frigida subsp. nov. at the Marine Research Centre’s Wednesday seminar in the Finnish Environmental Institute in Helsinki, 3.3.2010 and on Hällfors, H., Hajdu, S., Kuosa, H. & Larsson, U.: Dinophysis acuminata ja D. norvegica: kahden myrkyllisen panssarisiimalevän esiintyminen pohjoisella Itämerellä at the Autumn Meeting of the Finnish Phytoplankton Society in Tallinn, Estonia, 18-19.10.2010. She presented the poster Hällfors, H., Backer, H., Leppänen, J.-M., Hällfors, S. & Hällfors, G.: The Baltic Sea phytoplankton community at the beginning and end of the 20th century – a comparison of historical and modern species data at the ”14th International Conference on Harmful Algae” ati Hersonissos, Crete, Greece, 1-5.11.2010. She was awarded ”The 2nd Best Student Poster Award” for this poster. She presented the same facts orally at the Marine Research Centre’s Wednesday seminar in the Finnish Environmental Institute in Helsinki,10.11.2010. Hällfors gave a lecture on Hällfors, H. & Hällfors, S.: Overview of Baltic Sea phytoplankton groups: Class Dinophyceae – dinoflagellates at the ”Baltic Sea Phytoplankton Identification Course 2010” at Tvärminne Zoological Station in november 2010.

– MSc Anna Jansson (whole year grant, € 20.700) – Ocean acidification in the Baltic Sea – what are the implications of climate change for the recovery potential of benthic communities? Anna Jansson studied how artificial lowered pH influenced the growth and mortality of juvenile Macoma balthica. Confocal microscopy methods to observe shell stucture of M. balthica was developed and picture analysis using Image-J was used. Jansson participated in ”Ocean acidification best practice workshop” at Kristineberg, Sweden, 17.2.2010. She participated with the poster Jansson, A., Norkko, J. & Norkko, A.: Macoma balthica in the Baltic Sea – can signs of ongoing acidification be detected at the ”Nordic Marine Science Conference” in Strömstad, Sweden, 13-16.9.2010. She gave also an orally presentation on Ocean acidification in the Baltic Sea – what are the implications of climate change for the recovery potential of benthic communities? at the ”Benthos workshop” arranged by Åbo Akademi, 27-30.9.2010

– Doc. Magnus Lindström (grant period January-October, € 20.600) worked on four subprojects in the the project Significance of bioturbation by macrobenthic organisms for the oxygenation of sediments, and the effects of hypoxia on this process.
1. Effects of current speed and mechanical disturbance of the diffuse boundary layer on the oxygenation of the sediment at different degrees of hypoxia.
2. The significance of bioturbators on the phosphorous (P) exchange across the sediment water interface after oxygenation of anoxic sediments in the Baltic Sea.
3. Fate and impact of xenobiotics in the marine environment.
4. Phytoplankton effects on bioturbation of sediment, oxygen consumption and internal loading of phosphorous.
Magnus Lindström collaborated with several other researchers at the Tvärminne Zoological Station. He was the chairman for the ninth international symposium on visual physiology ”Visionarium IX” at the Tvärminne Zoological Station, 7-10.10.2010. He also arranged a course in ”Aquatic ecophysiology” together with MSc Philipp Lehmann at the Tvärminne Zoological Station, 25-31.10.2010. Lindström visited Prof. Academician Michail Ostrovsky and his group at the Institute of Biochemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, at the end of May. He worked together with the Russian scientists on two manuscripts and they planned forthcoming cooperation.

– MSc Adrien Vetterli (whole year grant, € 20.700) – Diversity and function of microbes involved in the nitrogen cycle in the Baltic Sea sediments. Adrien Vetterli continued the work on his PhD thesis. Most of the sampling, laboratory work and analysisof data was finished. One manuscript was nearly finished and another was prepared.Vetterli attended the 6-point-course Advanced computer methods for biologists which was arranged in CSC, IT Center for Science Ltd in Espoo duringtwo weeks in May-June 2010.

6. Other support, total sum € 8.733,49

– PhD Risto Lignell’s project Functioning and nutrient responses of pelagic plankton foodwebs was supported with € 6.079,41. Risto Lignell participated with the paper Lignell, R., Laine, M., Haario, H., Thingstad, F. & Tedesco, L.: Biogeochemical flux models (BFM) and theoretical ”minimum” plankton food web models (DHYBRIS) developed at Finnish Environment Institute at the ”Baltic Nest Institute (BNI) Workshop” on Lidingö, Sweden, 15.11.2010.

MSc Anna Villnäs’ project Disturbance and ecosystem function – the role of changing biological traits for the resilience of benthic communities was supported with € 2.654,67. Anna Villnäs participated with the poster Dead or only almost dead: the importance of increasing stress for benthic ecosystem functioning at the “BONUS annual conference” in Vilnius, Lithuania, 19-21.1 2010. She participated also in the workshop “The Development and Application of Biological Traits Analysis” in London, U.K., 16-18.3.2010. Further, she attended the 10-point-course ”Aquatic Microbial and Molecular Ecology” which was arranged in Odense, Denmark, 2-20.8.2010.

7. Support to foreign sceintists, total sum € 15.934,69

The FiDiPro project, which was led by Prof. David Thomas (Bangor, UK) was supported with € 8.000. Two junior scientists, Frances Burrows and Alexandra Deamer-John, both from the U.K., participated in the project.

Nordic Marine Academy invited lecturers to the Tvärminne Zoological Station. The Foundation paid for their travel and accomodation at Tvärminne.

8. Pro gradu theses (MSc theses) were supported with € 9.900 as grants. Pro gradu grants amounting to € 1.600 were given to Johanna Gammal, Iina Hepolehto, Laura Krooks, Aija Nieminen, Heini Ukkonen and Jasmina Uusitalo. One € 300 grant was given to Elina Salo.

9. Other expeses, total sum € 6.622,14

The Foundation supported several researchers’ participation in international congresses and workshops abroad. The Foundation also paid for laboratory equipemnt, etc.

Publications were bought for € 823,20 and € 2.000 was donated for requiring literature on algal taxonomy to Tvärminne. The cost for updating of the home page was € 435,68. Travel costs for the Foundation’s board members was € 54,80. The adminstration costs were € 750,12. Service on eqipment, e.g. microscopes, costed € 2.558,34.

A used particle counter was bought for the sum of SEK 50.000 from the Linnaeus’ University in Kalmar, Sweden. The invoice including the freight charge arrived too late to be paid in 2010.

Other information

The international activity was intensive, especially the cooperation in the FiDiPro Project with David Thomas (University of Bangor, Wales) as project leader and visits by the junior scientist Frances Burrows and Alexandra Deamer-John. Prof. Öivind Moestrup (Copenhagen), Prof. Lars Edler (Lund) and Prof. Jacob Larsen (Copenhagen) were techers at the Nordic course on Taxonomy of Algae which was arranged at the Tvärminne Zoological Station in November.

The homepage of the Foundation (www.nottbeck.org) was updated as required. The homepage is maintaned by MSc. Sara Henriksson / Really Helsinki Oy.

The Foundation has supported the research work by subsidising chemicals, laboratory equipment, research vessel costs and laboratory analyses. The total sum used during 2010 was € 476.344,46 (save social and bank charges). The total sum of the grants was € 261.175 (€ 238.275 for research grants, € 13.000 for project leaders’ grants and € 9.900 for pro gradu grants). The professorship costed € 90.000.The secretary’s remuneration was € 10.494,96. Other expenses, including costs for visiting researchers, meetings, travel, laboratory equipment, chemicals, service of microscopes, boat costs, laboratory analyses, the home page, administration, etc., amounted to € 114.674,50. The grants and the secretary’s remuneration were paid via the bank SEB Gyllenberg. The cost for the professorship, € 90.000 €, was paid to the University of Helsinki.

Esbo, January 26, 2011

Carl-Adam Hæggström
secretary