Nordic Big Data Limnology Network

The Nordic countries host a unique landscape of diverse and precious freshwater resources ranging from pond-filled watersheds in Denmark to plunging waterfalls in Sweden, majestic rivers meandering through Norway, and glistering pristine frozen lakes in Finland. We need to safeguard these resources that have such an immense societal, cultural and economic impact, and are synonymous with nature in the Nordics. The best way to protect them is through deep understanding, strong networking, and shared experiences. The Nordic Big Data Limnology Network (BigLimNet) is aiming to build this research network and platform to understand rapid aquatic ecosystem change due to increasing human-driven pressures. Climate change is altering atmospheric and hydrological conditions, changing the hydrology of streams and lakes, promoting more frequent extreme weather events, affecting drinking water provisioning, species habitat suitability, and other critical ecosystem services. Moreover, land use changes, particularly those related to urbanisation and agricultural practices, alter the quantities of nutrients and chemical pollutants reaching surface waters, as well as invasive species, with strong effects on water quality, greenhouse gas emissions and ecosystem health. This in turn leads to biodiversity loss with cascading effects on ecosystem services and human well-being.

Here, the Nordic countries are experiencing shared challenges as their climatic conditions are changing and regional phenomena like brownification of lakes and streams become more prominent. However, the impacts of long and short-term global change stressors vary across the Nordic countries as Northern parts of several Nordic countries lie in the polar ecozone (Denmark, Greenland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Iceland) where warming is several times faster than other regions of the world. Additionally, the southern regions of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark are in a more temperate climate zone that is more densely populated and changes in ecosystem services, such as drinking water quality, are directly relevant to a larger fraction of the population. While the Nordic countries face common pressures from climate change and human activities, their ecological and climatic diversity, from polar lakes in the north to temperate lowland waters in the south, presents a natural laboratory for exploring how anthropogenic stressors like eutrophication or land use transformation interact with climate change. This diversity makes the region uniquely suited for cross-comparative studies that can guide more effective, evidence-based water management across borders. By combining our expertise and establishing a network, we will create a strong Nordic inland water observatory that complements the strengths of each partner and paves the way for future research projects within the Nordic region.