River ecosystem responses to shrinking glaciers

 

 Climate change is driving rapid reductions in glacier extent around the world. This talk will examine some of the implications for downstream river ecosystems, drawing on Lee and his collaborators’ work over the last 25+ years. Effects of glacier loss are evident across all levels of ecological organisation, from genes through to whole ecosystem functioning. Examples from recent and ongoing research projects around the world include changes to: fungal and bacterial biofilms and their role in the aquatic carbon cycle, diatom and algal community composition, and macroinvertebrate-algae community interactions in complex food webs.

 

Lee is in Iceland to examine the Ph.D. thesis of Sum Yi Lai, which will defend her thesis on August 30th 2024.