“A Fresh Water Perspective on Ecosystem Processes in a Changing World: Insights from field experiments”.
Environmental changes, many of them man-made, proceed at unprecedented rates at spatial scales ranging from local to global. What are the consequences for ecosystem processes? I will address this question by assessing impacts of different drivers of global change on primary production and organic matter decomposition as the two most fundamental processes in the biosphere. Specifically, I will present results from field experiments exploring how warming, sustained nutrient enrichment, and climate-induced storm events may affect biomass production and decomposition in lakes and streams. While the mechanisms underlying some of the observed impacts appear to be straightforward, others are unexpected, underscoring the need for manipulative field experiments that capture the complexity of natural ecosystems to forecast consequences of environmental change.
Date: 28 October 2024, 12:00 (Monday, 3rd week, Michaelmas 2024)
Venue: Biology Mansfield Road, 11a Mansfield Road OX1 3SZ
Venue Details: Seminar Room
Speaker: Professor Mark Gessner (IGB)
Organising department: Department of Biology
Organiser: Annabel Halfhead (University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address: annabel.halfhead@biology.ox.ac.uk
Host: Michelle Jackson (University of Oxford)
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Members of the University only
Editor: Annabel Halfhead