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SUMMARY:Mobilizing terrestrial primary production into aquatic food webs -
  Chloe Orland\, 1st year grad
DTSTART:20150430T090000Z
DTEND:20150430T093000Z
UID:TALK58757@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Megan Cooper
DESCRIPTION:Boreal lakes hold more than half of Earth’s freshwater. Unde
 rstanding their functioning is therefore highly important for preserving t
 he multiple services they provide us with\, from clean drinking water to n
 utritious fish. Organic matter (OM) derived from terrestrial ecosystems ha
 s been shown to subsidize secondary production in lakes by contributing be
 tween 30-70% of the organic carbon content of aquatic consumers. It is now
  clear that external inputs (allochthonous) play a crucial role in aquatic
  food webs\, however\, the mechanisms underlying initial energy transfer a
 t the base of lake food webs is still poorly understood. The aim of the Ph
 D is to understand mechanisms by which terrestrial resources are integrate
 d into aquatic food webs by focusing on the biological composition of sedi
 ments and the way in which processing of OM by bacterial communities depen
 ds on interactions with algae. The first step will consist of characterizi
 ng microbial community composition via a metagenomics approach. Specifical
 ly\, the dominant bacterial\, archaeal and fungal functional groups will b
 e identified\, in order to see how these relate to mineralization rates an
 d to the characteristics of sediments that are shaped by their surrounding
  watersheds. Secondly\, I will determine how the productivity of these com
 munities is influenced by competition with algae for inorganic nutrients. 
 This will be tested in vivo under varying OM conditions (i.e. quantity and
  quality)\, and a zooplanktonic consumer will be introduced as an assay of
  vertical energy transfer to higher trophic levels. In a third part of thi
 s PhD\, I will work within a larger whole-lake experiment consisting of ar
 tificial delta ecosystems and test how changing OM supplies influence ener
 gy transfer in the field. Finally\, the influence of land use on phytoplan
 kton abundance and nutrient availability will be tested using field observ
 ations on watershed characteristics and lake biochemical data. Understandi
 ng how terrestrial primary production is mobilized in lakes will help pred
 ict how anthropogenic pressures on land use will affect freshwater ecosyst
 ems\, and will inform us on ways to improve current management practices.
LOCATION:Sainsbury Laboratory
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