GES Spring Colloquium speaker series

Topic: Freshwater biology and biogeochemistry

Carbon from the Upside Down: How Ecosystem Ecology Questions the Spatiotemporal Extent of Streams

Speaker: Amanda DelVecchia, UNC Geography and Environment

Streams are broadly conceptualized as well-oxygenated, flowing waters with life sustained by modern photosynthesis. In the past decade, evidence of methane presence and contributions to stream processes has caused us to question this paradigm. Methane is produced in conditions without oxygen and it can be cycled through food webs, transported downstream, or released to the atmosphere as a potent greenhouse gas.

In this talk I will discuss our work on how methane, tied to the dark anoxic regions of streams, has caused us to reconsider the extent of what constitutes a stream ecosystem. We will discuss two primary topics: how the dark and anoxic regions of streams can support stream food webs (including Bristol Bay salmon), and where these regions might occur and be relevant to stream carbon cycling.

This event is free and open to the public. For disability accomodations, contact mlreaga2@uncg.edu / 336.334.5388