Session Announcement
"Aquatic Microbial Communities as Sources and Sinks of Climate-active
Gases" (TS-A09)
American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Summer Meeting 2006
Victoria, British Columbia
4-9 June 2006
For further meeting information, please go to:
http://aslo.org/meetings/victoria2006/
A session entitled "Aquatic Microbial Communities as Sources and Sinks
of Climate-active Gases" will be held at the ASLO 2006 Summer meeting in
Victoria B.C. Organizers hope to present a diverse set of papers on
microbial processes responsible for generating both greenhouse gases and
other climate-active gases such as DMS in both fresh and salt water
ecosystems.
Description
Aquatic microorganisms play an important role in the Earth's climate
system by regulating the atmospheric concentrations of CO2, other
greenhouse gases (CH4, N2O), and reactive trace gases such as
dimethylsulfide (DMS) and CH3Br. In many cases it is not the activities
of individual species or taxa that determine the net exchange of such
compounds, but the interactions within communities of microorganisms.
For example, rates of production of DMS are determined by catabolism of
precursors like dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) by bacteria that are
commensal to the autotrophic producers of DMSP; net community production
and the potential for oceanic uptake of atmospheric CO2 is generally
much smaller than gross uptake by phytoplankton and sensitive to
microbial community structure; microbial communities may also affect gas
exchange rates by altering physical properties of the air-water
interface. This session will examine the role of microbial communities
in the production and consumption of atmospheric trace gases.
Presentations on all manner of aquatic microbial processes that produce
or consume trace gases are welcomed, particularly those dealing with
novel metabolisms such as nitrification, denitrification, calcification,
and methylotrophy.
Organizers:
James Christian, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
E-mail: jim.christian [at] ec.gc.ca
Patricia Yager, University of Georgia
E-mail: pyager [at] uga.edu