17 Nov

Zoom

Soil life and climate change: Lessons from cold Antarctic to hot deserts

seminars, workshops |

Our understanding of extreme arid ecosystems such as the hot Chihuahuan desert (New Mexico USA) and cold Antarctic desert provide a basis and insights for understanding the response of soil biodiversity to increasing environmental extremes elsewhere. Don´t miss this seminar by Diana Wall, distinguished professor at the Colorado State University and one of the most well-known soil ecologists.

The Antarctica cold desert has less than 2 % of the continent ice-free. The largest ice free areas on the Antarctic continent, the McMurdo Dry Valleys, are composed of soils, glaciers, lakes and meltstreams. Compared to the hot desert with plants and deep soil profiles, this polar terrestrial ecosystem has no vascular plants or animals above ground and soils are shallow and low in soil organic carbon.

The low diversity nematode communities are defined by specific soil habitats. Through long term observations, manipulative experiments and studies across geographic gradients our results indicate that climate change in this polar ecosystem alters soil habitat suitability, species distribution, community composition and ecosystem functioning, all with potential impacts across the landscape.

Resilience of these ecosystems and policy implications will be discussed.

Diana Wall

Diana Wall’s more than 25 years of research in the Antarctic continues to clarify the critical links between climate change and soil biodiversity. A 20-year long-term field project on climate change is revealing that with increased carbon sources, warming and water events, the dominant. She has combined her polar research with global scale field studies demonstrating that soil animals increase decomposition rates more in temperate and moist tropical climates than in cold and dry conditions, indicating a latitudinal gradient in their roles in ecosystems.

Diana served as President of the Ecological Society of America. She is currently an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the science Chair of Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative.   

Read more about Diana Wall  

Join on Zoom

All are most welcome to attend via Zoom: https://slu-se.zoom.us/j/67788232889

Facts

Time: 2020-11-17 15:00
City: Zoom
Additional info:

mohammad.bahram@slu.se


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