Projects per year
Abstract
Melting glacier ice surfaces host active microbial communities that enhance glacial melt, contribute to biogeochemical cycling, and nourish downstream ecosystems; but these communities remain poorly characterised. Over the coming decades, the forecast ‘peak melt’ of Earth’s glaciers necessitates an improvement in understanding the state and fate of supraglacial ecosystems to better predict the effects of climate change upon glacial surfaces and catchment biogeochemistry. Here we show a regionally consistent mean microbial abundance of 104 cells mL−1 in surface meltwaters from eight glaciers across Europe and North America, and two sites in western Greenland. Microbial abundance is correlated with suspended sediment concentration, but not with ice surface hydraulic properties. We forecast that release of these microbes from surfaces under a medium carbon emission scenario (RCP 4.5) will deliver 2.9 × 1022 cells yr−1, equivalent to 0.65 million tonnes yr−1 of cellular carbon, to downstream ecosystems over the next ~80 years.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 275 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Communications Earth & Environment |
Volume | 3 |
Issue number | 1 |
Early online date | 10 Nov 2022 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 01 Dec 2022 |
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Dive into the research topics of 'Spatially consistent microbial biomass and future cellular carbon release from melting Northern Hemisphere glacier surfaces'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Datasets
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Data: Spatially consistent microbial biomass and future cellular carbon release from melting Northern Hemisphere glacier surfaces
Stevens, I. T., Zenodo, 30 Aug 2022
Dataset
Projects
- 3 Finished
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How will glacial meltwater microbes come in from the cold in this 'Peak Melt' century - IBERS
Edwards, A. (PI), Morphew, R. (CoI) & Mur, L. (CoI)
Natural Environment Research Council
01 Dec 2018 → 31 May 2022
Project: Externally funded research
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How will glacial meltwater microbes come in from the cold in this 'Peak Melt' century - DGES
Irvine-Fynn, T. (PI), Mitchell, A. (CoI), Cook, J. (Researcher) & Edwards Rassner, S. M. (Researcher)
Natural Environment Research Council
01 Dec 2018 → 31 May 2022
Project: Externally funded research
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Press/Media
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Reports Outline Environmental Science Study Findings from Aarhus University (Spatially Consistent Microbial Biomass and Future Cellular Carbon Release From Melting Northern Hemisphere Glacier Surfaces)
Edwards, A., Irvine-Fynn, T., Mitchell, A. & Holt, T.
14 Dec 2022
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Media coverage