The Carbon Cycle and Humic Lakes
As part of the carbon cycle, bacterial communities in most lakes break down carbon in decaying organic matter, converting it into carbon dioxide that is released into the atmosphere. In humic lakes, which contain high levels of decaying organic matter, the process creates even higher carbon-dioxide emission levels. As the climate changes, more carbon will be turned into carbon dioxide in these kinds of lakes.
With $1.5 million from the National Science Foundation, a group of UW-Madison and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers are studying the composition of bacterial communities in humic lakes and how these microorganisms respond to changes in their environment.
The group will take weekly water samples from a northern Wisconsin humic lake; the researchers will use new DNA-based tools to study how these quick-growing microorganisms change in response to their environment. They also hope to learn how bacteria speciate. In addition, they will study how bacteria interact with algae in humic lakes and whether the organisms affect which bacterial species are present.
October 17, 2007 7:03 AM | Category: Global Warming