Streamside channels and warming started!
This past spring we conducted our first warming experiment in our stream side channels at Coweeta. We set up an array of channels that were then warmed to +0C, +1C , +2C, +3C, or +4C above ambient temperature. Colleagues set up litter decomposition studies and midge growth while the Rosemond lab conducted shredder insect growth and consumption experiments-led by PhD student, Carolyn Cummins. We also tested the response FBOM (fine benthic organic matter) respiration across the temperature gradient. We hope to run more experiments next year.
In addition, we officially started warming a stream at Coweeta! After one year of pre-treatment data collection we officially started heating about 130 meters of our experimental stream at the beginning of May. The warming will last for two years. We will test the response of organic matter dynamics and the role of shredders vs microorganisms in driving litter breakdown in response to the experimental warming. See PI Benstead’s update for a cool thermal image of our channels and the warming infrastructure in our experimental stream reach. We hope to post a few updates on the warming and potential responses as we go along!
Society for Freshwater Science
Five lab members attended the Society for Freshwater Science annual meeting in Salt Lake City this past May. Dr. Rosemond, Carolyn, Nate, and Cait all presented research. Carolyn Cummins won best student oral presentation this year! Congrats Carolyn! Incoming PhD student Laura Naslund also presented on her undergraduate work.
After serving for a year as President-Elect, Dr. Rosemond is currently the 2019-2020 President of the Society for Freshwater Science! She is very excited about this opportunity, particularly in helping SFS continue to build in ways that are inclusive of scholars from diverse cultures, career sectors, and places around the world! https://freshwater-science.org/blog-categories/presidents-environment
Two new students join the lab
This fall we are excited to welcome Laura Naslund and Kyle Connelly to the Rosemond lab. Laura is a PhD student interested in the role of phenology in shaping stream food webs and their response to stressors. Kyle is a MS student in the Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development Program and is interested in how watershed managers can effectively plan for, and adapt to, climate and societal change. Welcome to the lab!
Caitlin Conn receives award to study flow ecology
PhD student Caitlin Conn was awarded funds through the Petelle Family Charitable Fund to continue studying stream metabolism in the Middle Oconee River.