Microbial Food Webs and Climate Change
By The Editors
May 26, 2022
From The Staff Biology Environment Human Ecology
Jean-Philippe Gibert, an assistant professor of biology at Duke University, says microbial food webs influence processes that contribute to climate change. His research focuses on the interactions between microbes, which his lab studies using a combination of mathematical models and experimental work. His research agenda includes evaluating the structure of aquatic microbial food webs, including predator-prey interactions, under changing conditions.
On April 26, 2022, Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society, hosted a virtual presentation by Gibert as part of its Science by the Slice series (video and curated live tweets are below). In starting off his talk, Gibert gave an overview of the global carbon budget and explained how there are many natural processes scientists do not yet understand. That set the stage for his detailed description of a potential feedback loop: Higher temperatures contribute to more protists' predation of bacteria that, in turn, feed on Sphagnum mosses, the reduction of which means less carbon sequestered and so more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, raising temperatures.
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