Information - BG5.04 Environmental impacts of biofilms, stromatolites and algal mats: from microbes to ecosystems (co-listed in OS & SSP) (co-sponsored by ISME)
Event Information
Biofilms, algal mats and modern stromatolites are microbial communities with analogous structure-function-coupling. Attached microbes produce exopolymeric substances (EPS) that shape community architecture and create micro-environments along physical, chemical and biological gradients. Not only do these microbes behave as ecologically functional communities, but they also are integral parts of natural ecosystems where they quietly but persistently shape and reshape their environment as hidden players. The aim of the session is to promote through a cross-system comparison our understanding of the link between micro-scale processes and both biogeochemical and ecosystem implications. We invite contributions that highlight the coupling between microbial, chemical and physical structures to community functions, and most important to ecosystem functioning. Contributions should be interdisciplinary in nature, and integrate microbiology and ecology across scales. Particularly welcome are empirical and conceptual papers, but also novel modeling approaches predicting the functional linkage between biofilms, algal mats and modern stromatolites and their environment.
Preliminary List of Solicited Speakers
Hilary Lappin-Scott (Exeter University, UK)
Pieter V. Visscher (University of Connecticut, US)
Graham J. C. Underwood (University of Essex, UK)
Co-Sponsorship
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