Assessing regional controls on glacial bioavailable dissolved organic matter in the Canadian Arctic and the Canadian Rockies

We are investigating the source of dissolved organic matter (or DOM) – a class of nutrients known to fertilise aquatic ecosystems – in two glacial rivers in Canada (one in the Rockies and one in the Arctic). DOM is a very diverse group of different molecules, and some of these molecules are better food for bacteria (heterotrophs) than others. In our experiments, we will measure:
1) The molecular composition of DOM in water samples;
2) The age of carbon dioxide that is respired when bacteria consume DOM;
3) How much of this DOM is consumable by bacteria (a property known as ‘bioavailability’);
4) How the bacterial community changes when consuming different DOM samples (16s rRNA).
By comparing different water samples, we should be able to work out which groups of molecules (that tend to appear together) are most important to downstream ecosystems and where they come from.

Faculty Supervisor:

Maya Bhatia

Student:

Partner:

University of Bristol

Discipline:

Earth science

Sector:

Environmental Science and Technology

University:

University of Alberta

Program: