PW Conservation Alliance to host Nov. 7 talk about streams and the environment

Jake Hosen, PhD Candidate at the University of Maryland, will talk about the importance of microbes to stream food webs and how the stream in your backyard is linked to global carbon cycles and climate change on Thursday, Nov. 7, at 7:30 p.m. when he leads a discussion for the Prince William Conservation Alliance. Hosen’s talk will be at Bull Run Unitarian Universalists, 9350 Main Street, Manassas.

Clean streams and healthy environments increase property values, protect our communities from pollution, flooding, erosion, and the effects of global climate change.

The more you know, the better we can protect streams and healthy communities.

Jake’s talk is on organic carbon, the energy currency of ecosystems. Organic carbon compounds are important food sources for microbial communities in streams and provide an energy source that we can track all the way up the food chain… from microbes that initially consume the carbon to the macroinvertebrates that live in streams to birds like heron that eat fish out of these streams.

Stream microorganisms do more than just provide a source of food for animals in streams. They process nutrients and can even alter the form and structure of a stream.

Streams microbes and organic carbon also play a role in the global environmental cycles. While streams are indivdually quite small, they are quite numerous. This means that a lot of organic carbon moves through streams each year.

Where all of the carbon moving through streams ends up has important implications for climate change. Recent research has shown that human activities on the land can change how organic carbon is used in streams.

These changes have the potential to increase the amount of carbon that leaves streams as carbon dioxide, which could accelerate the effects of climate change.

Join us on Thursday night to learn how the microscopic world of streams has a big impact on the environment