Novi značajan doprinos ekologiji kopnenih voda s Prirodoslovno-matematičkog fakulteta

Istraživanje je pokazalo da klimatski čimbenici, kao što su temperatura i vlaga, značajno utječu na stope kruženja ugljika u vodenim ekosustavima. U članku se navodi da su klimatski čimbenici koji reguliraju stope raspadanja organske tvari sve više pod utjecajem ljudskih aktivnosti. Ovi rezultati pomoći će istraživačima da uspostave polazišta za kvantificiranje utjecaja antropogenih promjena u okolišu na funkcioniranje ekosustava na globalnoj razini.

U ovom istraživanju koje je provedeno 2015. godine uključene su analize iz četiri hrvatska vodotoka: dva vodotoka u sustavu Plitvičkih jezera (Bijela Rijeka i preljevni vodotok barijere Labudovac) te dva medvednička potoka (Veliki potok i Ribnjak). Zahvaljujemo se NP Plitvička jezera i PP Medvednica na susretljivosti i podršci ovom istraživanju.

Članak pod naslovom Global Patterns and Drivers of Ecosystem Functioning in Rivers and Riparian Zones je dostupan ovdje.

Freshwater science advance powered by Faculty of Scienece, University of Zagreb

Faculty of Science's Associate professor Marko Miliša is a part of a team of researchers that have contributed to a global study of carbon-cycling rates of river-based ecosystems.

The results of this study, lead by Associate professor Scott Tiegs from the Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA is now published in the journal Science Advances.

The paper is based on the work of 153 researchers in 40 countries and over 500 water bodies. The study found that climatic factors, such as temperature and moisture, influenced carbon-cycling rates of river-based ecosystems. Carbon cycling is critical for the functioning of systems across a range of spatial scales, from local food webs to the global climate. The paper noted that the climatic factors that govern decomposition rates are increasingly impacted by human activities. These findings will help researchers establish baselines to quantify environmental impacts to the functioning of ecosystems on a global scale.

Croatian part of the research included research in 4 streams including sites in Plitvice Lakes National Park and Medvednica Nature Park. We thank the Plitvice Lakes National Park and the Medvednica Nature Park for their support of this study.

The paper Global Patterns and Drivers of Ecosystem Functioning in Rivers and Riparian Zones je is available here.