Glacier ecology

The surface and beds of glaciers have been shown to the locus of significant microbial activity by a number of researchers. Since the work described above has already quantified net ecosystem impacts upon nutrient fluxes during melt, the next logical step is to characterise the habitats and microorganisms responsible for these changes. This requires chemical, isotopic and molecular (genetic) characterisation of runoff, sediment and microorganisms, especially in subglacial and supraglacial environments.

This work pioneered the use of uninhabited aerial vehicles for the reconnaissance of surface organic matter upon glaciers. Watch a movie of our aerial cryoconite reconnaissance project with HighSpy (see "Downloads" - top-right).

Relevant papers

• Hodson, A.J., Bøggild, C.E., Hanna, E., Huybrechts, P., Langford, H., Cameron, K. and Houldsworth, A. (2010). The cryoconite ecosystem on the Greenland ice sheet. Annals of Glaciology, 51(56), 123-129.
  http://www.igsoc.org/annals/v51/56/a56A017.pdf
• Hodson, A.J., Cameron, K.A., Bøggild, C.E., Irvine-Fynn, T.D., Langford, H. Pearce, D.A. and Banwart, S.A. (2010). The structure, biological activity and biogeochemistry of cryoconite aggregates upon an Arctic valley glacier: Longyearbreen, Svalbard. Journal of Glaciology, 56(196), 349-362.
  doi:10.3189/002214310791968403
• Anesio, A.M., Hodson, A.J., Fritz, A., Psenner, R. and Sattler, B. (2009). High microbial activity on glaciers: importance to the global carbon cycle, Global Change Biology, 15(4), 955-960.
  doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01758.x
• Hodson, A.J., Anesio, A.M., Tranter, M., Fountain, A.G., Osborn, M., Priscu, J., Laybourn-Parry, J. and Sattler, B. (2008). Glacial Ecosystems, Ecological Monographs, 78(1), 41-67.
  Archived online PDF (open access)
• Hodson, A.J., Anesio, A.M., Ng, F., Watson,R., Quirk, J., Irvine-Fynn, T., Dye, A., Clark, C.D., McCloy, P., Kohler, J. and Sattler, B. (2007). A glacier respires: quantifying the distribution and respiration CO2 flux of cryoconite across an entire Arctic glacial ecosystem. Journal of Geophysical Research (Biogeosciences), 112, G04S36.
  doi:10.1029/2007JG000452