David K. Ngugi: Global freshwater... [CANCELLED]

This event is cancelled!  Vortrag fällt aus!

This event is cancelled!  Vortrag fällt aus!

This event is cancelled!  Vortrag fällt aus!

Dr. David Kamanda Ngugi

Leibniz Institute DSMZ – German Collection of Cell Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, D-38124 Braunschweig, Germany

https://www.dsmz.de/research/microorganisms/geomicrobiology/team

Abstract

We live in a time of unprecedented impact of human activities on the natural environment and on organisms critical to essential ecosystem services. In freshwater systems, these changes are reflected in massive declines and extinctions of freshwater biota worldwide, at rates three times faster than in the ocean or on land. Although freshwater systems occupy less than 1% of the Earth's surface, they are also one of the most diverse and imperiled parts of the biosphere. To date, however, there is no comprehensive understanding of the extent of microbial biodiversity in freshwater systems relative to other aquatic ecosystems. Notwithstanding the role of microorganisms as the basis of freshwater food webs and biogeochemical cycles, we have underappreciated the importance of biodiversity for a range of ecosystem services, including the natural microbial purification of drinking water reservoirs. Improved awareness of microbial biodiversity is a valuable foundation for efforts to understand and maintain the integrity of freshwater systems. In this talk, I will decipher the existing species and genetic diversity of planktonic prokaryotes in freshwater systems at unprecedented global and temporal scales and highlight the risk that low species diversity poses to ecosystem service delivery in Eurasian lakes.

CV in brief

David K. Ngugi received his PhD in microbial ecology from the MPI for Terrestrial Microbiology (Marburg) in 2008 and worked as a senior research scientist at the King Abdullah University of Science Technology until mid 2018, before joining the DSMZ as a junior group leader in the Department of Microorganisms. 

The seminar will take place at 12:00 in the "Blaue Grotte"

Das Plant Science Colloquium dient dem regelmäßigen Wissensaustausch im Bereich Pflanzenwissenschaften. Nationale und internationale Sprecher berichten auf dieser Plattform über hochaktuelle Forschungsergebnisse und Methoden. Die Vorträge werden auf Englisch gehalten.

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