Lisa Wingate, Université de Bordeaux. France.

"Using a multi-functional enzyme-based approach to constrain the magnitude of the terrestrial biosphere CO2 sink"

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Summary

When microscopic organisms such as bacteria, fungi and unicellular algae are assembled into communities they can exert a profound effect on the chemical composition of the atmosphere and modify climate at the Earth’s surface. This is because microbial processes drive global photosynthesis, organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling. However, modelling and scaling microbial physiology at the global scale and predicting the function of microbial communities to global change is an enormous scientific challenge. Here I present some ideas about how a multi-functional enzyme-based approach could help us constrain estimates of the CO2 sink strength of the terrestrial biosphere. I also discuss how this approach could lead to new insights into the spatial regulation of microbial community function and diversity as soil edaphic properties vary.

Biography

Lisa Wingate’s undergraduate, postgraduate and postdoctoral research has a strong foundation in ecosystem physiology and the geosciences (The University of Edinburgh). She has worked alongside experimentalists and modellers to develop theoretical understanding of stable isotope fractionation in a range of ecological systems in order to interpret the responses of ecosystem components to climate, holding positions at the University of Cambridge before joining the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (Bordeaux) in 2012 and building the ECOFUN team with colleagues https://www.bordeaux.inra.fr/ispa-ecofun/wordpress/. Her current research lies at the interface between geochemistry, physics, biology and ecology, and aims to describe regulation of atmospheric CO2 and COS concentrations at scales spanning the enzyme to the globe.