(Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Director of the Biological Station, University of Michigan)

Introduced by Student

How much carbon will terrestrial ecosystems hold or flux back to the atmosphere in the future? This question underlies the work conducted in the Classen lab. The tiny organisms in ecosystems — from microbes to insects — decompose substrates, consume one another and associate/ infect plants to alter plant production, nutrient acquisition/mineralization and carbon feedbacks. These interactions, pivotal to the carbon cycle, vary with season and ecosystem type and are shaped by climate change. Classen’s talk will explore how little organisms, and their interactions, punch above their weight to impact how ecosystems respond to climate change.