Two University of Montana seniors recently interviewed for the world’s oldest and most prestigious academic recognition, the Rhodes Scholarship. As Rhodes finalists, Teigan Avery and Arwen Baxter joined an elite group of U.S. college students recognized for their scholarly achievements, commitment to the common good and potential for leadership.
2Institute of Environmental Sciences, Koblenz-Landau University, Landau, Germany
3Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow, and Landscape Research (WSL), Birmensdorf, Switzerland
Combined effects of climate change and increasing anthropogenic water demand have increased and extended dry period occurrences in rivers worldwide. Riverbed drying can significantly affect sediment microorganisms, crucial drivers of biogeochemical processes in lotic systems. In this study, we evaluated how sediment bacterial and fungal community structure and composition (based on 16S rRNA gene and ITS metabarcoding) and microbial functions (community respiration and extracellular enzymatic activities) respond to different riverbed drying intensities over 90 days. Riverbed sediment collected in a flowing reach of the Spree river in northeastern Germany was dried under different rates in outdoor mesocosms during the summer months of 2018. Our results demonstrate that drying attributes (duration and intensi