Workshop: Ecology under Lake Ice; NCEAS-Santa Barbara, CA - October 2014 and February 2015

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This workshop will bring together in person about 20 experts, as well as a number of others via internet connections, to synthesize the existing information about how active organisms are in winter under the ice of frozen lakes. Usually summer is considered the prime growing season, but there is increasing evidence that long winters are also important for diverse biological activity and physical processes that may affect the functioning of lakes all year. Ocean studies have shown that under-ice biological communities can contribute more than half of the total annual productivity in some locations. Far less is known about lakes, but observations suggest the same may be true there too. Ice loss is now widely recognized as a major environmental change in the polar seas. Winter ice duration has also shortened in lakes worldwide, but there has been much less attention to the resulting ecological changes. The economic and social importance of inland waters that freeze in the winter, such as the Great Lakes, are great reasons why we should better understand lake dynamics over the entire year. Products of this workshop will include the identification of key next steps in winter limnology, the exploration of satellite remote sensing approaches, and collaboration with ocean scientists to answer big questions about how lake ecosystems function under ice. This workshop will also build and reinforce a network of scientists studying under-ice processes, produce scientific articles, and generate data sets that will be available to the public. Social media will provide other outlets for the results and lead to other opportunities for the participants to engage with the popular media as results emerge.