Isabel FernandesUniversity of Minho · Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental (CBMA)
Isabel Fernandes
PhD in Sciences (Biology)
About
35
Publications
16,488
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Introduction
I am a freshwater ecologist particularly fond of fungi. I want to understand how global changes can determine microbial communities diversity and activity and how that impacts freshwater ecosystem functioning. My interests include the effects of temperature, nutrient enrichment, biodiversity changes, fungicides, multiple stressors... My work range from lab to field work, from small tubes to mesocosms and streams. I use microscopy- and molecular-based techniques to assess microbial diversity.
Additional affiliations
October 2023 - present
Position
- Co-chair IUCN SSC Aquatic Fungi Specialist Group
January 2019 - present
Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA), University of Minho
Position
- Junior Investigator
September 2014 - December 2018
University of Minho and Imperial College London
Position
- PostDoc Position
Description
- Stoichiometry of microbial decomposers: bottom-up effects on detritus food web in streams
Education
October 2008 - September 2013
October 2006 - October 2008
September 2002 - October 2006
Publications
Publications (35)
EuropaBON EBV workflow templates
The information provided here represents the EBV workflow templates collected during the EuropaBON online workshop on Essential Biodiversity
Variable (EBV) workflows from 22–24 February 2023. The templates were designed to capture comprehensive descriptions about the three
workflow components (data collection and s...
The information provided here represents the EBV workflow templates collected during the EuropaBON online workshop on Essential Biodiversity Variable (EBV) workflows from 22–24 February 2023. The templates were designed to capture comprehensive descriptions about the three workflow components (data collection and sampling, data integration, and mod...
The Global Consortium for the Classification of Fungi and fungus-like taxa is an international initiative of more than 550 mycologists to develop an electronic structure for the classification of these organisms. The members of the Consortium originate from 55 countries/regions worldwide, from a wide range of disciplines, and include senior, mid-ca...
Catchment urbanisation results in urban streams being exposed to a multitude of stressors. Notably, stressors originating from
diffuse sources have received less attention than stressors originating from point sources. Here, advances related to diffuse
urban stressors and their consequences for stream benthic communities are summarised by reviewing...
Aquatic hyphomycetes are key microbial decomposers of allochthonous organic matter in
freshwater ecosystems. Although their importance in carbon flow and food webs in streams is widely
recognized, there are still gaps in our understanding of their molecular diversity and distribution
patterns. Our study utilized the growing database of ITS rDNA bar...
DEPTAL MCL® is a professional cleaning agent approved by the Portuguese Food Regulatory Authority and is used in agro-food industries, namely in fish canning industries in the north of Portugal. Its extensive use during cleaning procedures results in potential significant negative impacts on the performance of the downstream municipal wastewater tr...
Anthropogenic change at a global scale is affecting life on Earth with impacts on freshwaters. Aquatic hyphomycetes are fungi that drive organic matter decomposition in freshwaters and mediate energy transfer to higher trophic levels. Intraspecific trait variability affects ecological processes and can account for species adaptations to environment...
Aquatic hyphomycetes are key microbial decomposers of allochthonous organic matter in freshwater ecosystems. Although their importance in carbon ow and food webs in streams is widely recognized, there are still gaps in our understanding of their phylogeny, molecular diversity and distribution patterns. Our study utilized the growing database of ITS...
Aquatic hyphomycetes are key microbial decomposers in freshwater that are capable of producing extracellular enzymes targeting complex molecules of leaf litter, thus, being crucial to nutrient cycling in these ecosystems. These fungi are also able to assimilate nutrients (e.g., nitrogen) from stream water, immobilizing these nutrients in the decomp...
The physiology, biochemistry and diversity of aquatic microbial decomposers have been largely investigated in low-order streams. However, some aspects still need further attention to better ascertain how microbial decomposer diversity can ensure ecosystem processes and services, particularly under the challenges posed by global environmental change...
The Paris Agreement signed by 195 countries in 2015 sets out a global action plan to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to remain below 2 °C. Under that premise, in situ experiments were run to test the effects of 2 °C temperature increase on the benthic communities in a seagrass bed and adjacent bare sediment, from a tempera...
Eutrophication is a major threat to freshwater ecosystems worldwide that affects aquatic biota and compromises ecosystem functioning. In this study, we assessed the potential use of leaf decomposition and associated decomposer communities to predict stream eutrophication. Because leaf quality is expected to affect leaf decomposition, we used five l...
In forested headwater streams, decomposition of allochthonous organic matter is a fundamental process driven by aquatic microbes and invertebrate shredders. We examined how season and eutrophication affect leaf decomposition and the associated decomposer communities by immersing leaves of a late deciduous species (Quercus robur) in five streams in...
We assessed aquatic hyphomycete diversity in autumn and spring on oak leaves decomposing in five streams along a gradient of eutrophication in the Northwest of Portugal. Diversity was assessed through microscopy-based (identification by spore morphology) and DNA-based techniques (Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis and 454 pyrosequencing). Pyro...
Freshwater ecosystems are severely impacted by changes in riparian vegetation and eutrophication, but their interactive effects on litter decomposition and associated biota remain poorly understood. We placed 5 leaf species in coarse-mesh bags alone or in mixtures and immersed them in 6 low-order streams along a eutrophication gradient. Fungal and...
Climate change scenarios predict an increase in global temperature and alterations in precipitation regimes, which may change nutrient concentrations in waterbodies. In forested streams, decomposition of allochthonous organic matter is a key ecosystem process that is affected by the quality of plant litter entering the streams and several environme...
There is evidence that loss of riparian plant diversity alters the availability and quality of resources in streams, but little is known about how such effects change with time after loss of diversity. We used a microcosm approach with leaves of alder, oak and eucalypt previously colonised by microbes in a mixed forest stream to test how loss of li...
We examined the potential long-term impacts of riparian plant diversity loss on diversity and activity of aquatic microbial decomposers. Microbial assemblages were obtained in a mixed-forest stream by immersion of mesh bags containing three leaf species (alder, oak and eucalyptus), commonly found in riparian corridors of Iberian streams. Simulation...
Temperature is a key factor in determining the structure and performance of fungal assemblages on decomposing plant litter in streams. However, little is known of how temperature affects interspecific relationships among fungi. We compared the growth of four aquatic hyphomycetes co-occurring in temperate streams, in monocultures and all species com...
1. We investigated the effects of riparian plant diversity (species number and identity) and temperature on microbially mediated leaf decomposition by assessing fungal biodiversity, fungal reproduction and leaf mass loss.
2. Leaves of five riparian plant species were first immersed in a stream to allow microbial colonisation and were then exposed,...
Studies investigating the impacts of biodiversity loss on ecosystem processes have often reached different conclusions, probably because insufficient attention has been paid to some aspects including (1) which biodiversity measure (e.g., species number, species identity or trait) better explains ecosystem functioning, (2) the mechanisms underpinnin...
Increases of extreme weather events are predicted to occur with ongoing climate change, but impacts to freshwaters have rarely been examined. We assessed the effects of temperature on leaf-litter associated fungi by exposing leaves colonized in a stream to 18 °C (control), 25 °C, or 18 °C after freezing. Treatments altered fungal dominance on leave...
To better understand the impacts of multiple stressors in freshwaters, we investigated the effects of mixtures of zinc and inorganic phosphorus on microbial decomposition of leaf litter. Alder leaves were colonized in a stream and placed in microcosms with stream water supplemented or not with 3 concentrations of zinc (Zn up to 9.8 mg/l) or phospha...
Questions
Questions (4)
Can anyone help us find Labs, researchers or Collections (particularly private) which have isolates of the aquatic hyphomycete genus Dendrospora?
Any help will be deeply appreciated. :)
I am trying to link fungal identity to their ecological role in the ecosystem. My dataset is from freshwaters. Does anyone knows if there is any database or software available to do this? Thank you very much in advance.
I want to perform feeding experiments with freshwater invertebrate shredders. Usually, animals are collected in the stream and acclimated to the lab prior to experiments. However, it would be better if animals were all of the same size/age/stage. I know that some species of invertebrates (Chironomus riparius) can be cultured in the lab. I want to know if anybody knows how or if it is possible to culture invertebrate shredders (e.g. Limnephilidae, Sericostomatidae, etc) in the lab. If you have any papers, or contacts of any lab doing it, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you in advance.
Isabel
