WILLIAMSBURG, Va., Oct. 15 -- William and Mary issued the following news release:
The following story originally appeared on the website for William & Mary's VIMS & Batten School. - Ed.
Global warming is often treated as synonymous with climate change, but rising temperatures are only one consequence of the human-driven phenomenon. Changes in rainfall patterns are another, but their effects on ecosystems are less understood.
In fact, rain has an outsized impact on the ecology of rivers, according to a new study led by William & Mary's VIMS & Batten School and published in the journal Ecology. Researchers found that less annual rainfall destabilizes stream ecosystems, reducing the complexity of the food webs and reorganizing the distribut...