Michelle McKeown

B.A. (Honours) NUI, Galway (2005-2008)
Ph.D (Research) Candidate
N.U.I. Galway (2008 - present)
                                                                   
Geography Department,
Room 116
Phone: 00 353 91 493829 ext 3829
Email: m.mckeown1nuigalway.ie

Biography

Research Interests 

Current Research

Based in the field of palaeoclimatology, the fundamental aim of this research is (1) reconstruct climate in the region of Sligo in order to examine trends over the last 180 years, (2) investigate ecological changes in three lakes in the region over this time period in order to assess ecological response to recent climate change through time.

Lakes in Ireland tend to be poorly monitored and those which have been examined have concentrated on the effects of land use change and human induced pollution (Leira et al. 2006). An investigation into climate conditions and their impact on freshwater systems needs to be undertaken in order to comprehensively understand temperature’s effect on such complex lacustrine environments. Recent temperature change examined at a sub-decadal resolution will provide information on how chironomid communites, which are a fundamental building block in lake ecology, are responding to changes in mean summer temperature over an extended time period. This knowledge can aid in projecting how species will respond to future warming. Porinchu et al. (2007) have indicated that chironomids are the most promising palaeolimnological indicator of temperature. Due to their life-cycle characteristics, chironomids are sensitive to changing water conditions, especially water temperature.

Selected Readings

Batterbee, R. W., Grytnes, J., Thompson, R., Appleby, P.G., Catalan, J., Korhola, A., Birks, H. J. B., Heegaard, E., and Lami, A. 2002. Comparing palaeolimnological and instrumental evidence of climate change for remote mountain lakes over the last 200 years. Journal of Paleolimnology, Vol. 28, pp 161-179.

Brodersen, K. P. and Anderson, N. J. 2000. Subfossil insect remains (Chironomidae) and lake-water temperature inference in the Sisimiut-Kangerlussuaq region, sounthern West Greenland. Geology of Greenland Survey Bulletin, Vol. 186, pp 78-82.

Butler, C. J. and Johnson D. J. 1996. A Provisional Long Mean Air Temperature Series for Armagh Observatory.  Journal of Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics, Vol. 58, No. 15, pp 1657-1672.

Heiri, O., Lotter, A. F. and Lemecke, G. 2001. Loss on ignition as a method  for estimating organic and carbonate content in sediments: reproducibility and comparibility of results. Journal of Paleolimnology, Vol. 25, pp 101-110.

Leira M., Jordon P., Taylor D. and Dalton C. 2006. Assessing the ecological status of candidate reference lakes in Ireland using palaeolimnology. Journal of Applied Ecology Volume 43 Issue 4, pp 816-827.

McElwain, L. and Sweeney, J. 2003. Climate change in Ireland- recent trends in temperature and precipitation. Irish Geography, Vol. 36, No. 2, pp 97-111.

Porinchu, D. F., Potito, A. P., MacDonald, G. M. and Bloom, A. M. 2007. Subfossil chironomids as indicators of recent climate change in Sierra Nevada, California, Lakes. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research, Vol. 39, No. 2, pp 286-296.

Potito, A.P., C.A. Woodward, and D.W. Beilman. Under review. The modern distribution of chironomid subfossils in western Ireland: potential for palaeoclimatic reconstructions. Journal of Paleolimnology.

Trenberth, K.E., Jones, P.D., Ambenje, P., Bojariu, R., Easterling, D., Tank, A.K., Parker, D., Rahimzadeh, F., Renwick, J.A., Rusticucci, M., Soden, B., and Zhai, P. 2007. Observations: surface and atmospheric climate change. In: Solomon, S., Qin, D., Manning, M., Chen, Z., Marquis, M.,  Averyt, K.B., Tignor, M. and Miller, H.L. Editors, Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom, New York, NY, USA, pp 235–336.

Walker, I. R. 2001. Midges: Chironomidae and related Diptera. In: Smol, J. P., Birks, H. J. B., Last, W. M. (eds) Tracking environmental change using lake sediments., Zoological Indicators, Klumer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Vol. 4, pp 43-66.