Publications by Tom Ian Battin

Glacier-fed stream diatoms (Bacillariophyta) from the Rwenzori Mountains, Uganda, with the description of one new species from the genus Neidium

Tom Ian Battin, Hannes Markus Peter, Grégoire Marie Octave Edouard Michoud, Leïla Ezzat, Massimo Bourquin

Informa UK Limited2025

Predicting climate-change impacts on the global glacier-fed stream microbiome

Tom Ian Battin, Hannes Markus Peter, Grégoire Marie Octave Edouard Michoud, Massimo Bourquin, Matteo Tolosano, Tyler Joe Kohler, Stylianos Fodelianakis, Vincent Henri De Staercke, Andrew Lean Robison

The shrinkage of glaciers and the vanishing of glacier-fed streams (GFSs) are emblematic of climate change. However, forecasts of how GFS microbiome structure and function will change under projected climate change scenarios are lacking. Combining 2,333 pr ...

NATURE PORTFOLIO2025

Episodic flooding causes sudden deoxygenation shocks in human-dominated rivers

Tom Ian Battin

Dissolved oxygen (DO) sustains river ecosystems, but the effects of hydrological extremes remain poorly understood. While high river discharge (Q) enhances aeration, floods also deliver oxygen-consuming pollutants, making net impacts uncertain. Here, we an ...

2025

Experimental evidence on the impact of climate-induced hydrological and thermal variations on glacier-fed stream biofilms

Tom Ian Battin, Hannes Markus Peter, Grégoire Marie Octave Edouard Michoud, Nicola Deluigi, David Touchette, Martina Gonzalez Mateu

Climate change is predicted to alter the hydrological and thermal regimes of high-mountain streams, particularly glacier-fed streams. However, relatively little is known about how these environmental changes impact the microbial communities in glacier-fed ...

2025

Glaciers are not just blocks of ice - plans to save them mustn't overlook their hidden life

Tom Ian Battin

NATURE PORTFOLIO2025

Glacier influence shapes the genomic architecture of the downstream aquatic microbiome

Tom Ian Battin, Hannes Markus Peter, Grégoire Marie Octave Edouard Michoud, Massimo Bourquin

The factors and processes that shape microbial genomes and determine the success of microbes in different environments have long attracted scientific interest. Here, leveraging 2855 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) sampled by the Vanishing Glacier Proje ...

Oxford University Press (OUP)2025

Diversity and biogeography of the bacterial microbiome in glacier-fed streams

Tom Ian Battin, Hannes Markus Peter, Grégoire Marie Octave Edouard Michoud, Leïla Ezzat, Massimo Bourquin, Nicola Deluigi, Matteo Tolosano, Florian Baier, Tyler Joe Kohler, Stylianos Fodelianakis

The rapid melting of mountain glaciers and the vanishing of their streams is emblematic of climate change1,2. Glacier-fed streams (GFSs) are cold, oligotrophic and unstable ecosystems in which life is dominated by microbial biofilms2,3. However, current kn ...

2025

Water Transit Time Explains the Concentration, Quality and Reactivity of Dissolved Organic Carbon in an Alpine Stream

Tom Ian Battin

The amount and quality of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) exported from terrestrial to riverine ecosystems are critical factors influencing aquatic metabolism and ecosystem health in streams, rivers, and lakes. This study investigates the interplay between ...

AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION2025

Widespread Black Carbon Deposition of Varied Origin Exported From Glaciers

Tom Ian Battin, Hannes Markus Peter

Atmospheric deposition delivers carbon to glacier surfaces, including from fossil fuel and biomass combustion. Nonetheless, spatial variation in the sources of organic and black carbon deposited on glaciers is poorly understood, along with their role in dr ...

AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION2025

Global emergent responses of stream microbial metabolism to glacier shrinkage

Tom Ian Battin, Hannes Markus Peter, Massimo Bourquin, Nicola Deluigi, Tyler Joe Kohler, Michail Styllas

Most cryospheric ecosystems are energy limited. How their energetics will respond to climate change remains largely unknown. This is particularly true for glacier-fed streams, which interface with the cryosphere and initiate some of Earth's largest river s ...

Nature Portfolio2024