River ice cover not only affects rivers during the winter but can also influence both physical and biological processes throughout the year, including the timing and duration of ecological productivity, under-ice light availability, and the mixing and distribution of nutrients. Although many rivers around the world experience a crusting of ice during winter months, the duration of ice cover is shrinking. Researchers have been documenting the later freezing and earlier melting of river ice, but few studies have delved into what changing ice conditions might mean for river ecology, especially in smaller river systems and for ecosystem processes like nutrient cycling and productivity.
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Source: Phys.org