Microbial Community and Functional Gene Changes in Arctic Tundra Soils in a Microcosm Warming Experiment
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Environmental Sciences Division; Oakland Univ., Rochester, MI (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
- Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China). State Key Joint Lab. of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment
- Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States). Inst. for Environmental Genomics, Dept. of Microbiology and Plant Biology
- Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China). State Key Joint Lab. of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment; Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States). Inst. for Environmental Genomics, Dept. of Microbiology and Plant Biology; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Environmental Sciences Division
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Environmental Sciences Division; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Climate Change Science Inst.
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Environmental Sciences Division; Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Environmental Molecular Sciences Lab. (EMSL)
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Biosciences Division
Microbial decomposition of soil organic carbon (SOC) in thawing Arctic permafrost is important in determining greenhouse gas feedbacks of tundra ecosystems to climate. However, the changes in microbial community structure during SOC decomposition are poorly known. Here we examine these changes using frozen soils from Barrow, Alaska, USA, in anoxic microcosm incubation at -2 and 8°C for 122 days. The functional gene array GeoChip was used to determine microbial community structure and the functional genes associated with SOC degradation, methanogenesis, and Fe(III) reduction. Results show that soil incubation after 122 days at 8°C significantly decreased functional gene abundance (P < 0.05) associated with SOC degradation, fermentation, methanogenesis, and iron cycling, particularly in organic-rich soil. These observations correspond well with decreases in labile SOC content (e.g., reducing sugar and ethanol), methane and CO 2 production, and Fe(III) reduction. In contrast, the community functional structure was largely unchanged in the -2°C incubation. Soil type (i.e., organic vs. mineral) and the availability of labile SOC were among the most significant factors impacting microbial community structure. These results demonstrate the important roles of microbial community in SOC degradation and support previous findings that SOC in organic-rich Arctic tundra is highly vulnerable to microbial degradation under warming.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725; AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 1394250
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1416922
- Journal Information:
- Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol. 8; ISSN 1664-302X
- Publisher:
- Frontiers Research FoundationCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
Non‐cyanobacterial diazotrophs dominate nitrogen‐fixing communities in permafrost thaw ponds
|
journal | January 2020 |
Biogenic volatile release from permafrost thaw is determined by the soil microbial sink
|
journal | August 2018 |
Dissimilar responses of fungal and bacterial communities to soil transplantation simulating abrupt climate changes
|
journal | April 2019 |
Impacts of temperature and soil characteristics on methane production and oxidation in Arctic tundra
|
journal | January 2018 |
Similar Records
Final Technical Report to DOE for the Award DE-SC0004601
Anaerobic respiration pathways and response to increased substrate availability of Arctic wetland soils