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Title: Permafrost Meta-Omics and Climate Change

Journal Article · · Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences

Permafrost (i.e., soil that has been frozen for at least 2 consecutive years) represents a habitat for microbial life at subzero temperatures (Gilichinsky et al. 2008). Approximately one quarter of the Earth’s surface is underlain by permafrost, which contains 25-50% of the total global soil carbon pool (Schuur et al. 2008, Tarnocai et al. 2009). This carbon is largely protected from microbial decomposition by reduced microbial activity in frozen conditions, but climate change is threatening to induce large-scale permafrost thaw thus exposing it to degradation. The resulting emissions of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) can produce a positive feedback loop and significantly amplify the effects of global warming. Increasing temperatures at high latitudes, changes in precipitation patterns, and frequent fire events have already initiated a widespread degradation of permafrost (Schuur et al. 2015).

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1326138
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-118187
Journal Information:
Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Vol. 44, Issue 1; ISSN 0084-6597
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Non-Psychrophilic Methanogens Capable of Growth Following Long-Term Extreme Temperature Changes, with Application to Mars journal April 2018
Short-Term Transcriptional Response of Microbial Communities to Nitrogen Fertilization in a Pine Forest Soil journal May 2018
Microbial functional diversity covaries with permafrost thaw-induced environmental heterogeneity in tundra soil journal September 2017
Networking our science to characterize the state, vulnerabilities, and management opportunities of soil organic matter journal September 2017
High-Alpine Permafrost and Active-Layer Soil Microbiomes Differ in Their Response to Elevated Temperatures journal April 2019
Non‐cyanobacterial diazotrophs dominate nitrogen‐fixing communities in permafrost thaw ponds journal January 2020
The breadth of climate change impacts on biological systems journal April 2019
Species interactions and distinct microbial communities in high Arctic permafrost affected cryosols are associated with the CH 4 and CO 2 gas fluxes journal July 2019
Soil microbiomes and climate change journal October 2019
Scientists’ warning to humanity: microorganisms and climate change journal June 2019
Soil DNA: advances in DNA technology offer a powerful new tool for forensic science journal July 2019
Host-linked soil viral ecology along a permafrost thaw gradient journal July 2018
Scientists’ warning to humanity: microorganisms and climate change text January 2019
Bacterial and Archaeal Metagenome-Assembled Genome Sequences from Svalbard Permafrost journal July 2019

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