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Title: Temperature and CO2 interactively drive shifts in the compositional and functional structure of peatland protist communities

Journal Article · · Global Change Biology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17203 · OSTI ID:3012304
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [3];  [3]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3]
  1. Duke University, Durham, NC (United States); Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, Fort Collins, CO (United States)
  2. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  3. Duke University, Durham, NC (United States)

Microbes affect the global carbon cycle that influences climate change and are in turn influenced by environmental change. Here, we use data from a long-term whole-ecosystem warming experiment at a boreal peatland to answer how temperature and CO2 jointly influence communities of abundant, diverse, yet poorly understood, non-fungi microbial Eukaryotes (protists). These microbes influence ecosystem function directly through photosynthesis and respiration, and indirectly, through predation on decomposers (bacteria and fungi). Using a combination of high-throughput fluid imaging and 18S amplicon sequencing, we report large climate-induced, community-wide shifts in the community functional composition of these microbes (size, shape, and metabolism) that could alter overall function in peatlands. Importantly, we demonstrate a taxonomic convergence but a functional divergence in response to warming and elevated CO2 with most environmental responses being contingent on organismal size: warming effects on functional composition are reversed by elevated CO2 and amplified in larger microbes but not smaller ones. Furthermore, these findings show how the interactive effects of warming and rising CO2 levels could alter the structure and function of peatland microbial food webs—a fragile ecosystem that stores upwards of 25% of all terrestrial carbon and is increasingly threatened by human exploitation.

Research Organization:
Duke University, Durham, NC (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
NSF CAREER; NSF DEB; National Science Foundation (NSF); Simons Foundation; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Chemical Sciences, Geosciences & Biosciences Division (CSGB); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725; SC0020362
OSTI ID:
3012304
Journal Information:
Global Change Biology, Journal Name: Global Change Biology Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 30; ISSN 1354-1013; ISSN 1365-2486
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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