Experimental Warming Effects on Microbial Growth Evolution

Abstract

Climate change poses critical challenges to ecosystems worldwide, and understanding the implications of prolonged warming on microbial communities is crucial to predict its broader impacts. Microbial communities, which are integral to organic matter decomposition, nutrient cycling, and carbon storage, play a key role in ecosystem functioning. This study looks at the relationship between changing temperatures, microbial evolution, and their effects on ecosystem processes. This research was conducted at the Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site in Petersham, Massachusetts, where experimental soils have been undergoing a warming effect of 5ºC since 1991 through buried electrical cables. While increasing research supports the claim that microbial communities are vital in climate change mitigation, there is still a gap in our understanding of how long-term warming influences microbial communities. Using quantitative stable isotope probing (qSIP) this study quantifies isotopic enrichment (18O-) to observe microbial responses to warming and by extension, climate change. We hypothesize that taxa in heated plots will exhibit differential growth rates compared to disturbance control plots, with slower growth attributed to limited microbial substrate availability at higher temperatures.Additionally, we explore the temperature sensitivity of microbial growth, to understand whether adaptation to long-term warming is present in these communities. Insights gained from this study are crucial for predicting future ecosystem soil processes in the context of climate change, offering a glimpse into the potentially irreversible alterations of microbes, and the implications for the environment. Eventually this research will enhance our ability to manage the cascading effects of climate change on ecosystems.