Molecular mechanisms underlying changes in the temperature sensitive respiration response of forest soils to long-term experimental warming
EMSL Project ID
49483
Abstract
A more complete understanding of how global warming will affect carbon-cycle feedbacks to the climate system is central to model projections of future climate. Simulation experiments with fully coupled, three-dimensional carbon-climate models suggest that carbon-cycle feedbacks could either substantially accelerate or slow climate change over the 21st century. The potential switch of the terrestrial biosphere from its current role as carbon sink to carbon source is critically dependent upon the long-term sensitivity to global warming of communities involved in soil organic matter (SOM) decay. Understanding the ecological function of soil communities in their natural environment is essential in ecosystem modeling.
The conceptual framework of this study is based on a hierarchy of experiments, from laboratory microcosms to long-term, large-scale field experiments that will provide independent tests of the role of community structure and function in the soil community respiration response and allow identification of the underlying mechanisms and biological organisms driving the observed decrease in temperature-dependent respiration. Our objective in this proposed research is to determine the metabolic processes which are active in soil communities in response to increased temperature by using heavy water labeling of the active biota at the Prospect Hill long-term warming site. We will determine which soil taxa are responsible for the increased CO2 flux, and test hypotheses proposed to explain the warming-induced soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition and molecular mechanisms related to limits on biogeochemical cycles. These hypotheses will be tested using expertise available at JGI and EMSL in RNAseq, FT-ICR, cell isolation, single cell sequencing and advanced microscopy techniques.
Project Details
Project type
FICUS Research
Start Date
2016-10-01
End Date
2018-09-30
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator
Co-Investigator(s)
Team Members
Related Publications
Lacroix R., N. Walpen, M. Sander, M.M. Tfaily, J. Blanchard, and M. Keiluweit. "Long-Term Warming Decreases Redox Capacity of Soil Organic Matter." Environment Science and Technology