Seasonal variation in near-surface seasonally thawed active layer and permafrost soil microbial communities
Understanding how soil microbes respond to permafrost thaw is critical to predicting the implications of climate change for soil processes. However, our knowledge of microbial responses to warming is mainly based on laboratory thaw experiments, and field sampling in warmer months when sites are more...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
|
| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acc542 |
| _version_ | 1797747361731051520 |
|---|---|
| author | Christopher C M Baker Amanda J Barker Thomas A Douglas Stacey J Doherty Robyn A Barbato |
| author_facet | Christopher C M Baker Amanda J Barker Thomas A Douglas Stacey J Doherty Robyn A Barbato |
| author_sort | Christopher C M Baker |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Understanding how soil microbes respond to permafrost thaw is critical to predicting the implications of climate change for soil processes. However, our knowledge of microbial responses to warming is mainly based on laboratory thaw experiments, and field sampling in warmer months when sites are more accessible. In this study, we sampled a depth profile through seasonally thawed active layer and permafrost in the Imnavait Creek Watershed, Alaska, USA over the growing season from summer to late fall. Amplicon sequencing showed that bacterial and fungal communities differed in composition across both sampling depths and sampling months. Surface communities were most variable while those from the deepest samples, which remained frozen throughout our sampling period, showed little to no variation over time. However, community variation was not explained by trace metal concentrations, soil nutrient content, pH, or soil condition (frozen/thawed), except insofar as those measurements were correlated with depth. Our results highlight the importance of collecting samples at multiple times throughout the year to capture temporal variation, and suggest that data from across the annual freeze-thaw cycle might help predict microbial responses to permafrost thaw. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:49:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-28c19747a8494951ae01889f96076aae |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:49:38Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-28c19747a8494951ae01889f96076aae2023-08-09T15:14:06ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262023-01-0118505500110.1088/1748-9326/acc542Seasonal variation in near-surface seasonally thawed active layer and permafrost soil microbial communitiesChristopher C M Baker0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2675-1078Amanda J Barker1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0703-2702Thomas A Douglas2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1314-1905Stacey J Doherty3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1453-0195Robyn A Barbato4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8314-8526US Army ERDC Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory , 72 Lyme Rd., Hanover, NH 03755, United States of AmericaUS Army ERDC Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory , 9th Ave., Bldg. 4070, Fort Wainwright, AK 99703, United States of AmericaUS Army ERDC Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory , 9th Ave., Bldg. 4070, Fort Wainwright, AK 99703, United States of AmericaUS Army ERDC Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory , 72 Lyme Rd., Hanover, NH 03755, United States of AmericaUS Army ERDC Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory , 72 Lyme Rd., Hanover, NH 03755, United States of AmericaUnderstanding how soil microbes respond to permafrost thaw is critical to predicting the implications of climate change for soil processes. However, our knowledge of microbial responses to warming is mainly based on laboratory thaw experiments, and field sampling in warmer months when sites are more accessible. In this study, we sampled a depth profile through seasonally thawed active layer and permafrost in the Imnavait Creek Watershed, Alaska, USA over the growing season from summer to late fall. Amplicon sequencing showed that bacterial and fungal communities differed in composition across both sampling depths and sampling months. Surface communities were most variable while those from the deepest samples, which remained frozen throughout our sampling period, showed little to no variation over time. However, community variation was not explained by trace metal concentrations, soil nutrient content, pH, or soil condition (frozen/thawed), except insofar as those measurements were correlated with depth. Our results highlight the importance of collecting samples at multiple times throughout the year to capture temporal variation, and suggest that data from across the annual freeze-thaw cycle might help predict microbial responses to permafrost thaw.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acc542permafrostsoil microbial communitycryosphere |
| spellingShingle | Christopher C M Baker Amanda J Barker Thomas A Douglas Stacey J Doherty Robyn A Barbato Seasonal variation in near-surface seasonally thawed active layer and permafrost soil microbial communities Environmental Research Letters permafrost soil microbial community cryosphere |
| title | Seasonal variation in near-surface seasonally thawed active layer and permafrost soil microbial communities |
| title_full | Seasonal variation in near-surface seasonally thawed active layer and permafrost soil microbial communities |
| title_fullStr | Seasonal variation in near-surface seasonally thawed active layer and permafrost soil microbial communities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Seasonal variation in near-surface seasonally thawed active layer and permafrost soil microbial communities |
| title_short | Seasonal variation in near-surface seasonally thawed active layer and permafrost soil microbial communities |
| title_sort | seasonal variation in near surface seasonally thawed active layer and permafrost soil microbial communities |
| topic | permafrost soil microbial community cryosphere |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acc542 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT christophercmbaker seasonalvariationinnearsurfaceseasonallythawedactivelayerandpermafrostsoilmicrobialcommunities AT amandajbarker seasonalvariationinnearsurfaceseasonallythawedactivelayerandpermafrostsoilmicrobialcommunities AT thomasadouglas seasonalvariationinnearsurfaceseasonallythawedactivelayerandpermafrostsoilmicrobialcommunities AT staceyjdoherty seasonalvariationinnearsurfaceseasonallythawedactivelayerandpermafrostsoilmicrobialcommunities AT robynabarbato seasonalvariationinnearsurfaceseasonallythawedactivelayerandpermafrostsoilmicrobialcommunities |