The Effect of Freeze-Thaw Conditions on Arctic Soil Bacterial Communities
Climate change is already altering the landscape at high latitudes. Permafrost is thawing, the growing season is starting earlier, and, as a result, certain regions in the Arctic may be subjected to an increased incidence of freeze-thaw events. The potential release of carbon and nutrients from soil...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:7e3a1308792743d2aaec51bf62894470 2023-10-09T21:48:04+02:00 The Effect of Freeze-Thaw Conditions on Arctic Soil Bacterial Communities Virginia K. Walker Casper T. Christiansen Haiyan Chu Niraj Kumar Paul Grogan 2013-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/biology2010356 https://doaj.org/article/7e3a1308792743d2aaec51bf62894470 EN eng MDPI AG http://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/2/1/356 https://doaj.org/toc/2079-7737 doi:10.3390/biology2010356 2079-7737 https://doaj.org/article/7e3a1308792743d2aaec51bf62894470 Biology, Vol 2, Iss 1, Pp 356-377 (2013) climate change arctic soils freeze-thaw phylogenetic composition fatty acids bacteria chaos theory Biology (General) QH301-705.5 article 2013 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/biology2010356 2023-09-10T00:49:00Z Climate change is already altering the landscape at high latitudes. Permafrost is thawing, the growing season is starting earlier, and, as a result, certain regions in the Arctic may be subjected to an increased incidence of freeze-thaw events. The potential release of carbon and nutrients from soil microbial cells that have been lysed by freeze-thaw transitions could have significant impacts on the overall carbon balance of arctic ecosystems, and therefore on atmospheric CO2 concentrations. However, the impact of repeated freezing and thawing with the consequent growth and recrystallization of ice on microbial communities is still not well understood. Soil samples from three distinct sites, representing Canadian geographical low arctic, mid-arctic and high arctic soils were collected from Daring Lake, Alexandra Fjord and Cambridge Bay sampling sites, respectively. Laboratory-based experiments subjected the soils to multiple freeze-thaw cycles for 14 days based on field observations (0 °C to −10 °C for 12 h and −10 °C to 0 °C for 12 h) and the impact on the communities was assessed by phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) methyl ester analysis and 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing. Both data sets indicated differences in composition and relative abundance between the three sites, as expected. However, there was also a strong variation within the two high latitude sites in the effects of the freeze-thaw treatment on individual PLFA and 16S-based phylotypes. These site-based heterogeneities suggest that the impact of climate change on soil microbial communities may not be predictable a priori; minor differential susceptibilities to freeze-thaw stress could lead to a “butterfly effect” as described by chaos theory, resulting in subsequent substantive differences in microbial assemblages. This perspectives article suggests that this is an unwelcome finding since it will make future predictions for the impact of on-going climate change on soil microbial communities in arctic regions all but impossible. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Cambridge Bay Climate change Ice permafrost Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Cambridge Bay ENVELOPE(-105.130,-105.130,69.037,69.037) Daring Lake ENVELOPE(-111.635,-111.635,64.834,64.834) Biology 2 1 356 377 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
climate change arctic soils freeze-thaw phylogenetic composition fatty acids bacteria chaos theory Biology (General) QH301-705.5 |
spellingShingle |
climate change arctic soils freeze-thaw phylogenetic composition fatty acids bacteria chaos theory Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Virginia K. Walker Casper T. Christiansen Haiyan Chu Niraj Kumar Paul Grogan The Effect of Freeze-Thaw Conditions on Arctic Soil Bacterial Communities |
topic_facet |
climate change arctic soils freeze-thaw phylogenetic composition fatty acids bacteria chaos theory Biology (General) QH301-705.5 |
description |
Climate change is already altering the landscape at high latitudes. Permafrost is thawing, the growing season is starting earlier, and, as a result, certain regions in the Arctic may be subjected to an increased incidence of freeze-thaw events. The potential release of carbon and nutrients from soil microbial cells that have been lysed by freeze-thaw transitions could have significant impacts on the overall carbon balance of arctic ecosystems, and therefore on atmospheric CO2 concentrations. However, the impact of repeated freezing and thawing with the consequent growth and recrystallization of ice on microbial communities is still not well understood. Soil samples from three distinct sites, representing Canadian geographical low arctic, mid-arctic and high arctic soils were collected from Daring Lake, Alexandra Fjord and Cambridge Bay sampling sites, respectively. Laboratory-based experiments subjected the soils to multiple freeze-thaw cycles for 14 days based on field observations (0 °C to −10 °C for 12 h and −10 °C to 0 °C for 12 h) and the impact on the communities was assessed by phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) methyl ester analysis and 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing. Both data sets indicated differences in composition and relative abundance between the three sites, as expected. However, there was also a strong variation within the two high latitude sites in the effects of the freeze-thaw treatment on individual PLFA and 16S-based phylotypes. These site-based heterogeneities suggest that the impact of climate change on soil microbial communities may not be predictable a priori; minor differential susceptibilities to freeze-thaw stress could lead to a “butterfly effect” as described by chaos theory, resulting in subsequent substantive differences in microbial assemblages. This perspectives article suggests that this is an unwelcome finding since it will make future predictions for the impact of on-going climate change on soil microbial communities in arctic regions all but impossible. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Virginia K. Walker Casper T. Christiansen Haiyan Chu Niraj Kumar Paul Grogan |
author_facet |
Virginia K. Walker Casper T. Christiansen Haiyan Chu Niraj Kumar Paul Grogan |
author_sort |
Virginia K. Walker |
title |
The Effect of Freeze-Thaw Conditions on Arctic Soil Bacterial Communities |
title_short |
The Effect of Freeze-Thaw Conditions on Arctic Soil Bacterial Communities |
title_full |
The Effect of Freeze-Thaw Conditions on Arctic Soil Bacterial Communities |
title_fullStr |
The Effect of Freeze-Thaw Conditions on Arctic Soil Bacterial Communities |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Effect of Freeze-Thaw Conditions on Arctic Soil Bacterial Communities |
title_sort |
effect of freeze-thaw conditions on arctic soil bacterial communities |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/biology2010356 https://doaj.org/article/7e3a1308792743d2aaec51bf62894470 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-105.130,-105.130,69.037,69.037) ENVELOPE(-111.635,-111.635,64.834,64.834) |
geographic |
Arctic Cambridge Bay Daring Lake |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Cambridge Bay Daring Lake |
genre |
Arctic Cambridge Bay Climate change Ice permafrost |
genre_facet |
Arctic Cambridge Bay Climate change Ice permafrost |
op_source |
Biology, Vol 2, Iss 1, Pp 356-377 (2013) |
op_relation |
http://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/2/1/356 https://doaj.org/toc/2079-7737 doi:10.3390/biology2010356 2079-7737 https://doaj.org/article/7e3a1308792743d2aaec51bf62894470 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/biology2010356 |
container_title |
Biology |
container_volume |
2 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
356 |
op_container_end_page |
377 |
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1779311086137245696 |