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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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2079-7737/2/1/356/ 2023-08-20T04:03:32+02:00 The Effect of Freeze-Thaw Conditions on Arctic Soil Bacterial Communities Niraj Kumar Paul Grogan Haiyan Chu Casper Christiansen Virginia Walker agris 2013-02-28 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/biology2010356 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biology2010356 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Biology; Volume 2; Issue 1; Pages: 356-377 climate change arctic soils freeze-thaw phylogenetic composition fatty acids bacteria chaos theory Text 2013 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/biology2010356 2023-07-31T20:31:44Z 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. Text Arctic Cambridge Bay Climate change Ice permafrost MDPI Open Access Publishing 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 |
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MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
climate change arctic soils freeze-thaw phylogenetic composition fatty acids bacteria chaos theory |
spellingShingle |
climate change arctic soils freeze-thaw phylogenetic composition fatty acids bacteria chaos theory Niraj Kumar Paul Grogan Haiyan Chu Casper Christiansen Virginia Walker 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 |
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 |
Text |
author |
Niraj Kumar Paul Grogan Haiyan Chu Casper Christiansen Virginia Walker |
author_facet |
Niraj Kumar Paul Grogan Haiyan Chu Casper Christiansen Virginia Walker |
author_sort |
Niraj Kumar |
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 |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/biology2010356 |
op_coverage |
agris |
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; Volume 2; Issue 1; Pages: 356-377 |
op_relation |
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biology2010356 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
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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1774713927758774272 |