Microbial communities in Iceland surprisingly resistant to climate change

Introduction: Effects of warming over 50 years were even reduced compared to changes in the first decade. How stable are ecosystems under climate change? This question gets ever increasing scientific attention. And while they are not as visible as plant and animal communities, soil microbial communities are quintessential to look at in this context. They have a strong influence on the carbon stocks in the soil, and an expected diversity change and potential increased activity due to increased temperature could have drastic effects on the exchange of carbon between soil and atmosphere (and hence on CO₂ and CH₄ concentrations in the atmosphere, the main greenhouse gases). That is why Dajana Radujkovic ( Global Change Ecology Centre , Research Group Plants and Ecosystems ) studied the change in microbial communities in subarctic grasslands in Iceland. High-latitude systems are predicted to be particularly vulnerable to warming. Dajana took advantage of a natural coincidence where soil temperatures have increased due to geothermal activity, much in the same manner as expected due to the climate change.