Climate change impacts on Arctic soil and lake microbiomes

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Ulf Karsten
• Subject Area: Ecology and Biodiversity of Plants and Ecosystems ; Soil Sciences
• Term: from 2016 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 317948706

Nowhere is climate change more visible than in the Arctic. CLIMARCTIC is aimed at studying the effect of climate change on the diversity and functional attributes of the High Arctic terrestrial microbiome and its role in ecosystem processes (N, P and C cycling) in soils and lakes. This information is needed to better predict the potential role these ecosystems play in the global climate system under future global change. We will combine in situ and laboratory measurements and experiments with a space for time substitution approach by studying the biodiversity and functioning of microbes along environmental gradients (temperature and moisture) in soils and lakes in Svalbard and Northern Norway. We will use next generation amplicon sequencing and meta-omics approaches with a particular focus on genes involved in carbon cycling (photosynthesis, respiration, CH4 production), and N and P cycling, desiccation, and protection against light stress. Paleolimnological reconstructions of lake sediment cores will provide a longer-term perspective (past 200 years) on the rate and amplitude of changes in the food web structure, biodiversity and C, N and P concentrations and their retention in the catchment. These data will be used to predict ecosystem functioning under future climate changes based on a combined soil and lake nutrient budget-ecosystem model. The results of our study will be communicated to a variety of stakeholders including the media, national conservation bodies and international science policy initiatives such as the Arctic Council and the IPCC.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Belgium, Norway, Spain, Switzerland
• Partner Organisation: Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO); Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO); The Research Council of Norway (RCN); Schweizerischer Nationalfonds (SNF)
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Peter Leinweber
• Cooperation Partners: Dr. Beat Frey; Professor Dr. Antonio Quesada; Professorin Dr. Mette Svenning; Professor Dr. Elie Verleyen