Abstract
Global warming will likely force terrestrial plant and animal species to migrate toward cooler areas or sustain range losses; whether this is also true for microorganisms remains unknown. Through continental-scale compositional surveys of soil crust microbial communities across arid North America, we observed a latitudinal replacement in dominance between two key topsoil cyanobacteria that was driven largely by temperature. The responses to temperature of enrichment cultures and cultivated strains support this contention, with one cyanobacterium (Microcoleus vaginatus) being more psychrotolerant and less thermotolerant than the other (M. steenstrupii). In view of our data and regional climate predictions, the latter cyanobacterium may replace the former in much of the studied area within the next few decades, with unknown ecological consequences for soil fertility and erodibility.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1574-1577 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Science |
| Volume | 340 |
| Issue number | 6140 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2013 |
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Temperature drives the continental-scale distribution of key microbes in topsoil communities. / Garcia-Pichel, Ferran; Loza, Virginia; Marusenko, Yevgeniy; Mateo, Pilar; Potrafka, Ruth M.
In: Science, Vol. 340, No. 6140, 2013, p. 1574-1577.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Temperature drives the continental-scale distribution of key microbes in topsoil communities
AU - Garcia-Pichel, Ferran
AU - Loza, Virginia
AU - Marusenko, Yevgeniy
AU - Mateo, Pilar
AU - Potrafka, Ruth M.
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - Global warming will likely force terrestrial plant and animal species to migrate toward cooler areas or sustain range losses; whether this is also true for microorganisms remains unknown. Through continental-scale compositional surveys of soil crust microbial communities across arid North America, we observed a latitudinal replacement in dominance between two key topsoil cyanobacteria that was driven largely by temperature. The responses to temperature of enrichment cultures and cultivated strains support this contention, with one cyanobacterium (Microcoleus vaginatus) being more psychrotolerant and less thermotolerant than the other (M. steenstrupii). In view of our data and regional climate predictions, the latter cyanobacterium may replace the former in much of the studied area within the next few decades, with unknown ecological consequences for soil fertility and erodibility.
AB - Global warming will likely force terrestrial plant and animal species to migrate toward cooler areas or sustain range losses; whether this is also true for microorganisms remains unknown. Through continental-scale compositional surveys of soil crust microbial communities across arid North America, we observed a latitudinal replacement in dominance between two key topsoil cyanobacteria that was driven largely by temperature. The responses to temperature of enrichment cultures and cultivated strains support this contention, with one cyanobacterium (Microcoleus vaginatus) being more psychrotolerant and less thermotolerant than the other (M. steenstrupii). In view of our data and regional climate predictions, the latter cyanobacterium may replace the former in much of the studied area within the next few decades, with unknown ecological consequences for soil fertility and erodibility.
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U2 - 10.1126/science.1236404
DO - 10.1126/science.1236404
M3 - Article
VL - 340
SP - 1574
EP - 1577
JO - Science
JF - Science
SN - 0036-8075
IS - 6140
ER -