Scientists predict climate impacts on European soils
New research has revealed how tiny soil microbes are impacted by extreme weather events, offering new insights into the risks posed by climate change.
As extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, droughts, floods, and freezes become more common due to global heating, understanding how soil microbes 鈥 critical for healthy ecosystems 鈥 respond is crucial.
These microbes play a key role in natural processes like carbon cycling, which helps determine how much carbon is stored in the soil and how much is released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, a major driver of global heating.
Researchers from The University of Manchester, worked with a network of scientists across Europe, including Robert Griffiths, Professor in Environmental Microbiology at Bangor University鈥檚 School of Environmental & Natural Sciences.
He was co-investigator of the project, and led the molecular analyses of soil microbes with researchers from UKCEH and The University of Manchester.
The scientists collected soil samples from 30 grasslands in 10 countries. They experimentally exposed the samples to simulated extreme weather events under controlled laboratory conditions to find out how the microbes would respond.
The team found that microbial communities in soils from different parts of Europe each reacted in unique ways to the extreme events. For example, soils from cooler, wetter climates were particularly vulnerable to heatwaves and droughts, while soils from dry regions were more affected by floods.
However, the scientists also found encouraging patterns and signs of consistency. In particular, microbes that can "pause" their activity and go dormant鈥攅ssentially waiting out tough conditions鈥攊n any weather condition.
The findings have recently been published in the journal .
Dr Chris Knight, Senior Lecturer in Earth and Environment Sciences at The University of Manchester, said: 鈥淪oil microbes are vital for our ecosystems. Their ability to adapt or struggle with climate change has a direct impact on soil health, plant growth, food production and carbon storage.
鈥淏y understanding the microbes鈥 鈥榮urvival strategy鈥, we can better predict and possibly mitigate future impacts of these extreme weather events, giving us crucial insights to safeguard vulnerable regions.
鈥淏ut our research highlights just how complex and varied the effects of climate change can be. The fact that local conditions play such a huge role in how vulnerable soils are means that a "one-size-fits-all" approach won鈥檛 work when it comes to protecting soil ecosystems, suggesting tailored strategies will be key.鈥
Each sample site represents the diversity of biogeographic regions present in Europe: alpine (Austria), subarctic (Sweden), Arctic (Iceland), Atlantic (Oxford and Lancaster, UK), boreal (Estonia), continental (Germany), Mediterranean (Spain and GR, Greece) and steppe climate (Russia).
The research offers a key first step in predicting how microbial communities respond to climate extremes, helping inform conservation efforts and climate policies around the world.
Robert Griffiths who conducted the research whilst at UKCEH is now Professor of Environmental Microbiology at Bangor University adds 鈥極ur paper shows that climate change can impact soil microbiomes across Europe in subtly different ways, but importantly these responses can be predicted based on local soil and climate conditions. Given that soil microbes play a vital role in ecosystem functions, like regulating greenhouse gas emissions, this new understanding from DNA sequencing could be a key addition to future models predicting climate impacts across distributed soils.鈥