Microbes May Not Be As Adaptable To Climate Change As Believed: Study

Earlier, studies showed that soil microbes can adapt to a change in the climate. However, a new study shows that such organisms that influence the earth's carbon cycle may not really influence it as much as thought.

The microbes store the carbon in the soil, after which it is essential that bacteria, fungi and other microbes need to again convert it to carbon dioxide and other gases, which can be released into the air.

"Soil is the major buffer system for environmental changes, and the microbial community is the basis for that resilience," said author Vanessa Bailey of the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. "If the microbial community is not as resilient as we had assumed, then it calls into question the resilience of the overall environment to climate change."

The team arrived at their results after they examined two sets of soil. In a 17-year study on transplantation of soils on a mountain in eastern Washington state, they moved some samples to a warm, dry climate, while others were moved to a cool, moist one.

Analysing the microbial make-up, enzyme activity and respiration rates, the experts found that they showed less adaptability than they had thought.

However, that does not mean that all microbes will respond in a similar fashion.

"We can't assume that soils will respond to climate changes in the ways that many scientific models have assumed," said study co-author and Joint Global Change Research Institute scientist Ben Bond-Lamberty, although he admitted that "the fact that the soils' native environment continued to exert profound influence on microbial activity 17 years later is quite surprising."

However, more research is needed.

"With our changing climate, all microbes will be experiencing new conditions and more extremes," said Bailey. "This study gives us a glimpse of how microbes could weather such changes under one set of conditions. They may be constrained in surprising ways."

The findings were released in the March 2 issue of PLOS One.