Elucidating how global climate change factors affect soil microbial carbon cycling processes: From tropical forests to the Alaskan tundra

Johnston, Eric Robert

Title:

Elucidating how global climate change factors affect soil microbial carbon cycling processes: From tropical forests to the Alaskan tundra

dc.contributor.advisor	Konstantinidis, Kostas T.
dc.contributor.author	Johnston, Eric Robert
dc.contributor.committeeMember	Pavlostathis, Spyros G.
dc.contributor.committeeMember	Brown, Joe
dc.contributor.committeeMember	Kostka, Joel
dc.contributor.committeeMember	Tiedje, James M.
dc.contributor.department	Civil and Environmental Engineering
dc.date.accessioned	2020-01-14T14:40:46Z
dc.date.available	2020-01-14T14:40:46Z
dc.date.created	2018-12
dc.date.issued	2018-08-17
dc.date.submitted	December 2018
dc.date.updated	2020-01-14T14:40:46Z
dc.description.abstract	Soils harbor a large reservoir of carbon (C) that is several times greater than the amount present in the atmosphere. How climate change factors will affect microbial turnover of organic C (OC), resulting in release of C to the atmosphere, remains uncertain. Closing these knowledge gaps is necessary for improving predictions of future climate change and managing natural as well as agricultural ecosystems. To advance these topics, we have studied the responses of soil microbial communities to key climate change factors in tundra, temperate, and tropical ecosystems. Moderate warming of tundra soils (1-2°C above ambient) increased microbial potential for CO2 and methane production after just five years. Several of the most dominant and responsive taxa were also found to be widespread throughout the surrounding ecosystem. A similar study of Eurasian steppe soils revealed how warming stimulates microbial mechanisms involved in C release, but how the combination of increased temperatures and precipitation counteracts C loss through increased plant productivity. A study of phosphorus (P)-limited tropical soils revealed how P availability regulates microbial OC turnover, which has implications for the management of tropical ecosystems because enhanced plant growth is expected to increase OC and decrease P bioavailability. Collectively, these studies contribute to an improved understanding of the diversity and functionality of terrestrial soil microbiota and how future climate change might affect soil C release.
dc.description.degree	Ph.D.
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/1853/62186
dc.language.iso	en_US
dc.publisher	Georgia Institute of Technology
dc.subject	Environmental engineering
dc.subject	Global change
dc.subject	Metagenomics
dc.subject	Soil
dc.subject	Soil microbiology
dc.subject	Microbial ecology
dc.subject	Climate change
dc.subject	Soil carbon
dc.subject	Carbon cycle
dc.subject	Global warming
dc.subject	Metatranscriptomics
dc.subject	Genomics
dc.subject	RNA
dc.subject	DNA
dc.subject	Tropical rainforest
dc.subject	Tundra
dc.subject	Permafrost
dc.subject	Methane
dc.subject	Carbon dioxide
dc.title	Elucidating how global climate change factors affect soil microbial carbon cycling processes: From tropical forests to the Alaskan tundra
dc.type	Text
dc.type.genre	Dissertation
dspace.entity.type	Publication
local.contributor.advisor	Konstantinidis, Kostas T.
local.contributor.corporatename	School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
local.contributor.corporatename	College of Engineering
relation.isAdvisorOfPublication	f66cc347-a0bd-44a1-ac96-d4f61b26368a
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication	88639fad-d3ae-4867-9e7a-7c9e6d2ecc7c
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication	7c022d60-21d5-497c-b552-95e489a06569
thesis.degree.level	Doctoral