Steven Allison and Kathleen Treseder of the University of California Irvine published results of a study in the December 2008 edition of Global Change Biology that reveal the unexpected behavior of fungi growing in the spruce forests of Alaska.
The California researchers placed small greenhouses on the soil of spruce boreal forests found near Fairbanks that raised soil temperatures. Allison and Treseder expected that the increase in soil temperature would increase bacterial and fungal activity, which would raise production of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. Instead, they found that warmer, drier fungi like mushrooms produced much less carbon dioxide than those fungi living in cooler, moister soils.
Findings were reported in the study titled Warming and drying suppress microbial activity and carbon cycling in boreal forest soils, which was funded by National Science Foundation’s Division of Environmental Biology.
In a press release announcing the study, National Science Foundation Program Director Matt Kane says, “Although microbes such as fungi are among the smallest of life forms, they’re also incredibly diverse and abundant. It’s becoming increasingly apparent that our understanding of large-scale processes, such as how ecosystems respond to climate change, requires a greater comprehension of the biology of these small creatures.”
Results of this effort show that there is still much to learn about the interaction of organisms found in high latitude ecosystems. Rising temperatures in the north may not automatically equate to a positive feedback to the soil carbon feedback cycle. Boreal forests cover much of the north in Alaska, Russia, Canada and Europe. The way these forests handle carbon during warming trends could modify the effects of climate change in other regions.
Copyright © 2009 by Alan Sorum
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