Soil microbiome feedback to climate change and options for mitigation.

Area of Science:

• Soil microbiology
• Ecology
• Climate change science

Background:

• Soil microbes play critical roles in biogeochemical cycling, carbon sequestration, and plant health.
• Climate change effects on soil microbial communities, nutrient cycling, and greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes are not fully understood.
• Interactions between climate, microbes, and plants are complex and vary across scales.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review global and regional climate change impacts on soil microbial community structure and function.
• To synthesize studies on climate change effects on terrestrial nutrient cycles and GHG fluxes.
• To identify knowledge gaps and discuss mitigation strategies for agroecosystems.

Main Methods:

• Literature review synthesizing global and regional studies.
• Analysis of climate change factors (e.g., elevated CO2, temperature) on microbial communities.
• Examination of climate-microbe and plant-microbe interactions.

Main Results:

• Climate change impacts on microbial community structure (e.g., fungi-to-bacteria ratio) and nutrient turnover are variable and difficult to generalize.
• Responses are influenced by regional environmental conditions, historical fluctuations, and methodological choices.
• Potential for mitigation strategies using chemical interventions and genetic engineering exists.

Conclusions:

• Significant knowledge gaps hinder accurate predictions of microbial responses to climate change.
• Effective mitigation strategies require a deeper understanding of microbial community dynamics and interactions.
• Further research is needed to develop robust strategies for managing soil ecosystems under global change.