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Temperature Response of Soil Organic Matter Decomposition Rates: Construction and Applications of a Temperature Gradient Block
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Ecological interactions mediate evolutionary responses to temperature in microbial communities.

Ewaldo Leitão1, Megan H Liu1, Andrea Yammine1

  • 1Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|June 2, 2026
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Warming temperatures impact microbial evolution. Interactions with other species and within species mediate how climate change affects microbial populations and their ecological roles.

Keywords:
climate warmingcompetitioneco-evolutionary dynamicsgenotypic diversityintra-interspecific interactionthermal evolution

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Area of Science:

  • Microbial Ecology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Climate Change Science

Background:

  • Microbial populations are crucial for ecosystem functions and are sensitive to rising temperatures.
  • Predicting microbial evolution under environmental change is complex due to diverse genotypic responses.
  • Understanding these responses requires considering both ecological interactions and evolutionary dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how temperature influences the evolutionary and ecological dynamics of a widespread protist.
  • To assess the roles of intraspecific interactions and interspecific interactions (heterospecifics) in mediating temperature-driven evolutionary changes.
  • To determine the impact of ecological context on microbial adaptation to warming.

Main Methods:

  • Quantified evolutionary and ecological responses of a protist across a temperature gradient.
  • Experimentally manipulated the presence and absence of heterospecific microbial species.
  • Assessed changes in genotypic diversity and temperature-dependent selection.

Main Results:

  • Warming reduced genotypic diversity, favoring specific genotypes due to intraspecific interactions.
  • In the presence of heterospecifics, warming further decreased genetic diversity and intensified temperature-dependent selection.
  • The effect of heterospecifics on focal species was temperature-dependent, influencing the magnitude of evolutionary change.

Conclusions:

  • Intra- and interspecific interactions significantly mediate microbial evolutionary responses to temperature.
  • Ecological context is critical for predicting microbial adaptation and ecosystem consequences under climate change.
  • Rapid microbial evolution under warming is shaped by a complex interplay of biotic and abiotic factors.