Ecological acclimation of microbial communities to rising temperatures: growth, respiration, and interactions

Temperature is a fundamental regulator of microbial physiology, shaping processes from growth and respiration to community interactions and ecosystem functioning. This review synthesizes recent experimental and theoretical advances that reveal how microbes respond to warming across biological scales, with a focus on short-term ecological acclimations of microbial communities. At the cellular level, rising temperature affects enzyme kinetics, membrane fluidity, and metabolic efficiency, often in non-linear ways that challenge the validity of fixed Q₁₀-based models. At the community level, warming tends to favor thermotolerant and slow-growing taxa, while reconfiguring microbial interaction networks by shifting balances between competition, cooperation, and syntrophy. These structural changes can reduce functional redundancy and stability, yet prolonged warming may also foster the emergence of cohesive, resilient community architectures. Overall, we emphasize the need for integrative mechanistic frameworks that link thermal physiology, carbon-use efficiency, and microbial interactions to improve predictions of microbial contributions to carbon cycling under climate change.