Soil Disturbance Affects Plant Productivity via Soil Microbial Community Shifts.

ABSTRACT: Recent advances in climate research have discovered that permafrost is particularly vulnerable to the changes occurring in the atmosphere and climate, especially in Alaska where 85% of the land is underlain by mostly discontinuous permafrost. As permafrost thaws, research has shown that natural and anthropogenic soil disturbance causes microbial communities to undergo shifts in membership composition and biomass, as well as in functional diversity. Boreal forests are home to many plants that are integral to the subsistence diets of many Alaska Native communities. Yet, it is unclear how the observed shifts in soil microbes can affect above ground plant communities that are relied on as a major source of food. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that microbial communities associated with

SUBMITTER: Seitz TJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7882522 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature