The effects of microbial biodiversity on ecosystem function in response to climate change

This is a curated page. Report corrections to Microbewiki.

Introduction

By Isaac Johnson

Throughout the world, microbes in various ecosystems perform a vast array of different functions that are crucial to the maintenance of the respective environments. For example, in some nutrient-poor ecosystems, nitrogen-fixing bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi are responsible for providing the plants up to 80% of their total nitrogen, and 75% of their total phosphorus annually. Further, our own bodies rely on microbial symbionts in order to provide us with necessary nutrients, direct our immune systems, and stabilize our gut microbiome with antimicrobial activities. Surveys of any global ecosystem will demonstrate the importance of the microbiome on the functionality of that ecosystem.

Currently, warming due to anthropogenic activities has occurred in every single global region over the past century, with current temperatures and CO2 levels that would have been considered extreme in the mid-twentieth century. This atmospheric accumulation of CO2 has driven the current global temperatures upwards, and forced ecosystems to function at evolutionarily non-optimal temperatures. However, microbes are able to mitigate some of these effects through various mechanisms. For example, under extreme temperature conditions, endoliths have been shown to provide a temperature buffer of between 1.7°C and 4.8°C, and prevent mass mussel mortality, when present, in a 2018 heatwave near the coast of the English Channel.

While microbes can serve as mitigators of global climate change, they can also serve to accelerate the aforementioned changes in the biosphere. Microbial respiration is a major contributor to global carbon levels due to the ability of microbes to decompose organic matter and release CO2 as a waste product. Additionally, there is an entire group of microbes called methanogens who produce methane (CH4) as a product of their metabolism. While this production of methane could be used as a potential fuel source through anthropogenic manufacturing, the natural metabolism of methane is dangerous to climate change, as methane has a global warming potential roughly 25 times greater than CO2.

In addition to playing a crucial role in natural ecosystems, agricultural ecosystems are equally as reliant on microbial interactions. The agricultural industry currently produces about 47% of total methane emissions and 58% of total nitrous oxide emissions. The massive effects of this industry are only going to increase as the global population is expected to increase by ⅓ to 10 billion in the year 2050, forcing our agricultural production to increase by 60% to meet the demand for food to sustain a population of that size. This example demonstrates the profound need for more sustainable anthropogenic practices, as well as a better understanding of microbes to promote healthier ecosystem functioning.

Given the importance of microbial interactions on ecosystem stability, the effects of climate change on microbial communities could have far reaching effects for ecosystems across the globe. The following examination of the current climate conditions and projected effects for microbial communities will allow us to understand the problems and strategies for mitigation of the current situation before it is entirely irreversible.

Section 1

Include some current research, with at least one figure showing data.

Every point of information REQUIRES CITATION using the citation tool shown above.

Section 2

Include some current research, with at least one figure showing data.

Section 3

Include some current research, with at least one figure showing data.

References

Authored for BIOL 238 Microbiology, taught by Joan Slonczewski, 2022, Kenyon College