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Title
A High Arctic soil ecosystem resists long-term environmental manipulations
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008:
Author(s)
Lamb, Eric G
Han, Sukkyun
Lanoil, Brian D
Henry, Greg H R
Banerjee, Samiran
Siciliano, Steven D
Publication Date
2011-10
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008
Early Online Version
Abstract
We evaluated above‐ and belowground ecosystem changes in a 16 year, combined fertilization and warming experiment in a High Arctic tundra deciduous shrub heath (Alexandra Fiord, Ellesmere Island, NU, Canada). Soil emissions of the three key greenhouse gases (GHGs) (carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide) were measured in mid‐July 2009 using soil respiration chambers attached to a FTIR system. Soil chemical and biochemical properties including <i>Q</i><sub>10</sub> values for CO<sub>2</sub>, CH<sub>4</sub>, and N<sub>2</sub>O, Bacteria and Archaea assemblage composition, and the diversity and prevalence of key nitrogen cycling genes including bacterial <i>amo</i>A, crenarchaeal <i>amo</i>A, and <i>nos</i>Z were measured. Warming and fertilization caused strong increases in plant community cover and height but had limited effects on GHG fluxes and no substantial effect on soil chemistry or biochemistry. Similarly, there was a surprising lack of directional shifts in the soil microbial community as a whole or any change at all in microbial functional groups associated with CH<sub>4</sub> consumption or N<sub>2</sub>O cycling in any treatment. Thus, it appears that while warming and increased nutrient availability have strongly affected the plant community over the last 16 years, the belowground ecosystem has not yet responded. This resistance of the soil ecosystem has resulted in limited changes in GHG fluxes in response to the experimental treatments.
Publication Type
Journal Article
Source of Publication
Global Change Biology, 17(10), p. 3187-3194
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020
2011-03-31
Place of Publication
United Kingdom
ISSN
1365-2486
1354-1013
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020
Peer Reviewed
Yes
HERDC Category Description
Peer Reviewed
Yes
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