From Microbes to Models | Environmental Molecular Sciences Lab

A heated plot at Harvard Forest Long Term Ecological Research site in Petersham, Mass., melts the snow of winter.

Researchers do not fully understand the long-term effects of soil warming on microbial communities and the carbon cycle, but this knowledge is crucial for developing accurate ecosystem models.

Co-principal investigators Jeffrey Blanchard and Marco Keilwueit, both with the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a group of colleagues want to close the information gap. The team's fiscal year 2017 Facilities Integrating Collaborations for User Science, or FICUS, proposal will help explain how soil microbial communities respond to increasing temperatures.

"We're trying to understand the long-term consequences of soil warming," says Blanchard.

A better understanding of how soil warming will affect the carbon cycle is central to model projections of future climate.

Other team members are Serita Frey, University of New Hampshire; Jerry Melillo and Jim Tang, Marine Biological Laboratory; and Jaqueline Mohan, University of Georgia. Funding comes from Department of Energy's Terrestrial Ecosystem Science program. Read more of this article here.

Source: From Microbes to Models | EMS