A continental-scale prediction on the functional diversity of stream
microbes

Date:
June 15, 2020
Source:
University of Helsinki
Summary:
Climate mediates continental scale patterns of stream microbial
functional diversity.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A recent research find indicates that climate change increases the
functional diversity of microbes living in streams. Consequently,
climate change may, in certain cases, be beneficial to ecosystems.


==========================================================================
The functional genes of microbes and their sufficient diversity are
important indicators of the efficiency of ecosystem processes. Bacteria, single-celled fungi and other microbes are an essential element of the
nutrient cycle, and their functional diversity boosts the decomposition
of organic carbon.

Stream microbe samples were collected in a collaboration among Finnish,
Spanish and Chinese researchers. In previous studies utilising the
material collected from mountainous areas in Norway, Spain and China,
the focus has been on the species of stream microbes. Now, the frozen
samples have been used to identify a total of nearly 16,000 functional
genes of three different microbial groups, in addition to which the
researchers have completed a forecast encompassing Europe and Asia.

A key to understanding ecosystem processes The article, published in
the Microbiome journal, focuses on the diversity and composition of the functional genes of stream microbes.

Based on observations made in the field, a forecast was completed on
how the diversity and composition of functional genes will change across Eurasia as a result of climate change.

"We saw that the diversity of functional genes in microbes decreases
in mountainous areas when moving from warm valleys towards the colder
peaks," Professor Janne Soininen says.

Therefore, the functional diversity of microbes is likely to grow as the climate becomes warmer, while ecosystem processes vital to waterways,
such as the decomposition of organic matter and nutrient cycling, may
become increasingly efficient.

In the case of Eurasia, the change will be most marked in its northern
regions where the diversity of functional genes can grow by as much as
30% and the composition of functional genes can change by as much as 35%
by 2060-2080 compared to the current situation, depending on the climate scenario used.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Helsinki. Original
written by Riitta-Leena Inki. Note: Content may be edited for style
and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Fe'lix Picazo, Annika Vilmi, Juha Aalto, Janne Soininen, Emilio O.

Casamayor, Yongqin Liu, Qinglong Wu, Lijuan Ren, Jizhong Zhou,
Ji Shen, Jianjun Wang. Climate mediates continental scale patterns
of stream microbial functional diversity. Microbiome, 2020; 8 (1)
DOI: 10.1186/ s40168-020-00873-2 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200615115824.htm

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