Project: Using natural environmental GRADients to decipher the adaptation of soil microbial Communities to climATe CHange
| Acronym | GRADCATCH (Reference Number: BiodivClim-76) |
| Duration | 01/03/2021 - 29/02/2024 |
| Project Topic | GRADCATCH will use trans-continental gradients in aridity, latitude and altitude to investigate the responses of soil microorganisms and their functions to climate change and how these responses feedback on climate change. We will use a holistic approach investigating both the phylogenetic and functional diversity of all the major groups of soil microorganisms, bacteria, archaea, fungi and microeukaryotes; the so-called metaphenome. In a wide range of biomes ranging from northernmost Greenland through boreal and temperate Europe to arid soils in Spain and further to hyper-arid soils in South Africa, we will generate robust data on microbial cycling of soil carbon and nitrogen, including microbial production and consumption of the greenhouse gases CO2, CH4 and N2O. Measurements in situ along the selected gradients will be used to represent the long-term response of microbial diversity and function of different climates. The long-term responses will be compared to short-term microbial responses to changes in climate/weather by translocating soil cores along the gradients and by subjecting soil samples to changes in soil water content or temperature or both during controlled laboratory experiments. All these measurements will involve a wide range of techniques including state-of-the-art metatranscriptomic, bioinformatic and modelling tools. The comprehensive data set will enable us to understand and model the adaptations and susceptibility of soil microbial diversity and function to climate change, and, importantly, how these feedback on climate change. Further, we believe that the data and the gradients will enable us to identify soil microbial taxa and functions that are indicators of climate change. The proposed work is ambitious, yet feasible due to our complimentary expertise and carefully selected range of gradients. The sheer amount of data obtained, the potential indicators identified, and our modelling efforts will benefit a large range of stakeholders from small-scale farmers in arid regions and large-scale farmers in temperate regions to policy-makers and the global biodiversity agenda. |
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Project Results (after finalisation) |
GRADCATCH aims to: • Understand short- and long-term adaptation and susceptibility of soil microbial diversity and functions to climate change, such as variations in soil water availability and temperature. • Identify phylogenetic and functional soil microbial indicators of climate change. • Generate robust data for modelling of climate-soil biodiversity feedback processes, mainly production and consumption of the greenhouse gases CO2, CH4 and N2O. |
| Website | visit project website |
| Network | BiodivClim |
| Call | 2019-2020 Joint Call |
Project partner
| Number | Name | Role | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Copenhagen | Coordinator | Denmark |
| 2 | Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research | Partner | Switzerland |
| 3 | University of Girona | Partner | Spain |
| 4 | University of California, Irvine | Observer | United States |
| 5 | University of Pretoria | Partner | South Africa |