Learn more about the project
While the IPCC recently alarmed us with the consequences of a 1.5˚C global warming compared to pre-industrial levels, the intensity and frequency of drought, flooding, heat waves and freezing events (so called “extreme climatic events”) are also expected to increase dramatically in the foreseeable future. Modelling the ecosystem response to climate change is crucial to understand the impact and prepare for the future.
Our overarching aim is to develop and test a unified, trait-based framework for predicting soil microbial community response to extreme climatic events, and the consequences for soil functioning. We use novel molecular and bioinformatic approaches in concert with a response-and-effect trait framework to provide a detailed understanding of the biological mechanisms underpinning soil functional response to extreme events. We seek to identify the traits responsible for microbial response to extreme events (response traits) and link these to microbial effects traits, i.e. the traits that underlie microbial processes of C and N cycling, to predict soil functioning.
Our overall hypothesis is that specific microbial traits determine the ability of microbes to cope with specific extreme events. We hypothesise that these response traits are phylogenetically conserved, allowing for the prediction of the response of specific microbial taxa or phylogenetic clades to extreme events, and the subsequent effects on soil functioning.
This project is funded by NERC and based in the Soil and Ecosystem Ecology laboratory at the University of Manchester.
Main contributors
Franciska de Vries
University of Amsterdam
Chris Knight
University of Manchester
Robert Griffiths
CEH Bangor
Experiment 1
Is the microbial response and overall resistance and resilience of soil microbial communities to extreme climatic events dependent on the origin climate and/or type of disturbance?
Thirty natural grassland sites across a European gradient, where soil type/climate/plant community vary (many confounding factors but many sites).
Experiment 2
After a specific disturbance, will the resistance of microbial communities to this disturbance be stimulated, and will resistance to other disturbances be reduced?
An experimental site (Raindrop) where climate has been manipulated for four years (rainfall addition/exclusion) but soil type/plant community are constant.
Experiment 3
Do plant response traits select for corresponding microbial response traits?
A mesocosm experiment where plant communities were manipulated to obtain a gradient of functional traits, with soil type/climate as a constant.
Microbial response to extreme climatic events 