Permafrost is a key globally important ecosystem, storing massive amounts of carbon across a large area. Permafrost-associated soils cover nearly a quarter of the terrestrial land surface, contain more than a third of the world’s soil carbon, and are thawing due to climate change. The fate of the stored carbon is a key unknown in modern biogeochemistry and a major potential positive feedback to climate change. For this project, researchers are studying the impacts of thawing permafrost on the microbial communities over time at a model global change ecosystem in Sweden. In this region, the habitats range from permafrost palsas to thawing bogs to fully-thawed fens.
Proposer’s Name: Virginia Rich