Editorial: Microbial Communities of Polar and Alpine Soils
Author(s)
Buzzini, Pietro
Date Issued
2021
Type
bookPart
Volume
12
Start Page
713067
Abstract
In recent years Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine regions have experienced the highest rates of warming worldwide (Zemp et al., 2006; Anisimov et al., 2007). In Arctic and Alpine environments these phenomena are resulting in an increase of the duration of ice-free periods and an overall greening of terrestrial areas. The effects of warming on microbial decomposition of vast carbon pools in permafrost soils have the potential to cause a significant positive feedback to global climate change (Cavicchioli et al., 2019). Climate change in Antarctica, is firstly feared to result in the loss of unique and highly adapted ecosystems, mainly because of shifts in temperature and precipitation regimes, as well as longer term changes in edaphic profiles and the invasion of allochthonous, more competitive species (Convey and Peck, 2019).
Soil microorganisms play a crucial role in mediating carbon and nitrogen balance and other biogeochemical cycles of global importance. Therefore, understanding the soil microbial diversity and ecology, including the ecological drivers that shape microbial communities, may be a key for understanding how biogeochemical cycles will respond to large-scale environmental and climatic changes. Given the key role of microorganisms in maintaining the balance of these environments, they could be viewed both as sentinels and amplifiers of global change (Maloy et al., 2016).
In this framework, the e-book Microbial Communities of Polar and Alpine Soils aimed to collect original and noticeable research papers about diversity and functionality of soil microbial communities, their interactions with the other biotic components, including the aboveground plant coverage, and the abiotic factors determinant for the colonization of these habitats, as well their adaptation and resilience abilities to stressing conditions and environmental changes.