SYMP 23 - The Role of Soil Microbial Communities in Ecosystem Responses to Global Climate Change: Developing Predictive Tools for Impacts and Feedbacks that Facilitate Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies

Friday, August 12, 2011: 8:00 AM-11:30 AM
Ballroom F, Austin Convention Center
Organizer: Christine Hawkes
Co-organizer: Benjamin A. Sikes
Moderator: Benjamin A. Sikes
Soil microbes are a major determinant of terrestrial ecosystem processes, but we still do not have a basic understanding of their role in ecosystem responses to climate change. Partly this uncertainty arises from the highly complex and variable nature of microbial communities, but it is also due to the lack of an integrated framework for understanding and predicting microbial community function. In this symposium, we will address how our basic knowledge of microbial community patterns and processes can be extended to a more predictive model of microbial responses to expected future climate change. A predictive framework for soil microbial responses has the potential to directly improve both climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies required for environmental stewardship. To make the link from microbes to ecosystems, topics span across scales from rRNA structure and enzymatic responses to biogeochemical cycling and microbial biogeography, including both conceptual and experimental approaches. We provide a broad introduction to the idea of a mechanistic framework by microbial characteristics and processes that may be predictive of ecosystem responses. We also consider the roles of resources and pulse dynamics in microbial responses, as well as the importance of links between plants and soils. At the end of the symposium, a moderated panel discussion will address the current state of a predictive framework and highlight future needs, as well as allow time for audience questions and participation to facilitate further integration and synthesis of ideas. This symposium and the framework we hope to develop will be useful in addressing microbial roles in ecosystem climate responses, but will also appeal to the broader society that is interested in developing predictive frameworks and other tools for ecosystem management under a changing climate.
Endorsement:
Soil Ecology, Microbial Ecology (To be considered)
8:20 AM
Can we use phylogeny and rRNA secondary structure to predict microbial community metabolic response to changing temperature?
Erik A. Lilleskov, US Forest Service, Northern Research Station; Hairong Wei, Michigan Technological University; Vincent A. Robert, Centralbueau voor Schimmelcultures; Oliver Gailing, Michigan Technological University
8:40 AM
How do microbial responses to global change influence ecosystem carbon cycling?
Kathleen K. Treseder, University of California, Irvine; Stephanie N. Kivlin, Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory; Steven D. Allison, University of California; Krista L. McGuire, Barnard College, Columbia University
9:00 AM
How can soil microbial biogeography improve our ability to predict soil responses to climate change?
Eoin L. Brodie, University of California, Berkeley; Nicholas J. Bouskill, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
9:20 AM
9:30 AM
Nitrogen as a mediator of soil organic matter decomposition in a changing climate: Linking stable isotopes, organic geochemistry, and microbial ecology
Sharon A. Billings, University of Kansas; Susan Ziegler, Memorial University; Jianwei Li, Tennessee State University; Chad Lane, University of North Carolina at Wilmington
9:50 AM
Threshold models for how pulse dynamics affect microbial responses to climate change in arid ecosystems
Jose Herrera, National Science Foundation; Andrea Porras-Alfaro, Western Illinois University; Robert Sinsabaugh, University of New Mexico; Scott L. Collins, University of New Mexico
10:10 AM
How do linked plant-soil processes affect ecosystem responses to climate change?
Erika A. Sudderth, Brown University; Kerry M. Byrne, Oregon Institute of Technology; Laureano A. Gherardi, Arizona State University; Lara G. Reichmann, USDA, Agricultural Research Service; Sarah A. Placella, University of California; Donald J. Herman, University of California, Berkeley; Samuel B. St. Clair, Brigham Young University; Peter B. Adler, Utah State University; Mary K. Firestone, University of California, Berkeley; Margaret S. Torn, University of California; David D. Ackerly, University of California; Osvaldo E. Sala, Arizona State University
10:30 AM
Soil microbes as predictors of ecosystem functional responses to global climate change
Aimée Classen, The University of Tennessee; Emily E. Austin, University of New Hampshire; Veronica A. Brown, The University of Tennessee; Jessica A.M. Moore, The University of Tennessee; Alison Buchan, The University of Tennessee; Hector Castro, University of Tennessee; Melissa A. Cregger, The University of Tennessee; Marie-Anne de Graaff, Boise State University; Paul Kardol, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences; Tara E. Sackett, University of Toronto; Lara Souza, University of Oklahoma
10:50 AM
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