Cardiff University | Prifysgol Caerdydd ORCA
Online Research @ Cardiff 
WelshClear Cookie - decide language by browser settings

Soil fungal responses to warming in polar regions

Misiak, Marta 2018. Soil fungal responses to warming in polar regions. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University and British Antarctic Survey.
Item availability restricted.

[thumbnail of PhD Thesis]
Preview
PDF (PhD Thesis) - Accepted Post-Print Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives.

Download (8MB) | Preview
[thumbnail of Cardiff University Electronic Theses and Dissertations Publication misiakm] PDF (Cardiff University Electronic Theses and Dissertations Publication misiakm) - Supplemental Material
Restricted to Repository staff only

Download (108kB)

Abstract

Polar regions are subjected to rapid climate change, with increased air temperatures and precipitation being predicted during future decades. Rising temperatures and precipitation will have an effect on saprotrophic soil fungi, microbes key to nutrient cycling and decomposition processes that are dominant in polar soils owing to their abilities of remaining physiologically active at low temperatures and water availabilities. Here, a combination of field warming experiments and laboratory experiments are used to investigate the effects of warming, water and nutrient availability on the abundance, growth and enzyme activities (cellulase, chitinase, acid and alkaline phosphatase and leucine aminopeptidase) of a range of saprotrophic fungi in Arctic and Antarctic soils. In a five-year-long maritime Antarctic field experiment, the abundance of Pseudogymnoascus pannorum DNA was reduced in soil warmed with open top chambers (OTCs) that had been enriched with nutrients. Laboratory experiments confirmed the inhibitory effect of warming to > 21 °C on the growth and enzyme activities of P. pannorum, but only when water was not a limiting factor. In contrast, in an Arctic field experiment, OTCs and watering had no effects on the abundance of DNA of seven Arctic soil fungal taxa after three years of treatment. The growth of five Arctic taxa (Acremonium sp., Isaria sp., Leptosphaeria sp., Phialocephala sp. and Mortierella spp.) was increased by warming to > 21 °C, with only that of P. pannorum being inhibited by warming to 24 °C. Warming did not affect the enzyme activities of Arctic fungi, with activities mainly being influenced by changes in water potential. The research here suggests that the growth and enzyme activities of Antarctic P. pannorum may be inhibited by future warming arising from continued greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere, but that Arctic saprotrophic soil fungi appear to be more resilient to environmental changes.

Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
Date Type: Submission
Status: Unpublished
Schools: Biosciences
Subjects: Q Science > Q Science (General)
Q Science > QP Physiology
Q Science > QR Microbiology
Uncontrolled Keywords: soil fungi, polar regions, filamentous fungi, enzymes, temperature manipulation, water potential, Arctic, Antarctica, Pseudogymnoascus pannorum
Funders: NERC GW4+, British Mycological Society, Norwegian Research Council, Welsh Livery Guild
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 30 May 2019
Date of Acceptance: 26 May 2019
Last Modified: 04 Aug 2022 02:01
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/122966

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item Edit Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics