title: High temperature microbial activity in upper soil layers.
abstract: Biomineralization at high temperatures in upper soil layers has been largely ignored, although desertification and global warming have led to increasing areas of soils exposed to high temperatures. Recent publications evidenced thermophilic bacteria ubiquity in soils as viable cells, and their role in nutrient cycling and seedling development. High temperature events, frequently observed at medium and low latitudes, locate temporal niches for thermophiles to grow in soils. There, at temperatures inhibitory for common mesophiles, thermophilic bacteria could perform biogeochemical reactions important to the soil food web. Nutrient cycling analyses in soils at medium and low latitudes would benefit from considering the potential role of thermophiles.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais Mediterrânicas (ICAAM), Universidade de Évora, Núcleo da Mitra, Ap. 94, 7006-554, Évora, Portugal msantana@uevora.pt.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Santana
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología, IRNAS-CSIC, Av. Reina Mercedes, 10, E-41012, Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
mesh_terms: D058448:Biota / Q000528:radiation effects*; D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism; D057232:Global Warming; D006358:Hot Temperature; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D012988:Soil Microbiology
chemical_list: D002244:Carbon; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: C, N and S cycles; biomineralization; global warming; plant growth; soil thermophiles